Kinvara

This article is about the village in south County Galway. For the townland in west County Galway, see Kinvara (Moycullen).

Kinvara Cinn Mhara
Village
Dunguaire Castle
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Galway
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Village	1,160
• Urban	563
• Environs	597
Dialing code	091
Irish Grid Reference	M369103

Kinvara (Irish: Cinn Mhara, meaning "head of the sea") is a sea port village located in the south of County Galway, Ireland. The modern parish of Kinvara comprises the civil parishes of Kinvarradoorus and Killinny (Killina). Kinvara is occasionally spelled Kinvarra in English; this may be seen on some maps and road signs, although Kinvara is the most common spelling used nowadays. Kinvarra is still the official form of the name for the townland as shown on OSI maps and this form is still used on polling cards as the name of the townland while the District Electoral Division (DED) is called Kinvara.

Kinvara's area population according to the 2006 Census was 1160. The Great Famine in the 1840s and a series of emigrations that continued up until the 1960s reduced the population of the village – once a thriving port and a significant exporter of corn and seaweed – to no more than a few hundred people. From around the 1980s the population of the parish of Kinvara started to increase while the village started to grow in size.

Geography

The village lies at the head of Kinvara Bay known in Irish as Cinn Mhara (or more recently Cuan Chinn Mhara) from which the village took its name. This is an inlet in the south-eastern corner of Galway Bay. Kinvara is situated in the territory of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, which is coextensive with the diocese of Kilmacduagh (Cill Mhic Dhuach). The parish is roughly coextensive with the Ó hEidhin territory of Coill Ua bhFiachrach (wood of the Uí Fhiachrach) and this name was still in use in the mid 19th century as recorded by John O'Donovan in his Ordnance Survey letters. Kinvara is situated in the west of the barony of Kiltartan and close to the border with The Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster. The parish is bounded on the north by Galway Bay, on the east by the parishes of Ballinderreen (Killeenavarra) and Ardrahan, on the south by the parishes of Gort (Kilmacduagh) and Boston (Kilkeedy) and on the west by the parishes of Carron and New Quay (Abbey and Oughtmama).

History

Dunguaire Castle

Main article: Dunguaire Castle

Dún Guaire castle

Dunguaire Castle (Irish: Dún Guaire [lit, the Castle of Guaire]), a towerhouse of the Ó hEidhin (O Hynes) clan, is located to the east of the village. A Fearadhach Ó hEidhin (fferigh Oheyn) is recorded as the owner of the castle in a 1574 list of castles and their owners covering County Galway. This list was thought to have been compiled for the use of the Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney who planned the composition of Connacht. Eoghan Mantach Ó hEidhin (Oene Mantagh O'Heine), chief of the clan, is mentioned as the owner of the castle in the Indentures of Composition of 1585.

A view of Kinvara from Dunguaire Castle.

Terry Alts

The Terry Alt agrarian resistance movement of the early 19th century was active in the Kinvara area. In 1831, a large force of Terry Alts gathered over the border on Abbey Hill between Kinvara and New Quay in County Clare and challenged the English Crown forces to battle. They, however, dispersed before the arrival of the English forces. They also unsuccessfully attempted to ambush a body of English infantry at Corranroo in the west of the parish, which led to the death of one of their members.

Festivals

Street of Kinvara in 2007

Kinvara is home every year to two festivals, Fleadh na gCuach ("the cuckoo festival") an Irish music festival at the start of May and the Cruinniú na mBád ("gathering of the boats") in mid August.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Island Eddy