Renvyle & its Scenic Environs_clone

7. Slyne Head Lighthouse is located in Errislannan – the first
light of Ireland for many returning sea-weary fishermen
and passengers from America and other places.

8. Bunowen Bay, though just one of a few lovely beaches in
Ballyconneely must be one of the nicest and yet least
advertised beaches in the west of Ireland.

Ballyconneely

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No 30
CLIFDEN [John Darcy]

1. It took a brave man to establish a town in a place like
Clifden with no roads or very little infrastructure more
than two hundred years ago, but that’s what Landlord
John Darcy did as a young man, aged just 27. As well as
establishing Clifden Town he built a fine castle for himself
on the Sky Road which is now lies roofless and in ruins.
Darcy, who supported Catholic Emancipation which
eventually came in 1829 was a Protestant but even so
and though the Penal Laws were not yet repealed a
Catholic Church was built in 1820 and remained in use
until the 1870s when the present-day St Joseph’s Church,
designed by Cork architect J J O’Callaghan, was built on
the opposite side of the Clifden to Westport road.
Foundation stone was laid by Archbishop John McHale
on 28th August 1872.

Clifden
2. [Fr Andrew Conroy baptised John McHale as a baby

in his home in Tubbernavine near Lahardane Co
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Mayo soon after his birth as he was so small and so
frail. Fr Conroy was later hanged by Denis ‘the Rope’
Browne of Westport House, outside the court house
in The Mall in Castlebar during the 1798 Rebellion,
charged with high treason – allegedly helping
General Humbert as he passed through Lahardane
after landing at Killala on 22nd August 1798.]
3. Clifden prospered after it got up and going but went
into rapid decline due to The Great Famine when it
suffered perhaps more than many other towns on
the west coast. Shocking stories of hardship and
cruelty still exist regarding conditions in the
poorhouse/workhouse which was located off the
Galway road, near the back of where Lidl is today.
4. It once had a brewery, a mill, a courthouse, a jail, and
later a railway station and of course fair days from
the outset which it retained up until recent times. It
had a monastery and a convent, lots of shopkeepers,
merchants and all the other trappings of a town with
a few hotels after the railway opened in 1895 and
many pubs and eating houses.
5. Twice-married John D’Arcy died in 1839. He had
eight children with his first wife Frances Blake from
near Tuam who died in 1815 and eight with Louisa
Bagot from Dublin whom he married in 1820 when
she was 19 and he was 35. He was extravagant and
lived beyond his means. Although a magistrate and
landlord of his own town of Clifden he was even-
handed. His son and heir Hyacinth, who was never
able to fill his shoes, was declared bankrupt and the
whole town of Clifden was sold to Thomas and
Charles Eyre from Bath in England in the Encumbered
Estates Courts in 1850 for £21,245.

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6. Daniel O’Connell held a monster meeting near the
present-day show-jumping grounds at 8 pm on
Sunday September 17th 1843 demanding the Repeal
of the Act of Union – wasting his time as the British
government didn’t listen to his pleas or heed his calls
and he was subsequently imprisoned from which he
never fully recovered.

7. The town suffered like every other town during the
War of Independence. It was ransacked and burned
by the Black and Tans on St Patrick’s Day 1921 in
revenge for two RIC constables shot dead a few days
earlier. They were shot in revenge for the hanging of
local innocent man Tommie Whelan by the British
government in Mountjoy Jail on the 14th March 1921.
A monument to his memory is erected near the Bank
of Ireland on The Sky Road.
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No 31
CLIFDEN
[Alcock & Brown / Marconi / The Sky Road]

1. One of Clifden’s biggest claims to fame is its association
with the first two men to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
John Alcock from Manchester and Arthur Brown from
Glasgow landed on Sunday morning 15th June 1919
outside Clifden after flying non-stop more than 1,890
miles in fourteen and a half hours. A statue of the two
men commemorating this great historical aviation
achievement has been erected in the centre of the town
to mark their centenary in 2019.

