Kilcommon (County Mayo civil parish)

Kilcommon (Irish: Cill Chomáin) is a large parish in Erris, North Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas namely, Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitation is concentrated mainly along both sides of Sruwaddacon Bay which flows into Broadhaven Bay, in villages including Glengad, Pollathomas, Rossport and Carrowteige, and in the Glenamoy area further inland.

This parish takes it name from St. Comán who lived around the end of the sixth century AD. The saint is allegedly buried in the old church yard at Pollatomais, near to the entrance where the walls of the old Church can still be seen. In the Ordnance Survey Letters of 1838 (O'Donovan), the writers says "of the old church itself only a part of one gable remains from which little can be learned of its style or age".

Topography

Much of the Kilcommon landscape of elevated moorland, borders the Atlantic coast. It is a wild and rugged landscape with large tracts of blanket bog, tiny isolated villages, white sandy beaches and towering cliffs which, for thousands of years has remained relatively unscathed by over-development by successive generations of Kilcommon inhabitants. Farming is small scale non-intensive.

Kilcommon Townlands

Kilcommon used to refer to almost all of Erris but as it was so large that in the early 19th century, it was further divided into three districts - Ballycroy, Kilcommon West and Kilcommon East. In 1873 it was again reorganised and divided into four parishes - Kilmore, Ballycroy, Kiltane and Kilcommon which remain to this day. There are 37 townlands in the modern parish of Kilcommon. Some of these are:-

Cornboy

Cornboy is a coastal townland on the Dún Chaocháin peninsula. It extends 2,755 acres in size. The village centre is now situated as far inland as the townland extends, close to Garterhill td. In the past the centre of population was based around the old chapel on the hill overlooking Broadhaven Bay. The people once lived further down close to Cornboy Pier but over the years blowing sand has moved the centre of population further from the extensive sand dune areas. There is an area known as the 'Sandhills Settlement' which consists of settlement features, possibly cairns and middens where a population lived (possibly Iron Age) and this sometimes becomes exposed after a storm but the next storm covers it up again with deep sand. The Gweedaney River rises at Portacloy and flows past the old chapel to the sea. The modern church is situated much further inland. Cornboy shares Knockadaff mountain with Garter Hill. Knockadaff was an electoral district of the Belmullet Poor Union and was a local administrative body of Erris. Cornboy was, at the end of the 19th century the most progressive village in the area. These days it has a community centre which serves meals at lunch-time and is a centre where some classes take place for local people.

Glenamoy

Glenamoy is a general name for nine Kilcommon townlands - Bellagelly North & South, Baralty, Bunalty, Gortleatilla, Srahnaplaia, Pollboy, Lenarevagh and Barroosky. Glenamoy consists of some 16,700 acres of land, much of it blanket bog interspersed with small lakes and conifer forestry, some of it pretty inaccessible and remote. It lies inland from the coastal townlands of the parish. The Glenamoy River and the Owenmore rivers rise in the mountains above Glenamoy. The Owenmore river flows into Blacksod Bay, the Glenamoy River into Broadhaven Bay. Lace schools were one of the more common industries in the area in the past. There were several shooting lodges in this area where the landlords held shooting parties for the gentry in the 19th century. Nowadays, mostly small farms and football are the interests of the inhabitants.

Glengad

Glengad (Glen of the Gads) is a large townland stretching along the north western shores of Sruwaddacon Bay. Its name is derived from willows or 'gads' from the Cromwellian period when the native Irish were sent "to hell or to Connaught". The settlers who came to Glengad brought with them the craft of basket weaving. They planted willow branches on wet sites in the townland and willows have grown in the streams of Glengad ever since. It is a linear village with individual houses and farms all along the main road. The land here was divided up by the Land Commission in the early 20th century and each farm is a narrow strip of land which runs from the mountain down to the sea, a remnant of the Rundale System of farming which can be seen in many areas of the parish. In recent years Glengad has been the scene for much of the Corrib gas controversy.[1]

Glinsk

Glinsk is a remote townland in Erris, North West Mayo. Glinsk Mountain is covered with blanket bog and rises steeply to overlook Broadhaven Bay and the Stags of Broadhaven, pictured below, from very high vertical cliffs. Its area covers 2,054 acres. There are currently no human inhabitants of this townland and the road past it was only tarred for the first time in 2004. There is the ruins of a 1798 English watch tower on the southern slopes of Glinsk mountain.

