Clooncon West (Leagan Gaeilge – Cluain Con Thiar): The townland of Clooncon West is situated one kilometre north of Glenamaddy Town in north-east County Galway. The Irish form of the townland name translates as ‘the west meadow of the hound’, cluain meaning meadow, cú meaning hound and thiar meaning west. Other forms of the townland name listed in O’Donovan’s Field Name Books are Clooncun West and Cluain Con.
Distinctive Features:
• The 1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map identifies three distinct clusters of houses fitting the definition of clachans in the townland, one named Gloon containing thirteen houses in the north central part of the townland, another cluster of twenty houses close to the town of Glenamaddy on the west side of Ballymoe Road and a third containing twenty one houses further north straddling both sides of the Ballymoe Road.
• Gloon is the anglicised form of Glún which is the Irish for knee. Tradition has it that St. Patrick visited the townland on his travels around Ireland and that he left the imprint of his knees on a stone on a small hill in Gloon. It is considered locally to have been an Ecclesiastical Site though it isn’t mapped or officially recognised as such.
• A submission to the School’s Folklore Collection recounted that a church located at the foot of the hill was destroyed in Cromwellian times.
• The 1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map also shows a turlough and a small lake called Clooncon Lough in the north of the townland.
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. The area of unprofitable land is given as 428 plantation acres. Profitable land amounted to 200 plantation acres and the amount forfeited is given as 200 plantation acres. Usually Protestants didn’t have to forfeit their lands as part of the Cromwellian Settlement Act unless they had sided with the Royalists. Clanrickard regained his estates in 1662 following the restoration of Charles II.
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 West who paid the tithe (tax) levied to support the Established Church (Church of Ireland) were John Keaveny and Loughlin Keaveny (Land Gap), Loughlin Keaveny (Clooncon Robertstown), Bryan Mannion (Old Village) and William Mannion (Gloon) Protestant occupiers of agricultural holdings were exempt from this tax.
1838 O’Donovan’s Field Name Books: O’Donovan describes the townland as follows – “There are two Loughs namely Mill Lough and Meelick Lough on the South boundary of this townland a portion of each belongs to it, as also a portion of Clooncun Lough, which is on the N. boundary. There are several portions of bog, the road from Glanamadda to Kilnalag passes from N. to South through it. There are several gravel pits, springs [Unable to read.] and three villages. The remainder of the land is tillage and pasture.”
1856 Griffith’s Valuation: The townland covers an area of 744 acres 0 rood 35 perches and the total rateable valuation of the land and buildings combined amounted to £162 12s 0d. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation there were 38 occupiers in the townland of Clooncon West – Blake, Cunniffe (2), Donnellan (2), Fahy (2), Fetherston, Keaveny (21), Kilgarriff, Mahon, Mannion (4), McGuire, Walsh and one unidentified. The landlord’s name was Stephen Blake.
Adjoining Townlands: The following townlands share a border with Clooncon West – Bushtown, Stonetown, Swiftsacre, Clooncon East, Mountkelly, Glenamaddy, Shannagh More and Eskeromullacaun (Esker).
Census Records: Population and Household data for the townland of Clooncon West:
Census Years | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 2011 |
Population | 138 | 189 | 235 | 272 | 239 | 253 | 217 | 194 | 122 |
Households | 25 | 38 | 43 | 51 | 48 | 49 | 44 | 40 | 44 |
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
For related townland website posts click on the following links:-
Some Recollections of the Troubles
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