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Má fháighmse sláinte is fada ‘bheidh tráchtadh,
Ar an méid a bádh as Eanach Dhúin,
‘S mo thrua ‘márach gach athair ‘s máthair,
Bean is páiste tá a’ sileadh súl,
A Rí na nGrást, a cheap neamh is parthas,
Nár bheag an tábh’cht dúinn beirt nó triúr,
Ach lá chomh breá leis, gan gaoth ná báisteach,
Lán a’ bháid acu, ‘scuab’ ar shiúl!

The Kingdom of Maigh Seóla occupied ‘the fertile plains which lie east of Lough Corrib between Galway and Tuam’. It was centred on Lough Kime (today called Lough Hackett).
Its origins lie in the 5th century and it flourished until 1185 when the last king, Rory of Lough Kime was overthrown by and killed by his enemies the O’Connors.
Many of the features of our lives today originated with the Kingdom of Maigh Seóla; these include the introduction of Christianity, the introduction of surnames and the construction of many of the ruins we see around us.

Below are two letters by John O’Donovan concerning the Parish of Annaghdown, part of his Letters containing information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Galway collected during the progress of the Ordnanace Survey in 1838 Vol. I. Links to each volume of O’Donovan’s Letters are available on the Ask About Ireland website.
“I have not yet sufficiently examined the antiquities of this parish having only passed through a few townlands of it on my way from Clare Galway to Tuam. I met one old church in the townland of Cill Chathail which bears the same name with the townland or rather which originally gave its name of Cill Chathail or Church of St. Cathaldus to the townland. It lies in a fieldto the left of the road as you go from Clare Galway to Tuam about 8 miles from the latter.”

There are some roads the names of which are familiar to people around the globe, such as the Appian Way in Italy, the Silk Road in China, the Stuart Highway in Australia, the Burma Road of World War 2 fame, route 66 in the U.S.A., or the trans American Highway reaching from the tip of South America to Alaska. But the road that had the greatest impact on the people of the Annaghdown/Corrandulla area when it was built was the Curraghline.
Before it existed the means of getting to Galway City was by boat on the lake or by road through Claregalway. The Curragh Line is the stretch of road from Corrandulla Barracks to Carrowbrowne, a distance of approximately 6 miles. By any standard it was a major undertaking, given the difficult terrain it had to traverse from black alluvial clay in some places some fifty or more feet in depth to peat over white marl in others. Other places were a complete quagmire not to mention the added complication of two rivers and a number of streams and drains.

Below is a draft of the proposed information board for Corrandulla Cemetery. Transcriptions for each headstone are given in the document below. Please contact us with any corrections, additions or notes. Our thanks to the Society members involved in this

A seldom discussed aspect of Irish history is the number of Irishmen who served in the British forces, a number which exploded in the nineteenth century reaching two in five of all British soldiers. Irishmen are understandably slow to acknowledge their participation in an empire won partly, and policed largely, by their countrymen.
This short study focuses on the one hundred men from Annaghdown who served in British forces prior to the twentieth century, and it is important to note that this study includes only those who survived to discharge. The total number of men from Annaghdown was therefore considerably more, several times more indeed, in an era of war and particularly poor conditions for servicemen.
Nationally, close to three quarters of Irish soldiers were from rural areas and, in general, the men enlisted ‘for life’ (i.e. unlimited service) or, into the nineteenth century, for twenty-one years. The men were more often illiterate, well over half in the case of Annaghdown, with them making ‘their mark’ on attestation and discharge. This was an impediment to their promotion.

This is a transcription of a document entitled ‘A Copy of the Annadown Applotments – 1847’, presented to the Annaghdown Heritage Society in February 1996 by the Devaney family of Cregduff, Corrandulla. According to the prefacing summary page, it was applotted in spring 1847 by Thomas Browne, who lived in Cregduff.
It is unclear why the document was produced. A comparison with the later Griffith’s Valuation shows that the acreage given for each townland is consistent between the two. This suggests that Browne’s applotment was based on a published source – possibly the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map, produced in 1838. It is also possible that Browne came into contact with those carrying out the official valuation during the 1840s.