Spiddal ( ga, An Spidéal , meaning 'the hospital') is a village on the shore of

Galway Bay Galway Bay ( Irish: ''Loch Lurgain'' or ''Cuan na Gaillimhe'') is a bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south; Galw ...

in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially reco ...

(Irish-speaking area) and of the

Connemara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

region. According to the 2016 census, 35.3% of the population speak Irish on a daily basis outside the education system. It is a centre for tourism with a beach, harbour, and shore fishing. The village is part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Moycullen.

Name

The name of the village in

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, ''An Spidéal'', derives from the word ''ospidéal'', in turn derived from the English word 'hospital'. A number of hospital facilities were based in the area, including a famine hospital which was located in Spiddal during the Great Famine of the mid-1840s. While 'Spiddal' is the common English variant of the name, 'Spiddle' is sometimes used.

History

Spiddal like much of the west of Ireland suffered greatly during the Great Famine, with many people being evicted and many people starving. Appeals were made by the parish priest John O'Grady and by A.W. Blake, as a result the board of works employed some local men in the improvements to the harbour in Spiddal. From 1848 the evangelical Protestant

Irish Church Missions The Irish Church Missions (ICM) is a conservative and semi-autonomous Anglican mission. It was founded in 1849 as The Irish Church Missions to the Roman Catholics chiefly by English Anglicans though with the backing and support of Church of Irelan ...

were active, establishing the ''Connemara Orphan's Nursery'' (Spiddal Orphanage/Nead Le Farrige) in the early 1850s, the home could accommodate up to 90 boys and girls, and became affiliated to the Protestant-run Smyly Homes (and was even referred to as The Bird's Nest, the name of the Dublin home). Following its closure as an orphanage, it became a Secondary School for Girls run by the catholic Sisters of Mercy.

Facilities

There are a number of shops and services in the area. On the eastern side of the village is An Cheardlann ('the workshop' in

), a craft village. There is a primary school and a secondary school in the village. Live

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

is regularly performed in the village's

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, some of which double as restaurants. The village is served by Bus Éireann route 424 from Galway City. The Boluisce river flows south from Boluisce Lake and enters Galway Bay at Spiddal.

Culture and sport

Each summer, groups of Irish teenagers visit Spiddal for three-week

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

courses. American students visit for the autumn semester each year to study Irish-language literature and culture. Coláiste Chonnacht and Coláiste Lurgan are two local

schools. The music group

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

recorded part of their ''

Fisherman's Blues ''Fisherman's Blues'' is a 1988 album by The Waterboys. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, an ...

'' album in Spiddal. They also recorded a song called ''Spring Comes to Spiddal'' on their album ''

Room to Roam ''Room to Roam'' is the fifth studio album by The Waterboys; it continued the folk rock sound of 1988's '' Fisherman's Blues'', but was less of a commercial success, reaching #180 on the '' Billboard'' Top 200 after its release in September 1990 ...

''. The television series ''

Ros na Rún () is an Irish soap opera produced for the Irish-language television channel TG4. The series is set in a fictional village called Ros Na Rún, located near to An Spidéal, and focuses on the domestic and professional lives of its residents. ...

'' is filmed there, and broadcast on

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

. The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

club is ''Cumann Lúthchleas Gael An Spidéal'', with Gaelic football and hurling being the most popular sports. There is also a sailing club in the village.

Notable residents

* Mary Bergin, musician *

Ronan Browne Ronan Browne is an Irish musician and composer who plays the Irish pipes. He plays and sings with the band Cran, and also played in a 40-year duet with Peter O'Loughlin. He was the original piper with both ''Riverdance'' and the Afro Celt So ...

, musician *

Thom McGinty Thomas McGinty (1 April 1952 – 20 February 1995), known as The Diceman, was a Scottish-Irish actor, model, and street artist specialising in mime. Born in Scotland of Irish parentage, McGinty spent much of his life and career in Ireland, whe ...

, actor and stillness artist *

Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, (30 July 1914 – 25 April 1999) was an Irish journalist, author, sports official, and the sixth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He succeeded his uncle as Baron Killanin in the Peer ...

, journalist, author, sports official and the sixth

president of the International Olympic Committee The president of the International Olympic Committee is head of the executive board that assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the management of its affairs. The IOC E ...

* Máirtín Ó Cadhain, a post-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Irish republican, writer of modern literature in Irish, and author of the comic and

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

work '' Cré na Cille''. * Dónall Ó Héalai, actor * Seán Ó Neachtain, former

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

and

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician * Eimear Ní Chonaola Nuacht TG4 anchor * Gráinne Seoige, television presenter * Síle Seoige, television presenter * Máirtín Thornton (died 1984), Irish heavyweight boxer in the 1940s * Máire Ní Thuathail (1959-2019), television producer.

References