Gurteen is a village in East

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 Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The Irish translation of Gurteen ({{Irish place name, Góirtín) translates as "Little Ploughed Field". Gurteen is a half-parish of the

Ballymacward Ballymacward () is a village in County Galway, Ireland. It is on the R359 road (Ireland), R359 road, between that road and the rail lines traversing east–west. The village is from Ballinasloe and approximately from Galway city. The village ...

-Gurteen parish. The nearest towns are

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th-century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...

and

Mountbellew Mountbellew or Mountbellew Bridge (historically ''Creggaun'', from ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies mostly within the townland of Treanrevagh (''Trian Riabhach'') on the N63 national primary road. As of the 2022 census, it had a ...

. The patron saint of Gurteen is

Saint Kerrill Saint Kerrill aka Caireall mac Curnain was a Christian missionary in what is now east County Galway, alive in the mid-to-late 5th century. His feast day is June 13th. To celebrate the parishioners walk four miles from St Michael’s Church, Gurt ...

. Saint Kerrill's Well is located at the very southern tip of the parish in Gortnalone, near neighbouring

Attymon Attymon railway station () serves the townland of Attymon in County Galway, Ireland. The station is on the Dublin to Galway Rail service. Passengers to or from Westport railway station travel to Athlone and change trains. Passengers to or fro ...

. Saint Kerrill's Abbey is in Clonkeenkerrill with Clonkeenkerrill Graveyard. Saint Kerrill's feast day is held every year on 13 June. The

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in Gurteen is named after a local priest, Father Michael Griffin, who was shot dead on the night of 14 November 1920, most likely by

Auxiliaries Auxiliaries are combat support, support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular army, regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties ...

. The Galway Minor Hurling Championship trophy is named in honour of Father Griffin. The Éire Óg-

Father Griffins GAA Father Griffins is a Gaelic football club based in Galway, Ireland. It is a member of the Galway branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The club is solely concerned with football. From its founding in 1948 until its final county title ...

Club based in Galway City is also named in his honour. Located in East Galway, Gurteen is a rural area with a public house (Mitchell's Bar), church (St Michael's) and a primary school. The primary school,

's NS was opened in 1982, when 3 smaller national schools were merged: Clonkeenkerrill, Shanballard and Tample. The local GAA club is Pádraig Pearse's GAA. Founded in 1966 when the Gurteen and Ballymacward clubs amalgamated, it has playing pitches in

and Gurteen. Colemanstown United FC is a soccer club located in the area. Founded in 1982, the club competes in the Galway District Soccer League.

Notable people

Father Griffin Michael Griffin (18 September 1892 – 14 November 1920) was an Irish Catholic priest who was murdered during the Irish War of Independence. Life Griffin was born in the townland of Gurteen, County Galway, to Thomas George Griffin, a farme ...

* Noel Treacy RIP, TD & Galway GAA County Board Chairman * Cyril Donnellan, Pádraig Pearse's GAA player and former Galway hurler * Seán Mac Giollarnáth, Irish folklorist.

External links

* http://www.padraigpearsesgalway.com * http://www.colemanstownunited.com Towns and villages in County Galway

Notable people

See also

External links