2. A few years earlier Marconi’s manager of the newly-
installed radio system on The Titanic Jack Phillips lived in
Clifden from May 1908 until 1911. Though he got
advance warnings of icebergs ahead from other passing
ships on that fatal night he put them to one side and
didn’t seem to realise the seriousness of the situation.
Connemara also had another connection with the ill-
fated ship which didn’t have half enough of lifeboats
onboard. Bruce Ismay, a Liverpudlian and chairman of
the White Star Line made sure he got safely onboard one
of them (some say dressed as a woman) while hundreds
of men, women and children perished in the icy waters
of the North Atlantic as The Titanic went down in April
1912 with the loss of 1501 lives.

3. Ismay who was thereafter referred to as the coward of
the century with his wife Florence settled into a nice
quiet retreat in 1913 in Connemara, fifty minutes drive
from Clifden during the summer months for the rest of
his life until he died in London in 1937 aged 75.

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4. Marconi was born in Italy 1874 and died following a
series of heart attacks in July 1937 aged 63. Though
offered free passage on The Titanic he travelled the
previous day on another White Star liner - the RMS Celtic,
also built in Belfast.

5. His mother Annie Jameson was granddaughter of John
Jameson of Irish Distillers. Radios around the world
ceased broadcasting for two minutes when he died as a
mark of respect to the ‘inventor’ of the radio for which
he won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1909.

6. As you drive along The Sky Road looking down on the sea
and out at the islands scattered here and there in the
Atlantic Ocean where holy men and women such as
Saints Colman, Feichin, Leo and Gormgall established
monasteries and oratories and lived saintly lives long
ago, due to its elevation you feel you are up in the sky –
hence the name: The Sky Road.

7. Among famous men associated with Sky road three
immediately come to mind. John Darcy [1785-1839] is
commemorated by a little monument with a pathway
leading up a small hill overlooking the town. The
impressive entrance built in 1815 to his now-ruined
castle is still intact.
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The Sky Road
Actor Peter O’Toole [1932- 2013] who played T. E.
Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia and also starred in
several other films too still has family members there.
Twenty-two years old Tommie Whelan who was wrongly
accused of murder was the first of six men hanged in
March 1921 for the execution of a British spy in Dublin.
8. Across Clifden Bay from The Sky Road on a clear day
Slyne Head Lighthouse in Ballyconneely can be seen and
on dark nights its beacons reverberate for many miles all
around west Connemara.

Entrance to now-ruined Castle
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No 32
Connemara HERITAGE & HISTORY Centre/ Dan

O’Hara’s

1. Dan O’Hara’s is one of those places you’ll regret not
having visited if you don’t include it in your itinerary.

Connemara Heritage & History Centre
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To learn of the evolution, the geology and the formation
of Connemara and its people this is the place to visit
where you can see at first hand in a specially constructed
small auditorium in cinematic fashion the ongoing
progression and development from ten thousand years
ago.
2. This is a privately-owned commercial enterprise where
your welcoming hosts are Noreen and Martin Walsh.
The sad story is based on a local farmer Dan O’Hara who
with his wife and small children were forced to take a
perilous journey across the wild Atlantic Ocean due to
the harsh treatment of his nearby local landlord who
lived in luxury.
3. You can see the thatched cottage with the rooster and
hens outside in the pen, the farm implements up on the
loft, the holy pictures on the wall and everything as it
was before The Great Famine ravaged the country and
the plain people of Ireland. It subtly illustrates the close
connection between Ireland and the United States
especially from those sad and poignant times. It also
demonstrates the cutting and harvesting of turf, as well
as having a museum and lovely coffee shop serving
delicious scones with cream, butter and jam.

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4. A crannog, a ring fort and a clochain as well as a craft
shop and free parking are all there where you can visit
and view at your own time or you can, depending on
numbers, arrange for a guided tour.

