Clooncon East (Leagan Gaeilge – Cluain Con Thoir): The townland of Clooncon East situated two kilometres north of Glenamaddy Town in north-east County Galway. The Irish form of  the townland name translates as ‘the east meadow of the hound’, cluain meaning meadow, cú meaning hound and thoir meaning east. Other forms of the townland name listed in O’Donovan’s Field Name Books are Clooncun East, Clooncon and Cluain Con.

Distinctive Features:
• A Ringfort and a Holy Well are registered with the National Monuments Service and feature in the National Monuments Service Archaeological Survey Database.
• There is a Children’s Burial Ground in Ballinlass but it is not registered with the National Monument Service.
• A Corn Kiln is situated beside New Village on the 1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map.
• Clooncon East is divided into four distinct clachan style villages namely, Cloonbrennaun, Ballinlassa, Ballinspodaun and New Village.

• Cloonbrennaun (Leagan Gaeilge – Cluain Braonáin) means Brennan’s Meadow. Cloon is the anglicised form of cluain meaning meadow while brennaun is derived from the Irish surname Ó Braonáin meaning Brennan. O’Donovan doesn’t mention how many houses were occupied in this village in the 1830s but judging from the 1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map it would appear to have been six.

• Ballinlassa (Leagan Gaeilge – Baile an Leasa) means the town of the fort. Baile means town and leasa is the genitive form of lios which means fort. In the 1830s O’Donovan listed seven houses and a ringfort in Ballinlassa. This townland is also known as Ballinlass.

• Ballinspadaun (Leagan Gaeilge – Baile an Spadáin) meaning the town of the fallow ground with which Fr. Conway concurs. Ballin is the anglicised version of baile meaning town while spadaun and likewise spodaun and spudane are derived from the Irish word spadán meaning fallow ground. Spadán was also used to describe a lea-land field on which potatoes were sown by spreading them on the unprepared surface and covering them over with soil taken from the furrows. O’Donovan gave the Irish form of the village name as Baile an Spodáín and translated it as “The town of the clod”. O’Donovan noted that there were six dwelling in the village in the 1830s. This village was also known as Ballinspidain, Ballinspodaun and Spudane.

• New Village – Englishtown (Leagan Gaeilge – Sráidbhaile Nua). O’Donovan didn’t note the Irish version of the name but it is reasonable to assume that it probably was called Sráidbhaile Nua. Sráidbhaile meaning village and nua meaning new. O’Donovan’s Field Name Books list twenty five houses in this village in the 1830s. A Corn Mill and a Holy Well are located close to the village.

1656-58 Down Survey: The Down Survey name of the townland is given as Clooncon. The landowner is listed as the Earl of Clanrickard, a Protestant. He supported the Royalists against Cromwell and thereby rendered his estates subject to confiscation under the terms of the Cromwellian Settlement Act. He forfeited Clooncon West but is not listed as having forfeited Clooncon East. It is possible that because he was a Protestant that he only suffered partial loss and that Clooncon East was not confiscated.

1823 – 1838 Tithe Applotment Books: Surviving documentation of the Tithe Applotment Books is in poor condition making it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to decipher the names of landholders. In so far as it can be ascertained the Catholic landholders in the townland of Clooncon East who paid the tithe (tax) levied to support the Established Church (Church of Ireland) were Darby Hatherston (Cloonbrennan), Loughlin Keaveny (Ballinlass) and John Lyons (Spudane). Protestant occupiers of agricultural holdings were exempt from this tax.

1838 O’Donovan’s Field Name Books: O’Donovan describes the townland as follows – “About 1/3 of this townland is bog, extending mostly round the boundaries. There is a marsh in the S. W. corner. There are 4 villages in this townland. In that portion of bog in the South, is a hill called deal [Unable to read.] hill. There is a pond 11/2 chains N. of the East boundary. The remainder of the land is tillage and pasture.”

