Cloonfush () is a
townland
A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
and village located approximately from
Tuam
Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...
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 substantially surrounded by
River Clare
The River Clare () is a river in counties Mayo and Galway in Ireland.
The long river rises north of Ballyhaunis in Mayo and descends past Dunmore, where it flows west, then turns south past Milltown continuing down through Kilbennan Church ...
, which flows into the Corrib. Adjacent villages are Kilmore, Sylane, and Killaloonty.
Location
Cloonfush is accessed via the main
N17 at Clashroe, and is a cul-de-sac single-lane road. The village of Kilmore is reached first, then Cloonfush approximately later. There is no separation between the two villages today, as houses now line the road almost over its complete length through both villages. The road leading through the village was finally surfaced in the 1950s, with the last remaining with a grass strip in the middle until the early 1980s. There is a
peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
bog to the south of the village, used predominantly by the inhabitants of both Cloonfush and Kilmore for harvesting turf, which is used as a solid fuel for domestic heating.
Facilities
Cloonfush has no church, shops, schools or other infrastructural amenities. The inhabitants are therefore dependent on the neighbouring town of Tuam and the city of Galway for these services.
Until the late 1960s, there was no mains water supply to the village, with each household dependent on obtaining water from the hand water pump located in the village. A local committee was formed and a borehole was sunk near the old hand pump location. A pump house was erected over the borehole. A network of pipes was laid in trenches along the roadside and each house in turn connected. Once commissioned, this system provided fresh clean water to the villages of Kilmore and Cloonfush for almost four decades. Regular independent analysis of the water confirmed its potability. In the early 2000s, the pump house and pipe work were finally abandoned when the network was connected to the mains water supply by
Galway County Council
Galway County Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ho ...
.
Various travelling shops served the area over the years. The last such service ceased in the late 1970s.
History
Cloonfush was the location of an abbey where
St Jarlath was abbot, the ruins of which still exist, some 1,600 years later. The adjacent graveyard (cemetery) is still in use, and since the year 2000 is the location of an annual mass on 6 June, the feast day of St Jarlath.
Cloonfush also features in
Griffith's Valuation
Griffith's Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868.
Griffith's background
Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806–1807 valuing terrain through the examin ...
(Tuam Area) of 1848–1864.
The Higgins, Crisham (sp: Cresham) and Roche names can still be found in the village, whilst descendants of Bermingham (Fleming) are still living in the village.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
{{coord, 53, 30, 55, N, 8, 53, 45, W, source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title
Towns and villages in County Galway
Tuam