Connemara Reflections

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No 33
BALLYNAHINCH

1. The history of Ballynahinch Castle goes back into the
mists of time but sometime around 1586-1590 the
Martins, one of the 14 Merchant Families known as the
Tribes of Galway acquired the estate through part
purchase and part grant from the ruling chieftains of
Connemara up till then. The Martins were the first of the
Tribes to set up home outside the walled city of Galway.
Around 1813 they built a castle that was originally an inn,
nowadays called a pub or a guesthouse or a combination
of both.

2. Long before that it was one of several castles throughout
Connemara owned by the O’Flahertys. Following major
renovations Richard Martin MP [1754–1834] who
became High Sheriff of Galway in 1782, otherwise known
as ‘Humanity Dick’ resided there. He was friends with the
Prince of Wales who later became King George IV who
gave him that nick-name after he founded the Society for
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in June in 1824.
He gave credit for its founding to Rev Broome, who was
the Society’s first honorary secretary. This also had the
support of William Wilberforce whose brother Robert
purchased Kylemore Estate from Henry Blake on 8th
February 1853. Dick and George IV had much in common
in particular the four wives they had between them not
to mention the numerous mistresses and paramours.
Richard Martin, who was a prolific duellist with sword
and pistol, also had the nick-name ‘hair trigger Dick’. He
had a long and chequered history before fleeing the

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country and his debts in 1826 and dying in Boulogne in
France on 6th January 1834.
3. Daniel O’Connell was a guest in Ballynahinch Castle when
visiting Clifden for his ‘monster meeting’ in 1843. It
changed ownership many times down the years after the
Law Life Assurance Society called in the mortgage. The
Berridges of London purchased it from the Assurance
Society.
4. An Indian prince known as Ranjisinhji fell in love with it
while on a two weeks holiday there in 1923 and
purchased it. Rumours still persist that he won the place
in a game of poker in Monte Carlo. In any case he owned
it till he died in 1933. Then Mr Frederick McCormack
owned it till he died in 1946. The Irish Tourist Board then
purchased it. The first signature on the Visitor’s Book is
Eamon DeValera who stayed there on 9th June 1946.
5. The Tourist Board sold it in 1952 and it has remained in
the private ownership of at least three different families
since then. President Gerald Ford and his wife Betty
stayed there but not when he was president.
President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina visited
there while travelling through Connemara.

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I’ll Catch Him Yet!
6. The serenity, the tranquillity, the history and the

ambience of the castle with its beautiful views located
alongside the peacefully flowing Owenmore River is well
worth a visit or even an overnight stay if the cheque book
and circumstances are that way inclined.

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No 34
INISHBOFIN

1. Inishbofin is one of several idyllic islands off the coast of
Renvyle and is easily accessible by boat daily through
Cleggan. There was a legend that at one time it was a
floating island until sailors lost in fog lit a fire on it
dispelling the magic engulfing and surrounding it and
then it settled where it now remains. They then saw an
old woman driving a white cow that turned into a rock
when she struck it with a stick and hence the name: Inis
Bo Finne (Island of the White Cow).

2. St Colman founded a monastic settlement there in the 7th
century. He remains the patron saint of the island and
the local church is named in his honour. Today (2021) its
population is about 160 but up to the Great Famine
about 1,500 people lived on it. At the time it was part of
Co Mayo but in 1873 it became part of Co Galway. In
Cromwellian times a prison for catholic clergy was built in
Inishbofin. The remains of which are known as the
Cromwellian Fort are still a prominent feature as you
approach the island.

