Kinvara or Kinvarra ()
Geography
The village lies at the head of Kinvara Bay, known in Irish as Cinn Mhara (or more recently Cuan Cinn Mhara), an inlet in the south-eastern corner of
Galway Bay, from which the village took its name. It lies in the north of the barony of
Kiltartan, near
the Burren.
The townland of Kinvarra lies in the civil parish of Kinvarradoorus.
History
Early history
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area include a number of
promontory fort and
ring fort sites in the surrounding
of Dungory West, Ballybranagan and Loughcurra North.
There are similar sites, as well as the ruins of
lime kiln and 18th century
windmill, within Kinvarra townland itself.
Dunguaire Castle
Dunguaire Castle (
lit,), a 16th-century towerhouse of the
Ó hEidhin (O'Hynes) clan, is located to the east of the village.
A Fearadhach Ó hEidhin (Faragh O'Hynes) 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.
Mass rock
The Poulnegan Altar, a
Mass rock located near Kinvara, is known in
Connaught Irish as
Poll na gCeann ("chasm of the heads") and is said to have been the location of a massacre by the soldiers of
Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. Historian Tony Nugent states that, "According to local tradition, there was a college nearby and some of the student monks were killed there by Cromwellian soldiers while attending
Tridentine Mass and their heads were thrown into a nearby chasm".
Terry Alts
The
Terry Alts, an Irish agrarian secret society of the early 19th century, was active in the Kinvara area. In 1831, a large group of Terry Alts gathered between Kinvara and New Quay on Abbey Hill in County Clare, and challenged government troops to battle. The group dispersed before the troops arrived. They also unsuccessfully attempted to ambush a detachment of soldiers at Corranroo in the west of the parish, which led to the death of one of their members.
Population
The Great Famine in the 1840s, and a series of emigrations that continued until the 1960s, reduced the population of the village – once a thriving port and exporter of corn and seaweed – to no more than a few hundred people.
In the 25 years between the 1991 and 2016 census, the population of Kinvara increased by 70%, from 425 to 734 people.
Religion
In the Catholic Church, the ecclesiastical parish of Kinvara is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora.
Churches within Kinvara parish include Saint Colman's Church (built 1819) and Saint Joseph's Church (built 1877).
Saint Joseph's Presbytery, formerly a convent, dates to .
Kinvara lies within the Church of Ireland united Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe.
Festivals
Kinvara is home every year to two festivals,
Fleadh na gCuach ("cuckoo festival") an Irish traditional music festival at the start of May and the
Cruinniú na mBád ("gathering of the boats") in mid August.
Sports
Kinvara is home to
Kinvara GAA, a Gaelic Athletic Association club. The club is almost exclusively concerned with
hurling but also plays
Gaelic football at Junior level.
Notable people
-
Ailbhe of Ceann Mhara, 9th century cleric.
-
Coman of Kinvara, early medieval saint.
-
Francis Fahy, composer and poet, wrote the song "Galway Bay."
-
Celia Lynch, politician.
-
P. J. Mara, public affairs consultant and senator, was buried in Kinvara.
-
Peter Martyn, judge.
-
Eoghan Ó hEidhin, died 1340, King of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne.
-
John Prine, American country folk singer-songwriter, had a home in Kinvara.
-
Mathilda Twomey, Chief Justice of the Seychelles, first female holder of that office.
-
Conor Whelan, hurler.
-
Máire Whelan, judge and 30th Attorney General of Ireland from 2011 to 2017; first woman to hold this position.
See also
