Claddaghduff () is a village in

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It is located northwest of

Clifden Clifden () is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". Frequen ...

, the gateway to

Omey Island Omey Island () is a tidal island situated near Claddaghduff on the western edge of Connemara in County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. From the mainland the island is almost hidden. It is possible to drive or walk across a large sandy str ...

History

The village, now sparsely populated, overlooks Omey Island which contains the ruins of Teampal Feichin, a medieval granite church dedicated to St. Feichin. Omey Island is a part of the Omey Granite Pluton, one of the oldest granites in Connemara; and its human history dates back at least 5,000 years. Claddaghduff has been a site for writers and artists. Richard Murphy's poetry was inspired by the local lore, landscapes, and seascapes and novelist

John McGahern John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in works such as '' The Barracks'', '' The Dark'' and '' Amongst Women'', he was hailed by ''The Ob ...

also resided in the village. Much of the scenery and ambience of

Walter Macken Walter Macken (3 May 1915 – 22 April 1967; Irish: ), was born in Galway, Ireland. He was a writer of short stories, novels and plays. Biography Walter Macken was originally an actor, principally with the Taibhdhearc (where he met his wife, ...

's famous novels is based on his time in and around Claddaghduff. The townland, as with most of Connemara, was deeply affected by the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger ( ), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact o ...

(or ''Gorta Mor'') of 1847–48, with large numbers leaving for America and Boston in particular. At Grallagh there remains a graveyard by the shore which was chosen to hold the deceased children whose lives were cut short by the starvation and disease which wreaked havoc on the region. 19th century rural Ireland was largely controlled by British landlords and their (often Irish) land agents. Such was no different in and around Claddaghduff, where the majority of farmlands were owned by English landlords who rented out the land to subsistence farmers. Evidence of the effect of such a tenuous existence is shown in the large number of abandoned houses which surround the village and outlying townland. Claddaghduff was the scene of at least one of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

's 'Monster Rallies' during the campaign in Ireland for religious and political

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

Tourism

Claddaghduff is reliant upon the seasonal tourism of the spring and summer months, and is known for its deep sea angling, lake fishing, boat trips to Inishturk and Inishbofin. There is also pony trekking, pitch & putt, dive sites, beaches and historical tours.

References

External links

Cleggan/Claddaghduff Community site
Towns and villages in Connemara {{Galway-geo-stub

History

Tourism

See also

References

External links