What is recorded here

Claregalway stood at the lowest fording point on the River Clare, where John de Cogan built a market town around 1240. Merchants crossed the water to trade beside a Franciscan friary while a tower house watched the river from the opposite bank. The settlement faded before the fourteenth century ended, but its stones likely still lie beneath the modern village.

In flat open farmland at the lowest fording point on the River Clare, probably on S bank in the area now occupied by the modern village. The borough is likely to have been established by John de Cogan c. 1240. He received a licence to hold a weekly market and an annual fair there in 1252 by which time a Franciscan friary (GA070-035001-) had also been established (Bradley and Dunne 1992, 53). The 'provost' of Claregalway is mentioned in 1307 (Graham 1978, 42) suggesting the presence of a borough corporation. The settlement may have been abandoned by the 14th C, though the existence of the modern village, which may partly occupy its site, suggests at least some continuity. The extant remains comprise a probable medieval parish church (GA070-012001-) close to S bank of the river, and the Franciscan friary 150m to NW, on opposite bank. There is also a tower house (GA070-036----), 100m to NE of the church, also on N bank of the river, probably sited to command the river crossing. Adjoining the latter are the remains of a 19th-C watermill (see photo in Anon. 1919, 164), possibly also of medieval ancestry. (Holland 1988, 77-81) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

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