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Memorial Inscriptions of Corrandulla Cemetery
Annaghdown Heritage Society
This booklet presents a complete transcription of all extant tombstone inscriptions at Corrandulla Cemetery. Together with a plan of the cemetery and a surname index, we hope it will be an invaluable genealogical and local history resource for the Annaghdown community and diaspora.
This is also available as an ebook here and via most ebook distributors.
The Stone-Built Wells of Annaghdown Parish
Jessica Cooke, Evelyn Stevens, Paul Greaney
This booklet presents the results of a project to collect information on the stone-built wells in the Annaghdown area. Illustrated throughout with maps and photographs, the booklet contains information on 28 wells in the parish, together with traditions and stories associated with them. The project was supported by the Heritage Council under the European Year of Cultural Heritage grant scheme. Full information, including the project database in the form of a map with photographs, is available on the project website, annaghdownheritage.ie/wells.
This is also available as an ebook here and via most ebook distributors.
By Corrib Clare and Cregg / Comhrá Cois Teallaigh
Seán Ó Murchadha
By Corrib, Clare and Cregg and Seanchas Cois Teallaigh reminds us in some detail of times past in rural Ireland. We are led back to the times when it was customary to walk or cycle to school, enjoy the local game of pitch and toss, work on the farm, walk to the fairs, learn all about the World War 2 as it unfolded, listen to the news and sport on the village radio, attend the races and even an air display, work in McDonoghs, Roadstone and the OPW, and recall the sorrows and disappointments of life as well as the joys and humorous moments.
One of the outstanding merits of the publication is the minute descriptions of the numerous events and the lists of the people involved. Nor does the author attempt to gloss over the hardships of bygone days in a superficial manner for he informs the reader of the tough times families endured during World War 2 and the drudgery of farm work for men and women alike. As can be gleaned from the content pages alone there is an abundance of historical material included to dwell on and discuss. While the actual setting is in the main within the confines of a parish, it may be applied to any rural setting in the west of Ireland with little alteration.
– Br. Conal Thomas.
“John Murphy, author of the publication, is a person of his times and in his times. In this narrative he records in some detail the events which shaped his life and blessed him with an extraordinary gift of memory. His comprehensive account of events spanning almost four score years carries no baggage or bias. Though the narrative is not nostalgic in content, the vivid record of happenings of bygone days has the power to evoke nostalgia in a reader familiar with those times. A study of this narrative can assist significantly those of a younger generation in an appreciation of local history. Thanks for the memories, John.”
– Peter Newell, Annaghdown Heritage Society.
Wildflowers of Annaghdown
Br. Conal Thomas
This book presents a comprehensive study of the wildflowers which are to be found in Annaghdown parish. Habitats examined in the study include the Lough Corrib shoreline and lake islands, lowland grassland, arable land, raised and cut-away bog, hedgerows and drainage ditches, turloughs, riversides, woodland, scrubland, and commonage. Plants found in the wetter areas include ragged robin, lady’s smock and marsh bedstraw, while birdsfoot trefoil and common vetch can be found on the lake-edge with marsh cinquefoil nearby. Plants that grow on the lower grasslands include meadowsweet and silverweed. Raised bog species include asphodel and bog cotton, while along wet ditches one observes yellow flag iris and marsh marigold. Within copses and woodlands, plants that thrive include violets, primroses and wood anemones.
The book consists of a full listing of wildflowers to be found in the various townlands in Annaghdown, giving their English, Latin and local Irish names, together with a colour photograph, description of the plant, and an outline of any uses or cures associated with it. The book is not only of interest to botanists, schoolchildren and teachers, but to all of those with an interest in the heritage of Annaghdown and, more generally, in the diverse range of flora to be found in the west of Ireland.
This is not just a mere flora book, but a veritable treasure trove of information of local interest.
– Éanna Ní Lamhna, botanist, lecturer and broadcaster
This is a very important heritage publication as it provides a comprehensive account of the wildflowers of Annaghdown. The photographs show the plants which greatly assists in their identification, while the descriptions also provide the key information for their identification. Another very important aspect of this publication is that all the plants are identified by their botanical, English and local Irish name. This is a most useful and valuable publication particularly for schoolchildren, teachers or would-be enthusiasts to assist in the identification of wildflowers in their own area.
– Marie Mannion, Galway County Council Heritage Officer
Monastic Ruins at Annaghdown, Co. Galway
Rev. Michael Goaley
About twelve miles north of Galway City, on the eastern shore of Lough Corrib, lies a group of ecclesiastical ruins that bear silent testimony to the by-gone glories of Annaghdown, or, as it was originally and more correctly called, Enaghdún – the Bog of the Fort.
The fame of Enaghdún in Christian times is due chiefly to St Brendan the Navigator, Patron of the parish, who founded a monastery and convent here in the sixth century, less than a hundred years after the death of St Patrick. A study of this lonely spot by the lake is a meditation on the growth of the Christian faith from its earliest days in our parish. We invite you to follow us on our journey through the ecclesiastical ruins at this hallowed spot. We can safely say that the mouldering pile of ruins at Enaghdún – with its traditions of St Brendan and St Briga, of Bishop’s palace and De Burgo castle – is the most interesting in a barony thickly strewn with monuments of Ireland’s former greatness. As we now approach this spot of monastic memories, the imagination bodies forth the forms of by-gone generations; the abbeys and cloisters resound with sweet-toned psalms; the voices of saints and scholars are heard in the schools; the cloisters are once again peopled with cowled and sandalled figures walking in silent meditation; the busy fingers of the scribes ply the quill of knowledge But alas! It is only a day-dream. The place is peopled only by the dead; the reality is an unbroken silence, except for the cry of the lonely curlew.