Faulagh

Faulagh Village lies on the southern slopes of the mountain of the same name overlooking Carrowmore Lake. Its area is 946 acres lying along the northern boundary of Carrowmore Lake. This remote spot, much of it blanketed in bog nowadays, belies its busy prehistoric past. There are many prehistoric megaliths and prehistoric field systems across its landscape and that of its neighbour, Muingerroon td.

Gortbrack

Gortbrack td. occupies a large section of the southern side of the western peninsula, Dun Chiortain. It is 1,070 acres in size. The Owenduff River flows through the townland It has much of archaeological interest due to its location along the south facing slopes along the coastline. There are many megaliths dating from the Neolithic period.

Gortmelia

Gortmelia is on the west side of the Dún Chiortáin peninsula overlooking Inver Bay. It is 1,237 acres in size. In the Tithe composition Book of 1834, Gortmelia was divided into three parts - Gortmelia Mills, Gortmellia Gallagher and Rookstown. Later in the raeable valuation Books the three areas are colled Gortmellia Mills, Gortmellia Gallagher and Gortmellia Houston.Today, the townland is in four areas: Gortmellia, Parkbaun, Ballur and Ballyhonry.

Carrowteige

Carrowteige (Irish: Ceathru Thaidhg) is a Gaeltacht village situated close to the end of the Dún Chaocháin peninsula. It consists of 403 acres. It has a Catholic Church, a national school and a shop. Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo is based in this village and way-marked cliff walks start from here.

Rossport/Ros Dumhach

Rossport has an area of 1,446 acres. There is a national school and the Gaelic speaking secondary school, Colaiste Chomain in Rossport. There have been many suggestions over the years to build a bridge across the 'ferry' to connect Rossport with the Dún Chiortáin peninsula as it is very close as the crow flies but a very great distance by vehicle. The flowing and ebbing tides of Sruwaddacon Bay are hazardous even for the most experienced boatman. The words of a song describe the rapidity of the current:

• "the Rossport Ferry and its rapid current
• The second strongest that our State possess''"

In more recent years, Rossport has been the scene of conflict with the Corrib gas project and protests against same.

Srahataggle

Srahataggle townland consists of 4,167 acres. It is a remote village which is reached via a turn off the Porturlin Road. In 2004 a road which connects Srahataggle with Belderrig has been tarred for the first time. Commenting on the people of Srahataggle in the early 1950's, the Western People reported, "remote as these habitations may appear to many, there is no lack of worldly knowledge and cultural attainments and many of their sons and daughters have risen to important posts in countries beyond the seas".

Geology

Kilcommon parish comprises a very ancient landscape of glittering schist and pale creamy psammite along with some two billion year old pre-Cambrian pink striped gneisses. Boulders of snow white quartz which intruded into the bedrock from geological turmoil below, some 450 million years ago (Silurian period) are to be found in the western part of the parish. The bedrock, exposed when the blanket bog is cut away to provide fuel for the rural community here, demonstrate that this land has seen geomorphological turmoil over the last two billion years – periods of intense heat, intense cold, pressure and tectonic shifts which have moulded and remoulded the landscape into what it is today.

There are two main peninsulas in the parish - Dún Chiortáin and Dún Chaocháin. They are named for two 'giant' brothers who live on in the folklore of the area. They each had a Dún or a promontory fort and folktales relate that they shared kitchen utensils which they used to throw across Sruwaddacon Bay (Sruth Fhada Chonn - Bay of the Long Hound) which divided their territories.

Sea cliffs run along much of the coast from the 892 foot high Benwee Head and along the north coastline to Glinsc mountain. The rocky islands known as The Stags, pictured below are to be seen off the North Kilcommon coastline.

Archaeology

The fossilised remains of ancient Scots Pine trees which were part of the ancient forests which covered most of inland Ireland after the retreat of the last Ice Age some 15,000 years ago are to be seen across the landscape, exposed by turf cutting in recent years. There are many archaeological remains throughout the parish also, mainly in the western portion as the land to the east was, and still remains to a great extent, inaccessible and uninhabited. The area has a very large number of megalithic tomb remains and most types of megalithic are represented although because there has been no money spent on archaeological investigation in this parish, the archaeological resource is little documented. In the eastern portion of the parish there is evidence of the presence of possible crannogs in lakes which point towards some habitation in the past. In recent times the growth of blanket bog, conifer forestry plantations and the absence of roads through the area, has made townlands such as Bunalty, Barrooskey, Baralty, Srahnaplaigh and Muingnabo difficult to access except by the most intrepid of explorers. In the western parts of the parish, archaeological remains stretching from the Mesolithic through Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Early Christian, Plantations, to the current day are widely seen.