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Inishbofin Island
3. Its soil and climate are not ideal for trees so very little if

any trees are to be seen there. A runway for a small
airstrip lies vacant and overgrown for many years as the
plans for an airport never got off the ground!
4. It is a popular place for hen-parties, stag parties,
occasional weddings and all sorts of parties where rich
and famous people like to come for holidays. There is no
police station on the island.
5. Poet Richard Murphy who died in 2018 spent many years
taking tourists to Inishbofin in his hooker ‘Ave Maria’.
His father William Murphy was Governor General of the
Bahamas and would have preferred if he also joined the
colonial service rather than ‘wasting his time’ writing
poetry, fishing and showing tourists around Inishbofin.
6. Other lovely islands close-by are High Island, Inishark,
Inishturk, Cahir, Clare Island and many more.

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No 35
OTHER ISLANDS

1. Numerous other islands decorate the seascape off
the Renvyle coast apart from Inishbofin. The friendliness
of the people of Inishturk which measures about 5kms x
2.5kms and the genuine welcome they seem to have for
visitors is often commented upon. Legend has it that St
Columba on his way home from his monastic life in the
Aran Islands to his birthplace in Gartan Co Donegal used
to call in for a visit to Inishturk. The local Catholic Church
opened and blessed in 1866 by Archbishop John McHale
is dedicated to St Columba and also the local national
school having about three pupils is called St Columba’s.
For tranquillity and splendour on a bright sunny day look
no further than Inishturk.

Inishturk Island
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2. Not far away is Clare Island in Co Mayo guarding the
entrance of Clew Bay where the ‘pirate queen’ Granuaile
is reputed to be buried. This island also has at least one
pub and a hotel and like Inishturk is serviced regularly on
a daily basis by ferries from Roonagh, a few kilometres
west of Louisburg.

3. In 1588 one of many ships from the Spanish Armada was
shipwrecked on Clare Island. In 1806 the Clare Island
Lighthouse was established by John Denis Browne of
Westport House. After 159 years it was taken out of
service in September 1965 and replaced by the modern
Achillbeg Lighthouse on the south side of Achill. The old
Lighthouse is now an upmarket guesthouse. In 1841 it
had a population of 1,615 but today it is about 145. It has
a post office since about 1900 and its own national
school.

4. Unlike Inishturk and Clare Island, Cahir Island and many
other islands are uninhabited but are steeped in
tradition, history and heritage. St Leo built an oratory in
Inishark or Shark Island in the 7th century. The remains of
this now-ruined church known as ‘Teampeall Leo’ are still
visible. The last of the residents left Inishark in October
1960.

5. Other uninhabited islands are Cramp Island, Baile Beag,
Sole Island and High Island. High King of Ireland Brian
Boru went out to St Gormgall who established a
monastery and lived on High Island in the 11th century, to
have his confessions heard and to receive his blessing
before the Battle of Clontarf on Good Friday 23rd April
1014. Gormgall was a fellow Clareman of Brian Boru who
came from Killaloe. He won the battle - one of the most
famous in Irish history but sadly lost his life that day and
also that of his son and grandson.
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6. Richard Murphy purchased High Island in 1969 but did
not live there as there are no houses on it. Because of its
elevation with no harbour or easy place for landing or
disembarking it was a relatively safe place for monks to
reside in over a thousand years ago. Remains of old
copper-mining of the 19th century are still visible. There
are many other smaller islands interspersed here and
there, nearly all of which are now uninhabited but were
once upon a time densely populated.
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No 36
SALERNA

1. Where is Salerna? many local people say. It’s not a name
that crops up in most everyday conversations but a very
important man once hailed from Salerna. It is close to the
village of Cleggan and among other things it has a lovely
beach as well as megalithic tombs.

Salerna
2. A man from Selerna named Peter Fryer was born in July

1851 just around the same time Queen’s College in
Galway had been built. When he grew up he studied
medicine there and became a famous urologist. His
father Samuel registered himself in the 1911 Census as ‘a
gentleman farmer’ who was a Protestant from Co Antrim
and his wife Celia Burke was a local Catholic woman.
They had nine children, one of whom was named Peter
who was baptised in Ballinakill (protestant) parish
church.