1856 Griffith’s Valuation: The townland covers an area of 682 acres 1 rood 10 perches and the total rateable valuation of the land and buildings combined amounted to £154 0s 0d.
At the time of Griffith’s Valuation there were 42 occupiers in the townland of Clooncon East – Concannon, Crosby (2), Cruise, Donnellan (2), Fetherston (2), Geraghty, Keavney (15), Keenahan, Lyons, Mahon (3), Mannion, (2), McCormack, Meehan (2), Moore, Mullen, Murphy, Reilly (2), Shiel and White (2). The landlord at the time of the survey was Stephen Blake.

Adjoining Townlands: The following townlands share a border with Clooncon East – Ballinapeaka, Ballinastack, Barna, Clooncon West, Cornacoyntia, Curraghmulmurry (Ballynakill Parish), Frass, Lisnageeragh (Ballynakill Parish), Mountkelly and Stonetown 

Census Records: Population and Household data for the townland of Clooncon East:

Census Years	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	2011
Population	270	210	209	186	182	141	130	109	30
Households	58	40	40	33	37	32	27	24	10

Glenamaddy and the Irish Folklore Collections:

The article posted on this website under the ‘Heritage > Folklore’ tab provides an overview of the folklore material submitted by Glenamaddy parishioners to the National Folklore Commission, now known as the Irish Folklore Collections. It also explains the background to the 1937 Schools’ Collection (Bailiúchán na Scol) project which has good representation from a parish perspective

The Irish Folklore Collections housed in the Folklore Department of University College Dublin contain a treasure trove of folklore material, some of which is accessible online. Both the Main Manuscript Collection and the Schools’ Collection contain a considerable number of submissions from collectors and informants who resided in the parish of Glenamaddy. The quick reference directories featured in the ‘Parish > Townlands’ section of this website complement the user-friendly search features of the dúcas.ie website and are helpful in tracking Schools’ Collection submissions associated with townlands. Submissions are categorised under – School, Teacher, Language, Volume Number, Page Number, Collector, Collector’s Townland, Informant and Informant’s Townland. Where applicable, Schools’ Collection directories showing online townland-related submissions appear at the end of the following townland posts on this website – Ballinapeaka, Ballinastack, Barna, Boyounagh More (Middletown), Bushtwon, Cashel, Classaghroe, Cloonacross, Clooncon East, Clooncon West, Cloonkeen, Cultiafadda, Eskeromullacaun (Esker), Felimspark, Glenamaddy, Gortaganny, Gortnagier, Kiltullagh, Knockauns, Lisheenaheltia, Loughpark, Meelick, Scotland, Shannagh More, Stonetown and Woodfield.

Schools’ Collection Townland-Related Quick Reference Directory:

Parish folklore submissions contained in the Schools’ Collection are also accessible online via the following links:-

Árd Aoibhinn National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613680

Árd Aoibhinn National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613681 

Glenamaddy Girls’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613677

Glenamaddy Boys’ National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613678

Glenamaddy Boys’ National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613679 

Gort na Léime National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4569061   

Gort na Léime National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4569062 

Lisheenaheltia Girls’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613675 

Lisheenaheltia Boys’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613676    

Glenamaddy submissions which form part of the Main Manuscript Collection are not posted online but may be examined in the reading room of the Folklore Department in U.C.D., Belfield, Dublin 4. Typed versions of some of the parish contributions contained in the Main Manuscript Collection are published under the ‘Heritage > Folklore’ tab on this website.   

Quick Reference Directory of Glenamaddy folklore submissions in the Main Manuscript Collection:-

Author: Pat Keaveny

Sources:

Townlands in County Galway

1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map

Place Name Books of Galway

The Down Survey of Ireland

The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837

Griffith Valuation – Ask About Ireland

Central Statistics Office

National Archives: Census Reports 1901/1911

Essex University: Historic Population Census Reports

Historic Environment Viewfinder