Castlegar, County Galway

Castlegar (An Caisleán Gearr) is a village and Roman Catholic parish in County Galway, Ireland, located just outside the city of Galway. It extends from Lough Corrib across to Merlin Park by the old Galway-Dublin road. The annual Galway Races are held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Castlegar Parish.

Castlegar

An Caisleán Gearr
Town
Castlegar
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°18′00″N 9°01′00″W
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyCounty Galway
Elevation
85 m (279 ft)
Population
 (2002)
 • Rural
842
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Websitewww.castlegar-galway.org

Irish language

The Castlegar ED has a population of 1,000 and 11% are Irish speakers.[1]

History

The name Castlegar is derived from the Irish words Caisleán Gearr, which means "Short Castle". The small Castlegar Castle, in the middle of the parish, was a guest or "short stay" castle for the Blake family's Menlo Castle. Because there were so many castles in the parish, the distance between them was very short, so some have suggested that this could be an alternative 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 and named a place there after it: Castlegar, British Columbia.

Castles
Plaque at Castlegar Castle
Menlo Castle
  • Ballybrit Castle
  • Ballindooley Castle (Ballindooly)[2]
  • Castlegar Castle (Castle Gar)
  • Cloonacauneen Castle (Cluanacauneen)[3]
  • Killeen Castle (Killeen)
  • Menlo Castle (Menlough)[2]
  • Merlin Park Castle (formerly Doughiska/Doughiskey)

Villages and townlands
  • Ballybrit
  • Ballindooley
  • Ballintemple
  • Briarhill
  • Bruckey
  • Cappanabornia
  • Carrabrowne
  • Castlegar Village
  • Coolough
  • Killeen
  • Killtulla
  • Kyloughter
  • Menlo
  • Two-Mile-Ditch

Notable people

References
  1. Castlegar Irish language stats 2006
  2. Menlo and Ballindooley Castle
  3. Cluanacauneen and Killeen Castle

Sources

Ó Laoi, Padraic. History of Castlegar Parish. 1996

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