Kilconnell () is a small rural village in

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 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The village gives its name to the barony of Kilconnell, formerly held by the Lords de Freyne. In 2006 David Tye purchased the original feudal Barony of Kilconnell created in 1170 from Lord de Freyne and is the present holder. The feudal Barony of Kilconnell is registered in Ireland. There is also a peerage title,

Baron Kilconnel Kilconnell () is a small rural village in County Galway, Ireland. The village gives its name to the barony of Kilconnell, formerly held by the Lords de Freyne. In 2006 David Tye purchased the original feudal Barony of Kilconnell created in 1170 ...

, created in 1797, and later a subsidiary title of the Earls of Clancarty. Its rural population in 2011 was 670. The land is mainly used for dairy farming and the raising of cattle. It was once part of the kingdom of the

Soghain The Soghain were a people of ancient Ireland. The 17th-century scholar Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh identified them as part of a larger group called the Cruithin. Mac Fhirbhisigh stated that the Cruithin included "the Dál Araidhi ál nAraidi th ...

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

before being conquered by the Uí Maine. The last known prosecution of a priest under the Popery Acts was the trial in 1822 of Fr John O'Connor, parish priest of Aughrim and Kilconnell, at the Galway Summer Assizes. He was acquitted. This village was the birthplace of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD)

Johnny Callanan John Callanan (20 May 1910 – 15 June 1982) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician from County Galway. Callanan was born in the village of Kilconnell, near Ballinasloe, County Galway, to a farming family. In the 1950s, he was an active member o ...

(1910–1982). His nephew

Joe Callanan Joe Callanan (born 30 January 1949) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was born in Kilconnell, County Galway. He is a former Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency. Callanan was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 gene ...

was also a TD for the Galway East constituency.

Kilconnell Abbey

Kilconnell abbey is a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, founded in 1414, by William O'Kelly, Lord of Uí Maine, known locally as the ''Abbey''. Although in ruins it is maintained by the OPW. The abbey is the burial place for the O'Kelly sept, whose family crest can be seen on some of the headstones. In the 1580s and 1590s,

Charles Calthorpe Sir Charles Calthorpe (c.1540–1616 ) was an English-born Crown official and judge in Elizabethan and Jacobean Ireland. Prior to his appointment to the Irish High Court in 1606, he had been Attorney General for Ireland for more than 20 years, ...

, the

Attorney General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the es ...

, held the abbey on a 21-year lease. The Papal Nuncio Archbishop

Giovanni Rinuccini Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid-seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar and became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV. In 1625 Pope Urban VIII made him the Archbishop of Fe ...

stayed in the Abbey on 20 June 1648 on his way back from the Confederation at Kilkenny. The abbey is believed to have been uninhabited since about 1785 due to a fall in vocations. There is a passage that runs under the abbey to the grounds of Ballinderry house. It was excavated in the 1940s but was not navigated due to the risk of collapse.

Uí Maine

The area around Kilconnell was the stronghold of the O'Kellys, lords of Uí Maine and the Donnellan clans. Kilconnell is in the parish of Aughrim and Kilconnell. Aughrim was the site of a decisive battle of the Williamite wars in 1691. The French General the

Marquis de St Ruth Charles Chalmot de Saint-RuheLecestre, L. (ed.) (1921). ''Memoires de Saint-Simon'', v. 19, Hachette et cie, p. 135 (c. 165012 July 1691) was a French cavalry officer, serving in the armies of Louis XIV. Despite a long career, Saint-Ruhe is re ...

had rallied the Irish towards victory when his head was blown off by cannon fire and the Irish fled the field, only to be cut down in their thousands by the English forces. Hundreds of the O'Kellys lost their lives in this battle. The local lake, Lough Acalla, has a

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

in the centre and is a rainbow trout fishery.

Ballinderry House

Ballinderry House, the former seat of the Comyn family, who are relations of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

, has been restored and is now a guest house.

Athletic clubs

The local GAA team is called St. Gabriels. In 1979 they won a Galway football title. Since then they have won the Junior B championship and Junior A league. They won "underage club of the year" in 2011. St Gabriels Ladies GAA football club plays Gaelic football and represents the parishes of Kilconnell, Aughrim, Kilreekil and Cappataggle. St Gabriels Ladies GAA Football Club plays its home games in Aughrim and it trains also in Kilconnell at the St Gabriels sports complex.http://www.stgabrielsladiesgaa.com

References

{{authority control Towns and villages in County Galway National Monuments in County Galway

Kilconnell Abbey

Uí Maine

Ballinderry House

Athletic clubs

See also

References