Very old graveyard in Salthill

Iwannahurl

The rectangular area in the middle of this green space is an old graveyard, AFAIK.

It's surrounded by a stone wall topped with railings.

Does anyone know its history and local significance?

I remember playing in it as a child, and finding it quite spooky as well as interesting.

?Cee?view

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055883814


It gets a mention in this thread. It's O'Haras, from Lenaboy. The gate posts next to the Warwick were an entrance to their house which is currently St. Ann's.

Iwannahurl

Very useful info, thanks.

Here's an NUI Galway piece on the O'Haras.

http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie:8080/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=721

Simarillion

As was mentioned in a previous post it's the graveyard for Lenaboy Castle for the O'Hara family. There is one legible headstone for a Blanche Ismay O'Hara who died as a child. The gates to Lenaboy Park was one of the entrances to the castle.

It isn't the only private graveyard in Galway. The Ardilaun Hotel had one in it's garden for the Persse family, but they were all exhumed and move to Cemetery Cross I think when the hotel was developed.

Iwannahurl

I must be shlow.

Never knew, or totally forgot, that this is Lenaboy Castle.

JohnCleary

Wow, you learn something new every day.

So Lenaboy Castle is what is now St. Ann's?

And one of the entrances stretched down as far as the Warwick Hotel? That's a lot of land!

?Cee?view

Those gates aren't that far as the crow flies from Lenaboy if you think about it. You get a good perspective on it if you look up at it from the prom at Grattan Road.

O'Haras were big land owners. Lenaboy would have been one of many properties they had.

Bugsy2000

Where did it all go wong? I'm an O' Hara, lived all my life in Galway & believe me when I tell you - we have no claim to any land or stately homes mentioned above. i need to have some stern words with my grandparents!!!!!!!!!!!

Iwannahurl

You need to choose your parents carefully, and your grandparents even moreso perhaps.

Iwannahurl

Speaking of parenthood, land ownership and the like, is there any historical link between the Bishop's palace near St Ann's / Lenaboy Castle and its adjacent lands?

Some of that land was given over by Bishop Casey for use as a Traveller halting site. IIRC it had a gated entrance off Lower Salthill Road.

barone

Bugsy2000 wrote: »

Where did it all go wong? I'm an O' Hara, lived all my life in Galway & believe me when I tell you - we have no claim to any land or stately homes mentioned above. i need to have some stern words with my grandparents!!!!!!!!!!!

hmmmm, i do know a bugsy o hara, im related to one,could it be you

Iwannahurl

Someone with the marvellous name of Bugsy O'Hara ought to have made a fortune in Hollywood by now!

barone

Simarillion

The O'Hara's owned all the land from their house on Taylors Hill right down to the sea! The last owner of Lenaboy was Colonel James O'Hara
A brother of Colonel O'Hara lived in a house called West Lodge where Galway Golf Club is now and he owned all of Blackrock and much of Threadneedle too.

Galway Corporation used to pay the family £1 a year to rent the seashore from them so the public could swim at Blackrock and Lady's Beach, and one year they got into an argument about payments so Colonel O'Hara banned people from swimming in his sea.

Just some interesting facts about one of the forgotten families of Galway

Iwannahurl

If they still owned the Prom they could make lots of money with a Turd Tax...