Craughwell (historically Creaghmoyle, from Irish: Creachmhaoil)[2] is a village and townland in County Galway, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, the village had a population of approximately 1,000 people.[1]

Craughwell
Creachmhaoil
Village and townland
The R446 regional road passes through Craughwell
The R446 regional road passes through Craughwell
Craughwell is located in Ireland
Craughwell
Craughwell
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°13′34″N 8°43′59″W / 53.2261°N 8.7331°W / 53.2261; -8.7331
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyCounty Galway
Elevation
62 m (203 ft)
Population1,034
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid ReferenceM510197

Craughwell is located on the R446 regional road, approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) south of Athenry and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of Loughrea. It is served by Craughwell railway station on the Western Railway Corridor.[3][4]

Etymology

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A number of derivations are given for the meaning of the Irish language place name Creachmhaoil or Creamhchoill.[5]

In one derivation, the name is given as being composed of two Irish words: creach (meaning "plunder") and maoil (a hill). It is suggested that this is a reference to a place where herds of plundered cattle (the targets of thefts and cattle raids amongst the Gaels) were placed and kept.[5]

A further etymology of creach is related to craig, and creag, and the English word crag, referring to a rock or the crest of a hill; and maol, a word referring to a round-shaped hill or mountain, bare of trees.[5]

Patrick Weston Joyce, the pioneer of Irish placename studies, also speculated that the name in Irish was Creamhchoill, meaning 'garlic wood'.[5] He was unaware of the local spelling and pronunciation but confirmed in a later work that the village was called Creachmhaoil in Irish.[citation needed]

The name Craughwell is also used as a surname, Ó Creachmhaoil, often anglicised as Craughwell, Croughwell or Crockwell. The surname was largely unknown outside of the southeast of County Galway until the end of the 19th century when émigrés established themselves in Barbados, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Cornwall, Ohio and Berkshire County, Massachusetts.[citation needed]

History

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Saint Colman's Catholic Church was built c. 1840

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ring fort and souterrain sites in the townlands of Craughwell, Ballymore and Killora.[6] A ruined medieval church and graveyard is also located in Killora townland.[6] The current Roman Catholic church in Craughwell, Saint Colman's Catholic Church, was built c. 1840.[7] Ballymore Park, a Georgian country house in Ballymore townland, was built c. 1750.[8]

The poet Antoine Ó Raifteiri (born in County Mayo in 1779), was buried in Killeenin near Craughwell in 1835.[9] A commemorative slab was erected over his grave, in 1900, by Augusta Lady Gregory.[9]

During the Land War of the late 19th century, there were a number of violent incidents in the area around Craughwell.[10][11] In May 1881, for example, a farmer named Peter Dempsey was shot and killed, on his way to Mass with his young daughters, because of a dispute over his tenancy of a vacant farm.[12][13]

Amenities

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The community sporting facilities in the village include the grounds of Craughwell GAA, which has three pitches and a ball wall.[citation needed] The primary school has an all-weather astroturf track and a walking trail.[citation needed] Craughwell AC has an 8-acre park with an 800m trail surrounding a 400m running track. Just outside the village, Coleman's Park has outdoor soccer pitches and a gravel 400m running track.[14]

Transport

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The R446 road connecting Galway City to Kinnegad in County Westmeath passes through the village, 24 kilometres east of Galway and 10 kilometers west of Loughrea. Prior to the construction of the M6 motorway, the R446 formed part of the main N6 road connecting Dublin and Galway.[citation needed]

Craughwell has a City Link stop on the Galway-Dublin commuter route,[15] while Healy Bus also operate commuter services between Loughrea and Galway.[16]

As part of Iarnród Éireann’s Western Railway Corridor project, under the Transport 21 plan, Iarnród Éireann reopened Craughwell railway station in 2010, having built a new single platform facility and car park close to the original site. There are five trains in each direction daily.[3] The original station was opened in 1869 by the Athenry & Ennis Junction Railway, later part of the Great Southern and Western Railway, on the line from Athenry to Limerick.[4]

Notable people

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Statue of Antoine Ó Raifteiri in Craughwell

Notable people associated with the village include:

See also

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Further reading

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  • Cloonan, Gerry (2018). Craughwell: A Parish in County Galway. ISBN 9781999914011.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement F1015 - Population: Craughwell, Co. Galway". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Creachmhaoil / Craughwell (see archival records)". Placenames Database of Ireland.
  3. ^ a b "Find a station - Craughwell". irishrail.ie. Irish Rail. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Craughwell station". eiretrains.com. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Origin and Meaning of the name Craughwell". craughwellns.ie. Craughwell National School. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b Record of Monuments and Places County Galway. Dublin: National Monuments and Historical Properties Service. 1997.
  7. ^ "Saint Colman's Catholic Church, Craughwell (Dunkellin By), Craughwell, Galway". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Ballymore Park, Ballymore (ED Craughwell), Craughwell, Galway". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Ó Coigligh, Ciarán (October 2009). "Raiftearaí, Antaine (Ó Reachtabhra, Antoine; Raftery, Anthony)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.007572.v1.
  10. ^ Campbell, Fergus (January 2010). "'Reign of terror at Craughwell': Tom Kenny and the McGoldrick murder of 1909". History Ireland. Vol. 18, no. 1. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Book Review: The Case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879-85". theirishstory.com. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  12. ^ "The case of the Craughwell Prisoners". Galway Advertiser. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2024. A farm at Riverville [..] was vacant. It had been taken by Peter Dempsey and his family. They were boycotted, but on Sunday May 29 [1881], on his way to Mass with his two children, he was shot dead
  13. ^ "June 1st, 1881: Land War victim shot on way to Mass with his children". Irish Times. Republished. 1 June 2010 [1 June 1881]. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Craughwell AC Facilities". craughwellac.com.
  15. ^ "Route 763 Timetable". citylink.ie.
  16. ^ "Loughrea-Galway Daily Bus Services". healybus.com.
  17. ^ Ó Floinn, Tomás S. R. (October 2009). "Burke, Dominic". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.001154.v1. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Fergal Healy announced as Galway U20 hurling manager". galwaybayfm.ie. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  19. ^ "About Us - Brief Club History". Craughwell GAA club. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
  20. ^ "Anjelica's Irish Memories". Irish America magazine. June 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  21. ^ Healy, Tim (21 December 2012). "New owner of Huston's old home in bitter land dispute with neighbour". Irish Independent. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Craughwell's Tom Monaghan named in Ireland Squad for the Hurling/Shinty international with Scotland". 5 October 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Robert O'Hara Burke". A Compendium of Irish History. Library Ireland. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
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