Carna, Galway
Encyclopedia
Carna is a small area in Conamara, County Galway
, Ireland
, located on the country's west coast in the heart of the Gaeltacht
and about 50 km west of Galway city. Carna may be a small area but it has a big enough influence on the surrounding areas in Connemara as it contains a Garda Síochána
station, a Health Centre including a Rapid Response Ambulance and it also houses an Irish Coastguard lifeboat. Carna is located close to the village of Cill Chiarain and they share the peninsula locally called Iorras Aithneach. There is currently 178 people living in Carna Village but there are 1786 people living in the townlands around Carna and the Iorras Aithneach area. The population dramatically dropped from the previous average of 8000 before the Great Famine
. There are a number of public buildings in Carna. There is a hotel in carna called Carna Bay Hotel, there is a nursing home located there, there is a pharmacy called Cogaslann Agatha located in the village centre. There is also 4 shops located in Carna and 3 pubs bars
.
The National University of Ireland, Galway
, has an Irish-language
and educational centre (Áras Shorcha Ní Ghuairim) in Carna. It also operates a marine biology station Martin Ryan Institute in Maínis and an atmospheric research station at Mace Head, Carna, which is run by the university's experimental physics department.
There is a water resevoir based in Carna that provides West Connemara
including Roundstone
with fresh water. A bus is also based in Carna that brings passengers between Carna and Galway City picking up passengers along the N59.
Since Carna is in Conamara, it is an area that Catholics emigrated to during the Cromwell days, when the statement "to hell or to Connacht
" was familiar to all Catholics.
Carna is in a strong Gaeltacht
region, so most of the people speak Irish
at home. The population is almost totally (96 per cent - 2006) bilingual with English
being the second language spoken. There is an Irish language college for second level students located in Carna and Cill Chiarain called Coláiste Sheosaimh.
of fishermen and sailors in the area. There is a pilgrimage to the Island once a year on 16 July followed by a race of traditional boats.
Another archaeological gem in the area is a standing stone on Lake Scannive / Loch na Scainimhe, which can still be seen.
During the Spanish Armada's quest to take Britain a spanish ship called the Conception Delcano went up on rocks off the Carna coast in Mace. The sailors were brought to Galway
and were publicily hung in Eyre Square
by the Governor Bingham of Connaught. No wreckage is left but it is believed that some sailors escaped capture and settled in Carna.
There is also remains of a British Tower built during the Napoleonic ages to spy French ships off the coast. The tower is now ruins and can still be seen on Coilín hill a 5 minute drive from central Carna. The remains of what archaeologists think is a cellar can be seen on site as a hole protrudes downwards inside the ruins. Local myths say that a tunnel located close to the tower was used to bring people from the tower to Carna faster but no evidence has ever brought this to light. Also out on Mace Headland 10 minutes from Carna close to where the Spanish Armada ship went aground, there is still the remains of an army bunker used by the Irish Defence Forces during The Emergency
(WWII) to spy ships murking off he Irish coast. The remains are still there on the headland.
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, located on the country's west coast in the heart of the Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
and about 50 km west of Galway city. Carna may be a small area but it has a big enough influence on the surrounding areas in Connemara as it contains a Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
station, a Health Centre including a Rapid Response Ambulance and it also houses an Irish Coastguard lifeboat. Carna is located close to the village of Cill Chiarain and they share the peninsula locally called Iorras Aithneach. There is currently 178 people living in Carna Village but there are 1786 people living in the townlands around Carna and the Iorras Aithneach area. The population dramatically dropped from the previous average of 8000 before the Great Famine
Great Famine
Great Famine may refer to any of several historical famines:* The Great Famine of 1315–1317 in northern Europe* The Great India Famine of 1344-1345...
. There are a number of public buildings in Carna. There is a hotel in carna called Carna Bay Hotel, there is a nursing home located there, there is a pharmacy called Cogaslann Agatha located in the village centre. There is also 4 shops located in Carna and 3 pubs bars
Bars
-Plurals:*Dessert bars*Parallel bars or uneven bars, apparatus in men's or women's gymnastics, respectively*The quality of the reception on a mobile phone-Place names:*Bars County, a former Kingdom of Hungary county in present-day Slovakia...
.
The National University of Ireland, Galway
National University of Ireland, Galway
The National University of Ireland, Galway is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland...
, has an Irish-language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and educational centre (Áras Shorcha Ní Ghuairim) in Carna. It also operates a marine biology station Martin Ryan Institute in Maínis and an atmospheric research station at Mace Head, Carna, which is run by the university's experimental physics department.
There is a water resevoir based in Carna that provides West Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
including Roundstone
Roundstone
Roundstone may refer to:*Roundstone, County Galway, a village in the Republic of Ireland.*Roundstone, West Sussex, a village in England.*Roundstone Music, an English rock band....
with fresh water. A bus is also based in Carna that brings passengers between Carna and Galway City picking up passengers along the N59.
Since Carna is in Conamara, it is an area that Catholics emigrated to during the Cromwell days, when the statement "to hell or to Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
" was familiar to all Catholics.
