CARROWNTOMUSH

Carrowntomush, Ceathrú an tSomais, the Quarter or Area of Serenity or Peacefulness, the Pleasant Place, is one of the three villages in our area which belong to the parish of Milltown. Ardcloon and Corohan are the villages which border it and the Sinking River separates it from Cloonagh, Cloonaghgarve and Carrowntootagh, as it winds its way to form the River Clare, heading to Lough Corrib and finally to Galway Bay. Actually, part of its border with Ardcloon runs through Addergoole graveyard. The new cemetery opened in 1983 and although situated in Carrowntomush,is still called Addergoole. Carrowntomush has an area of 204 acres 2 roods and 34 perches and was valued at £83-10s.-0 in the 1850’s.The landlord was James Galbraith. The Galbraith family held lands in East Galway which previously belonged to the O’Fahys, following the Williamite settlements. In the mid 1800’s James Galbraith had four townlands in the parish of Killasolan from the Blakeney family and other lands in the parishes of Dunmore and Tuam, in the Barony of Tuam, plus lands in the barony of Clare. Their lands in the baronies of Dunmore and Clare were held from the bishop of Tuam. Information from Griffiths Valuation Records shows us that in the 1850’s there were 8 occupants with 35 different portions/parcels of land in Carrowntomush. These holdings varied in area- the smallest which was 2 roods and 10 perches to the largest which was 19 acres-2 roods and 25 perches. The graveyard’s area is 3 roods and 25 perches and was valued at 5 shillings .Rev. Patrick Duffy is listed as the leaser. The village also had almost 25 acres of bogland, valued at 5 shillings.

                        In 1841 the population was 99 but the famine obviously had quite an impact as in 1851 there were only 69 people living there. The trend has been downward ever since, from 41 in 1901, 42 in 1911 and at the present time it is approximately 30.There has been quite a lot of changes in land and house ownership too. Surnames like Burke and Cunniffe were prominent all through but now the Cunniffe name has disappeared and just 2 Burke families are present- and only one of them is directly descended from the 1850’s list. As well as those two Burkes, Carrowntomush is now home to the Canny(2), Kivlehan(2), Donnelly, and Hardy families. 

                         It is surprising to discover from the census of both 1901 and 1911 that all households lived solely from farming so there weren’t any trades or skills used to supplement that income. All residents were Catholic and all spoke both Irish and English. In 1901 there were 10 dwelling houses, all made of stone; 9 were thatched and 1 was slated. Very little change took place in the next 10 years as the number of houses decreased by one, 7 thatched and 2 slated. The usual farm buildings were cow houses, fowl houses, piggeries, barns and cart houses. The land is of very good quality, similar to that of its neighbouring villages, Ardcloon and Corohan  and has been traditionally used for mixed farming of sheep and cattle. The usual crops of oats, barley, potatoes and turnips were sown but very little tillage is carried on now. One of its residents, the late Mick Burke, was the first man in the area to have a bulldozer, which he bought in the 1950’s.He was renowned as a machine expert and consequently worked all over Galway, Mayo and Roscommon doing land reclamation work. He also gave work to many young men when employment opportunities were very scarce.