Barna

For other uses, see Barna (disambiguation).

Bearna
—  Village  —
The quay in the old part of the town
Bearna Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°15′N 9°09′W
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Galway
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2006)
• Urban	12,792
• Rural	3,024
Irish Grid Reference	M232227
Bearna is the only official name. The anglicized spelling Barna has no official status.

Bearna (anglicized as Barna) is a Gaeltacht village west of Galway city in County Galway, Ireland, on the R336 regional road. Once a satellite of Galway city, the village is now rapidly becoming one of its suburbs. Officially the village is regarded as Irish speaking and is therefore a constituent part of the regions of Ireland that make up the Gaeltacht. However, because of its absorption into the city, it has recently become a mainly English speaking village.^{[citation needed]} Nonetheless, Irish is still the main language of its western and northern hinterland and the village has now effectively become the gateway to the largest Irish speaking region in the country, Connemara.^{[citation needed]}

To try to control the major development which has been undertaken in recent years, a very strongly supported local action group has been set up (Pobal Bhearna). In 1976 a community development group called Comharchumann Bearna Teo was formed after five local men put up the purchase money for 2 acres (8,100 m²) at Troscaigh Thiar to be used for community purposes and has succeeded in developing several recreational facilities.

Sport

There are numerous sporting clubs active in the Bearna area. Barna GAA are one of the largest sports groups in the village fielding gaelic football teams in men's and ladies' competitions. Other Clubs in the parish are Bearna/Na Forbacha hurling club and Barna United soccer club. Notably, Cormac Folan of Freeport in Bearna represented Ireland in Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Townlands of Bearna

Most townlands are anglisations of the original Irish language names.

• Forramoyle West (from Na Foraí Maola Thiar)
• Forramoyle East (from Na Foraí Maola Thoir)
• New Village (from An Baile Nua)
• Leaclea (from An Leac Liath meaning ‘the gray flagstone or slab’)
• Seapoint (Rinn na Mara in Irish)
• Ahaglugger (from Ath an Ghlugair)
• Truskey West (from Troscaigh Thiar)
• Truskey East (from Troscaigh Thoir)
• Freeport (An Chéibh in Irish)
• Ballard West (from An Baile Ard Thiar meaning ‘the high village west’)
• Ballard East (from An Baile Ard Thoir meaning ‘the high village east’)
• Lenarevagh (from An Léana Riabhach meaning ‘the brindled or streaked grassland’)
• Knockaunnacarragh (from An Cnocán Carrach)

See also

• Barna Woods