Craughwell

Craughwell (historically Creaghmoyle, from ) is a village and townland in County Galway, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, the village had a population of approximately 1,000 people.

Craughwell is located on the R446 regional road, approximately 9 km south of Athenry and 12 km west of Loughrea. It is served by Craughwell railway station on the Western Railway Corridor.

Etymology
A number of derivations are given for the meaning of the Irish language place name Creachmhaoil or Creamhchoill.

In one derivation, the name is given as being composed of two Irish words: creach (meaning "plunder") and maoil (a hill). It is suggested that this is a reference to a place where herds of plundered cattle (the targets of thefts and cattle raids amongst the Gaels) were placed and kept.

A further etymology of creach is related to craig, and creag, and the English word crag, referring to a rock or the crest of a hill; and maol, a word referring to a round-shaped hill or mountain, bare of trees.

Patrick Weston Joyce, the pioneer of Irish placename studies, also speculated that the name in Irish was Creamhchoill, meaning 'garlic wood'. He was unaware of the local spelling and pronunciation but confirmed in a later work that the village was called Creachmhaoil in Irish.

The name Craughwell is also used as a surname, Ó Creachmhaoil, often anglicised as Craughwell, Croughwell or Crockwell. The surname was largely unknown outside of the southeast of County Galway until the end of the 19th century when émigrés established themselves in Barbados, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Cornwall, Ohio and Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

History
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ring fort and souterrain sites in the townlands of Craughwell, Ballymore and Killora. A ruined medieval church and graveyard is also located in Killora townland. The current Roman Catholic church in Craughwell, Saint Colman's Catholic Church, was built c. 1840. Ballymore Park, a Georgian country house in Ballymore townland, was built c. 1750.

The poet Antoine Ó Raifteiri (born in County Mayo in 1779), was buried in Killeenin near Craughwell in 1835. A commemorative slab was erected over his grave, in 1900, by Augusta Lady Gregory.

During the Land War of the late 19th century, there were a number of violent incidents in the area around Craughwell. In May 1881, for example, a farmer named Peter Dempsey was shot and killed, on his way to Mass with his young daughters, because of a dispute over his tenancy of a vacant farm.

Amenities
The community sporting facilities in the village include the grounds of Craughwell GAA, which has three pitches and a ball wall. The primary school has an all-weather astroturf track and a walking trail. Craughwell AC has an 8-acre park with an 800m trail surrounding a 400m running track. Just outside the village, Coleman's Park has outdoor soccer pitches and a gravel 400m running track.

Notable people


Notable people associated with the village include:
 * Dominic Burke (c.1622–1704), Bishop of Elphin
 * Fergal Healy (born 1977), hurler with Craughwell GAA
 * Anjelica Huston (born 1951), daughter of John Huston who spent part of her youth in Craughwell.
 * John Huston (1906–1987), American film-maker who owned St Clerans House near Craughwell from 1954 to 1971
 * Thomas Monaghan (born 1997), hurler with Craughwell and Galway
 * Robert O'Hara Burke (1821–1861), leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition into Australia.
 * Antoine Ó Raifteiri (1779–1835), poet from County Mayo who died and was buried in the area.