Castlegar is a village and parish in County Galway

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 just outside of the city of 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...

. It extends from Lough Corrib

Lough Corrib

Lough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the second largest lough in Ireland . It covers 178 km² and lies mostly in County Galway with a small area of its northeast corner in County Mayo.The first canal in...

 across to Merlin Park by the old Galway-Dublin road.
The annual Galway Races

Galway Races

The Galway Races is an Irish horse-racing festival that starts on the last Monday of July every year. Held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland over seven days, it is the longest of all the race meets that occur in Ireland....

 are held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Castlegar Parish.

History

The name Castlegar is derived from the Irish words "Caislean Gearr". This mean "Short Castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

".
The small Castlegar Castle, in the middle of the parish, was a guest or "short stay" castle for the Blake family

Blake Baronets

There have been four Baronetcies for persons with the surname Blake, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, two in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...

's Menlo Castle.
There being so many castles in the parish, the distance between was also very short, so some have posited that this is the source of the name.
Parts of the parish, most notably Carrabrowne, Ballindooley and Menlo were until recently, strongholds of the Irish language. But with recent development of the area, and the influx of non-native speakers, the use of Irish is very much reduced.
Emigrants from Ireland went to British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and named a place there after it. See Castlegar, British Columbia

Castlegar, British Columbia

Castlegar is the second largest city in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located within the Selkirk Mountains at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers. It is a regional trade and transportation centre, with a local economy fueled by forestry, mining and tourism...

.

Famous people

• The Blake Baronets
  Blake Baronets
  There have been four Baronetcies for persons with the surname Blake, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, two in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
  
   from 1622 through 1910.
• Castlegar is home to the hurling
  Hurling
  Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
  
   family, the Connolly brothers, John
  John Connolly (hurler)
  John Connolly is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Castlegar and with the Galway senior inter-county team in the 1970s and 1980s. Connolly is regarded as one of Galway’s greatest-ever players.-Biography:John Connolly was born in Leiter Moir, Connemara, County...
  
   and Joe Connolly
  Joe Connolly (hurler)
  Joe Connolly is an Irish retired sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Castlegar and was a member of the Galway senior inter-county team from 1976 until 1984. Connolly captained Galway to the All-Ireland title in 1980.-Biography:Joe Connolly was born in Castlegar, County Galway in...
  
  .

Castles in Castlegar, County Galway

• Ballybrit Castle,
• Ballindooley Castle (Ballindooly),
• Castlegar Castle (Castle Gar),
• Cloonacauneen Castle (Cluanacauneen),
• Killeen Castle (Killeen),
• Menlo Castle (Menlough),
• Merlin Park Castle (formerly Doughiska
  Deoch Uisce
  Doughiska is a fast growing suburb of Galway City in County Galway, Ireland. There is now continuous urban development between Doughiska and the city centre due to the growth of Galway City in recent years. Most of the open fields are now being developed for housing, hotels and business parks...
  
  /Doughiskey)

Villages and townlands in Castlegar, County Galway

• Ballybrit,
• Ballindooley,
• Ballintemple,
• Briarhill,
• Bruckey,
• Cappanabornia,
• Carrabrowne,
• Castlegar Village,
• Killeen,
• Kyloughter,
• Menlo
  Menlo
  Menlo may refer to:-Place names:Menlo, County Galway, a small village in the parish of Castlegar, on the outskirts of Galway, Ireland.In the United States:*Menlo, Georgia*Menlo, Iowa*Menlo, Kansas*Menlo, Washington...
  
  ,
• Two-Mile-Ditch,
• Killtulla
• Coolough

External links

• Menlo and Ballindooley Castle
• Castlegar Castle
• Cluanacauneen and Killeen Castle
• Merlin Park Castle
• Menlo Castle
• Map of all Castlegar Castles