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3. After some time in Dr Steevens’ Hospital in Dublin Peter
worked in Paris and later in Bengal Medical Service in
India with the British Army where he retired after many
years’ service.

4. He performed cataract surgery, removal of bladder
stones and litholopaxy (the crushing of a stone in the
bladder and removing it through a catheter). An eye
injury assault from a patient in an asylum contributed to
his early retirement.

5. He performed the first suprapubic prostatectomy in
London in December 1900 on a man who survived 12
years afterwards.

6. He supported Home Rule and was friends with the
Wexford brothers Willie and John Redmond who became
leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party after Charles
Stewart Parnell died from pneumonia aged 45 in 1891.
He operated on John who died after the operation on 6th
March 1918, aged 61. Redmond’s last words were - to a
Jesuit priest – Father, I am a broken-hearted man. He
was out of touch with the mood in the country when he
advocated Irishmen to join the British Army in the
aftermath of the 1916 executions.

7. Peter Freyer died from cerebral haemorrhage at 27
Harley Street, London in September 1921, aged 70 years.
He is buried beside his parents in the grounds of the
Protestant Church in Clifden.
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No 37
CLEGGAN & local archaeology

1. Cleggan is a beautiful fishing village located on the northern
shores of Claddaghduff / Cleggan peninsula. Due to its
closeness and association with the sea it suffered an
unbearable sea-faring tragedy in October 1927 that made
news headlines around the globe when 25 local fishermen
were drowned. 16 were from the nearby village of Rossadilisk
and a further 9 from Inishbofin. This tragedy had a
demoralising effect on the entire neighbourhood for decades
afterwards. Legend has it that the only man with a radio then
was the local priest in Claddaghduff who heard the forecast of
a hurricane approaching. By the time he sent word to the
fishermen preparing to go to sea at night time, they had
already left and got caught in the middle of the devastating
storm.

Richard Murphy
121

2. Cleggan village was home to poet Richard Murphy who is
remembered for his poems and the book about his life
called ‘The Kick’. Cleggan is also noted for its megalithic
tomb known as the Devil’s Altar as well as standing
stones and other megalithic artefacts.

3. Nearby in the tidal island of Omey where St Feichin
established a monastery in the 7th century. In the mid-
1990s this monastic settlement which had been buried in
the sands for centuries was uncovered by locals. There’s
a holy well also in Omey. Though it has a number of
holiday homes, there was only one permanent resident
on the island until a few short years ago. Since he died
there is none. The cemetery on the island where many
victims of the Cleggan Disaster have been buried in a
communal grave is still being used.

4. The Omey Races are held on the sandy beach if the tide is
out on the first Sunday in August each year. Offshore are
many other islands including Inishark, Turbot, Bofin, and
High Island.

5. John MacNeice, a Protestant bishop (1886-1942) was
born and reared in Omey. As bishop of Down, Connor
and Dromore from 1934-1942 he officiated at the
obsequies of Sir Edward Carson at St Anne’s Cathedral in
Belfast in 1935. He refused to allow the Union Flag to be
laid on Carson’s coffin at his funeral because of his
(bishop’s) well known opposition to the partition of
Ireland which he accepted as a political reality.
122

6. The pier in Cleggan that was built by Nimmo in 1822 and
extended in 1908 facilitates the passenger ferry to
Inishbofin on a daily basis. It also services Inishturk. The
pubs in Cleggan are noted for traditional Irish music and
good craic and the restaurants are noted for their high
quality locally caught fresh fish.
Cleggan
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About the Author

Daniel Sammon was born and reared in Rusheenduff but
now resides in Tully.
He’s in his retirement now but still enjoys taking tourists
on history and scenic tours of Ireland.
He graduated as a mature student with a Master’s
Degree in Writing from the National University of
Ireland, Galway in 2017. This is his sixth book. It was
written during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 to 2021.

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