Carna is in a strong Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
region, so most of the people speak Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
at home. The population is almost totally (96 per cent - 2006) bilingual with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
being the second language spoken. There is an Irish language college for second level students located in Carna and Cill Chiarain called Coláiste Sheosaimh.
History in Carna
Off the coast of Mace Head in Carna Parish is Oileán Mhic Dara (Mac Dara's Island). This is the location of a stone-built early Christian church and the cross of Saint Mac Dara, who is the Patron SaintPatron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of fishermen and sailors in the area. There is a pilgrimage to the Island once a year on 16 July followed by a race of traditional boats.
Another archaeological gem in the area is a standing stone on Lake Scannive / Loch na Scainimhe, which can still be seen.
During the Spanish Armada's quest to take Britain a spanish ship called the Conception Delcano went up on rocks off the Carna coast in Mace. The sailors were brought to Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
and were publicily hung in Eyre Square
Eyre Square
John F. Kennedy Memorial Park is an inner-city public park in Galway, Ireland, formerly officially named Eyre Square and still widely known by that name...
by the Governor Bingham of Connaught. No wreckage is left but it is believed that some sailors escaped capture and settled in Carna.
There is also remains of a British Tower built during the Napoleonic ages to spy French ships off the coast. The tower is now ruins and can still be seen on Coilín hill a 5 minute drive from central Carna. The remains of what archaeologists think is a cellar can be seen on site as a hole protrudes downwards inside the ruins. Local myths say that a tunnel located close to the tower was used to bring people from the tower to Carna faster but no evidence has ever brought this to light. Also out on Mace Headland 10 minutes from Carna close to where the Spanish Armada ship went aground, there is still the remains of an army bunker used by the Irish Defence Forces during The Emergency
The Emergency
The Emergency was an official euphemism used by the Irish Government during the 1940s to refer to its position during World War II. The state was officially neutral during World War II, but declared an official state of emergency on 2 September 1939, and enacted the Emergency Powers Act the...
(WWII) to spy ships murking off he Irish coast. The remains are still there on the headland.
Famous residents
- Éamon a BúrcÉamon a BúrcÉamon a Búrc was a tailor and Irish storyteller or seanchaí.Born to an Irish-speaking family in Carna, County Galway, Ireland, Éamon a Búrc, was brought by his parents to Graceville, Minnesota in 1880. Their passage was paid for by Archbishop John Ireland, who wished to fill up the Minnesota...
, considered Ireland's most brilliant storytellerStorytellingStorytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
in the Irish languageIrish languageIrish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, was an almost lifelong resident of Carna. The thousands of pages of his transcribed tales remain in the possession of the Irish Folklore CommissionIrish Folklore CommissionThe Irish Folklore Commission was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland....
.
- Joe HeaneyJoe HeaneySeosamh Ó hÉanaí , Sean Nós singer, 15 October 1919 – 1 May 1984.-Biography:A native of Carna, County Galway, Ireland, Ó hÉanaí spent much of his life living in England, Scotland and in New York City....
, (Irish. Seosamh Ó hÉanaí or Joe Éinniú) (1919–1984) was a sean-nós singerSean-nós songSean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...
from Carna in County Galway, Ireland. Heaney spent much of his life living in England, Scotland and in New York City. From 1982 until 1984, Heaney was an artist-in-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Joe Heaney Collection of the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives was established after Heaney's death in 1984. The Féile Chomórtha Joe Éinniú (Joe Heaney Commemorative Festival) is held every year in Carna.
- Chris Prendergast (1972-), Former singer of German Thrash Metal Band DAVIDIANDavidianDavidian may refer to:*Shepherd's Rod, a Seventh-day Adventist offshoot that later called themselves Davidians*Branch Davidian, the most famous Shepherd's Rod splinter group, decimated in the Waco siege....
http://www.davidian.de
- Dara Ban Mac Donnchadha, Sean-nós Singer
- Michael Mhaire Ghadbh Ó Ceannabháin, Sean-nós
- Jimmy Connolly, Sean-nós singer (living in Boston).
- Máire Geoghegan-QuinnMáire Geoghegan-QuinnMáire Geoghegan-Quinn is an Irish politician, and is the current European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. She previously served as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for the Galway West constituency from 1975 to 1997...
, born in Carna, as of 2011, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.
- Colonel Joseph McDonagh, born in Carna, as of 2011, Colonel McDonagh of the Irish Defence Forces is serving in the 2011-2012 deployment to Lebanon for the United Nations Peacekeeping force there.
- Dónal Ó Cuailáin The Chief Superintendent of the Garda Síochána in Galway County was born in Carna.
- Denis McDonoughDenis McDonoughDenis R. McDonough is a foreign policy advisor in the Obama Administration. He currently serves as Deputy National Security Advisor.-Early life and education:...
The Chief of Staff for the United States National Security Council. His Grandfather came from Ard West in Carna before his family moved to MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
where Denis grew up. He had a prime role along with the President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defence in the death of the FBI's Most Wanted man Osama Bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
.
- Liam CosgraveLiam CosgraveLiam Cosgrave is an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach and as Leader of Fine Gael . He was a Teachta Dála from 1943 to 1981....
The former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave lived in Carna for a number of years to learn Irish in the old national school in Carna.