Garbally House is a country house built by the Lord Clancarty in the 17th century. It has two floors and fine views over

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway in Connacht. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-ce ...

. It is situated beside

Garbally College St. Joseph's College, Garbally Park (Irish: ''Coláiste Sheosaimh Naofa'') is an Irish voluntary Catholic secondary school situated in Garbally Park, the former seat of the Earl of Clancarty, near Ballinasloe in County Galway. It is a single-s ...

(Garbally Court), which is an all boys secondary school in Ballinasloe

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

. It has an obelisk, pond, steps (nicknamed the 40 steps) (that have no current use but were previously one of many entrances into the vast estate) and a system of tunnels (that are now closed) on its grounds. It is owned by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert The Diocese of Clonfert ( ga, Deoise Chluain Fearta) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the western part of Ireland. It is in the Metropolitan Province of Tuam. The Most Reverend Michael Duignan was appointed by the Holy See on 16 July 2019 and o ...

and is inhabited by a local priest who serves as a groundskeeper. It was once used as a hospital by the English after the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim ( ga, Cath Eachroma) was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style, equivalent ...

in 1691. Following the secession of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1921, the House along with the surrounding land which constituted Garbally Park was sold to the

, transferring ownership of all fixed assets to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The following year in 1922 St. Joseph's College, the diocesan second-level school of Clonfert, moved its premises to Garbally Park, henceforth being commonly referred to as

. Until 2008, the house served as residence to boarding students at Garbally College until the boarding of students at the college came to an end in the same year.

References

External links

Turtle Bunbury; Clancarty
{{coord missing, County Galway Buildings and structures in County Galway