Barna (Bearna officially and in Irish) is a coastal village on the R336 regional road in Connemara,

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, Ireland. 7 km west of the centre of

Galway city Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, it has become a satellite village of Galway. The village is Irish speaking and is therefore a constituent part of the regions of Ireland that make up the

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

. In 1976, a community development group called ''Comharchumann Bearna Teoranta'' was formed after five local men put up the purchase money for at ''Troscaigh Thiar'' to be used for community purposes and has succeeded in developing several recreational facilities.

Irish language

There are 1,500 native Irish speakers in the Barna electoral division. According to the 2011 census, 24% of Bearna's locals use Irish as a daily language.

International links

Barna is twinned with Esquibien, Brittany, France.

Population

At the time of the 2011 census, the population in this settlement was 1,878, of which males numbered 920 and females were 958. The total housing stock was 772, of which vacant households numbered 98. With an approximate area of 1.89 km², this settlement has a 2011 population density of 994 persons per km².

Electoral District

The total population of the Barna Electoral District (ED) designated as 27044 was 3,630, of which males numbered 1,804 and females were 1,826. The total housing stock was 1,363, of which vacant households numbered 142.

Sport

Sports clubs in the Barna area include Barna GAA, which fields

gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

teams in men's and ladies' competitions. Other clubs in the locality are Galway Bay Rugby Club,

Barna Barna (Bearna officially and in Irish) is a coastal village on the R336 regional road in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. 7 km west of the centre of Galway city, it has become a satellite village of Galway. The village is Irish speaki ...

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

club and Barna United

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club. Cormac Folan of Freeport in Barna represented Ireland in

Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowing competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 9 to August 17, at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Qualification Medal table Medal summary Men's events Women's events See also * Rowing at ...

. Barna Golf Club, two miles north of the village, is a moorland 18-hole golf course.

Townlands of Barna

Most townlands are anglicisations of the original Irish language names. * Forramoyle West (from ''Na Foraí Maola Thiar'') * Forramoyle East (from ''Na Foraí Maola Thoir'') * New Village (from ''An Baile Nua'') * Leaclea (from ''An Leac Liath'' meaning ‘the grey flagstone or slab’) * Seapoint (''Rinn na Mara'' in Irish) * Ahaglugger (from ''Ath an Ghlugair'') * Truskey West (from ''Troscaigh Thiar'') * Truskey East (from ''Troscaigh Thoir'') * Freeport (''An Chéibh'' in Irish) * Ballard West (from ''An Baile Ard Thiar'' meaning ‘the high village west’) * Ballard East (from ''An Baile Ard Thoir'' meaning ‘the high village east’) * Lenarevagh (from ''An Léana Riabhach'' meaning ‘the brindled or streaked grassland’) * Knockaunnacarragh (from ''An Cnocán Carrach'')

Notable people

Cormac Folan Cormac Folan (born 9 July 1983) is an Irish rower. He competed in the men's coxless four event at the 2008 Summer Olympics. From Barna in Connemara, County Galway, Folan rowed for NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research ...

(born 1983) –

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who competed in the men's coxless four event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. * James Hickey (c. 1837 – c. 4 August 1885) – Fenian and Land Leaguer. *

Micheál Ó Droigheaín Micheál Ó Droigheaín (1889–1964), Irish national school teacher and Brigadier of the South Connemara Brigade, Irish Republican Army, fl. 1916–1922. Ó Droigheaín's family lived at Gate Lodge, Bearna, County Galway, on an estate held by ...

(1889–1964) –

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

brigadier. *

Sarah McInerney Sarah McInerney (born 4 March 1981) is an Irish journalist employed by RTÉ, where she has been the co-presenter of ''Drivetime'' and ''Prime Time''. Early life and education Born to two school teachers, and growing up in Barna, County Galway ...

(born 1981) – Journalist and Presenter on TV and radio, notable for her work with

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

Newstalk Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Aut ...

, and the

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

amongst others.

References

External links

Irish language 2006 study (PDF)Parish website for Barna agus na bhForbacha
{{Authority control Gaeltacht places in County Galway Gaeltacht towns and villages Towns and villages in Connemara