Richard Geoghegan (1717–1800) was an Irish agriculturist. A descendant of the

Geoghegan Geoghegan ( ga, Mag Eochagáin) is a surname of Irish origin. Often spelled without the prefix "Mac", the name has many variants, including Gehegan, Geoghan, Geohegan, Gahagan, Gagan, and Gagon which approximate the most common pronunciations ...

clan, his ancestor, Art MacGeoghegan of Castletown,

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

, was transplanted to

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 ...

in 1656, receiving a grant of nine hundred acres and Bunown Castle, Connemara,

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 = ...

. His family inhabited the original castle until Richard built a new castle (though using the same name) at the foot of Doon Hill.

James Hardiman James Hardiman (1782–1855), also known as Séamus Ó hArgadáin, was a librarian at Queen's College, Galway. Hardiman is best remembered for his '' History of the Town and County of Galway'' (1820) and '' Irish Minstrelsy'' (1831), one of the f ...

described him as a man of science and enterprising genius, studying a Dutch method of

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

, which resulted in recovering a considerable tract of land from the sea at

Ballyconneely Ballyconneely () is a village and small ribbon development in west Connemara, County Galway Ireland. Name 19th century antiquarian John O'Donovan documents a number of variants of the village, including Ballyconneely, Baile 'ic Conghaile, Ball ...

. This work was commemorated by an inscription in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

on a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

, dated 1758. His son, John, took the additional name of O'Neill. The family abandoned the area in the late 19th century.

References

* 'The History of Galway', Sean Spellissy, 1999. People from County Galway 1717 births 1800 deaths {{Ireland-bio-stub