Kilcommon today

Situated at the mouth of Broadhaven Bay, on its 21st century surface, Kilcommon is characterised by its scenery, huge towering cliffs and rugged sea stacks interspersed with miles of white sandy beaches, tranquil islands and vast tracts of blanket bog with its rare and fragile biodiversity. Unlike the west of Ireland landscape further south in Galway and Clare, there are few huge rocks randomly scattered across this landscape.

The blanket bog dominates the landscape changing its hues and texture in accordance with the seasons – sometimes fresh and brightest green, sometimes purple and gold and covered with billowing white bog cotton, and, in November and December, the wonderful rustic tones of golden orange/red species light up the winter landscape. At all times the bog is a living habitat for many species of insects, spiders and plants for whom this is the perfect habitat not found anywhere else. Grey fronted geese fly across on their way to their breeding grounds further north and it is possible to spot the corncrake and the rare Red-necked Phalarope whose only breeding ground left in Ireland is in this remote corner of the country.

Cliff Walks - way-marked walks

This may be an ancient (prehistoric) way marked walk across the higher reaches of Cnoc Nansai, Graughil

There are several way-marked walks along the remote cliffs of Benwee Head in the north of the parish. Maps have been published by Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo, Ceathru Thaidhg as Dún Chaocháin Walks and Suiloídi Iorrais.[2]

Gaeltacht

Much of Kilcommon (Cill Chomáin) parish in Gaelic speaking and Catholic Mass is given in Irish in Ceathru Thaidhg in the far north of the parish. There is an Irish language summer school in Ceathru Thaidhg.

Kilcommon Churches

There are five Churches in the parish namely:- Christ the King Church, Aughoose, St. Paul's Church, Glenamoy, St. Patrick's Church, Inver, Star of the Sea Church, Cornboy, and Séipéal Muire gan Smál, Ceathru Thaidhg [3]

During the 18th century, at a time known as the Penal Times, the Dublin government restricted the number and movement of Roman Catholic clergy. At that time the parish of Kilcommon comprised all of 'mainland' Erris (from Claggan, Ballycroy to Portacloy). That territorial name and boundary is still used for civil administration.

Notable Kilcommon people

Brian Rua U'Cearbhain 17th century prophet from Inbhear

Willie Corduff Winner of Goldman Environmental Prize 2007

Natural Resources

Kilcommon Erris has some of the best natural alternative energy resources in the world due to its location on the Atlantic Ocean which brings almost constant winds from the sea. The natural resources of ocean and wind available in Kilcommon are very valuable resources for sustainable alternative, renewable energy production for the future. [4]

There are opportunities for the development of ocean wave power projects (one of the best wave energy resources in the world lies off the shores of North Mayo),[5] Tidal power, hydroelectric schemes, and, of course, extensive wind farms amongst many other clean, alternative energy generation opportunities for which the area has great potential for a beneficial sustainable future.

References

[6] History of Kilcommon Parish - Lewis's Topographical Dictionary - Samuel Lewis 1837 [7]

(Historic document) Mayo County Library - Irish Tourist Association Survey, Kilcommon Erris (1943) [8]

Killala Dioceses document [9]

Megalithomania descriptions of some Kilcommon archaeology [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Ni Gearraigh, T. MacGraith, U. Dun Chaochain Walks (2000) Ceathru Thaidhg [16] [17] Children of Lir Loop walk [18]

Ni Gearraigh, T. MacGraith, U. Suíloídi Iorrais, (2001) Ceathru Thaidhg [19] [20] [21] [22]

Noone, Fr. Sean, Where the Sun Sets (1991) Pollatomais [23]

O'Donovan, John. Ordnance Survey Letters (1838) Dublin [24]

Ryan, M. Irish Archaeology Illustrated (2001) Dublin

Schultz, Ciaran, Kilcommon Lodge (2008) Mayo [25]