Stonetown (Leagan Gaeilge – Baile na gCloch) 

The townland of Stonetown is situated 2.5 kilometres north of the town of Glenamaddy. It is intersected by the Glenamaddy Ballymoe road. The townland name is topographically based. The Irish version of the name is Baile na gCloch may be translated as the town of the stones, baile meaning town and cloch meaning stone. Other forms of the townland name are Ballynaglough and Ballynaglogh.

Distinctive Features:

• The dry-stone walls prevalent in Stonetown indicate the presence of limestone rock close to the surface of the ground. Stone walls were built after the great Famine of the 1840s when the open system of farming, known as the Rundale system, was replaced and the land redistributed. Stone walls not only defined field boundaries but also helped to clear them of obstacles which interfered with cultivation. Stone walls were relatively easy to build, having no foundations, and required little maintenance.
• O’Donovan states that there were twenty nine houses in Stonetown Village in the 1830s. Most of the dwellings were strung out along the west side of the Glennamaddy to Castlerea road with three small clusters of houses situated off the main road to the east.
• Stonetown Primary School is said to have stood on the east side of the main road midway between the entrances to the townlands of Bushtown and Cloonlara North opposite Stonepark House. It is not included in the 1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map of Stonetown but a school appears in Ballinastack further north on the east side of the main road. Locals cannot recall a school at this location. Local historian, Anthony Ward, states in an article published in Glenamaddy Arts and Historical Society Journal Vol 2, 1993 that “the first national school at Stonetown had the year 1846 on the carved rope-edged entrance stone and the endownment name Sir George Gore, the then landowner.” The 1856 Griffith Valuation records a National School House in the townland of Stonetown but the accompanying map places the School in Ballinastack townland.

1656-58 Down Survey:  

The owner of Stonetown townland at the time of the Down Survey is listed as the Protestant Archbishop of Tuam. The Protestant Archbishop had been granted vast tracts of land across numerous townlands, primarily in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.

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. Stonetown and Ballinaglough (Irish version of Stonetown) are listed in the online version of the Tithe Applotment Books. It is possible that one of them encompasses Stonepark.  In so far as it can be ascertained the Catholic landholders in the townlands concerned who paid the tithe (tax) levied to support the Established Church (Church of Ireland) were Pat Keaveny, John Brady, Edmond Geoghegan, James Murphy, Martin Fahey, John Jennings, James Burke and Edward Mannion. Protestant occupiers of agricultural holdings were exempt from this tax.

1838 O’Donovan’s Field Name Books: 

O’Donovan describes the townland of Stonetown as follows  – “There are two portions of bog situated along the S. S.E. boundaries and a third portion in the North portion. The road from Moylough and Castleblakney to Kilnalag passes from N. to South through the townland. Stonetown village is on the West side of said road and portion of Clooncun Lough situated on the South boundary belongs to this townland. There is a nursery in the North portion of the E. side of the road. The remainder of the land is tillage and pasture.” “Stonetown is situated 1/2 miles N.E. of Clooncun village in the townland of Clooncun West.”

1856 Griffith’s Valuation: 

The survey established that the townland covered an area of 274 acres 1 rood 37 perches and the total rateable valuation of the land and buildings combined amounted to £102 5s 0d. There were seventeen occupiers in the townland of Stonetown at the time the survey was carried out – Conneely, Gore, Grealy, Keane, Keavney, Mannion, Murphy (2), National School House, Raftery, Regan (2), Reilly (2), Toole and two unidentified occupiers. The landlord at the time the survey was conducted was Sir St. George Gore.

Adjoining Townlands: 

The following townlands share a border with Stonetown –Ballinapeaka, Bushtown, Clooncon East, Clooncon West, Stonepark and  Swiftsacre

Census Records: 

Population and Household data for the townland of Stonetown:

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),_Bushtown,  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

Glenamaddy Arts and Historical Society Journal. Vol 2. 1993