Gorterwulla

 

 

Gorterwulla is in the civil parish of Kilcummin. The civil Parish corresponds with the following Church of Ireland parish of Kilcummin, Galway West. In general, the civil parish and the Church of Ireland parish are the same as is the case in the Kilcummin Oughterard area.

The Irish form of the name is Gort Eiriobulla – Erriwill’s Field.

Other forms of name.

Gorterwulla
Gort Éiriobhulla
Gort Eiriobhulla
Gurtaroola Boundry Surveyor
Gurterula County Map
Gorterula Local
Gurtrevelagh Local
Gortderoolagh Rector of Kilcummin
Gurterula Barony Map
Gortgalloorna Inquis. Temp. Eliz.

Pronunciation: G-erri-wool-a

Description:

Thomas B. Martin, Esq., Proprietor. Land very bad. Contains 200¼ acres all arable with the exception of about 60 acres of bog and heathy pasture and ½ acre of water. A bye road passes through it to the S.

Situation:

Situate in the northern extremity of the parish. Bounded on the N. by Lough Corrib, on the E. by Annaghbeg and Lough Corrib, on the W. by Rinnaroon, Farrawaun and Goulaun, and on the S. by Ballygally townlands.

COUNTY Gaillimh/Galway

BARONY Maigh Cuilinn/Moycullen

CIVIL PARISH Cill Chuimín/Kilcummin

TOWNLAND Gort Oiriúlaigh/Gorterwulla

Proprietor

Thomas B. Martin of Ballynahinch Castle.

Martin (Ross) – The Martin family were established beside Ross Lake in the barony of Moycullen, county Galway, from the late 16th century, where they purchased land from the O’Flahertys. They were Royalist supporters and were dispossessed of their property in the city of Galway by the Cromwellians. Robert Martin received a grant of 2,909 acres in the barony of Moycullen, by patent dated 21 Aug 1677. Jasper Martin of Ross, who died in 1700, had two sons Jasper and Richard, from whom descend the two branches of the family settled at Ross and Ballynahinch. Nicholas Martin, who died in 1811, married Elizabeth O’Hara, daughter of Robert O’Hara of Lenaboy, and according to Burke’s ”Landed Gentry”, a grandniece of James O’Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley. Their grandson, James Martin of Ross, had sixteen children from his two marriages. His daughter, Maud, married H. Callwell and they were the parents of the author, J. M. Callwell. The youngest daughter of James Martin was Violet Florence Martin of the well known literary team Somerville and Ross. The Martins of Ross owned 5,767 acres in county Galway in the 1870s. They advertised the sale of their estate in the Landed Estates’ Court in May 1885.

Martin (Ballynahinch) – A branch of the Anglo Norman family of Martin, one of the Tribes of Galway, was granted the O’Flaherty lands in the Connemara region in the mid 17th century. This family were a junior branch of the Martins of Ross and under the Acts of Settlement were granted vast estates in counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare and Sligo. By a patent dated 1698 they were confirmed in the possession of their Connemara estate known as the Manor of Claremount by King William. The Westport Estate Papers document the sale of over 27,000 acres in the baronies of Moycullen and Ballynahinch by the trustees for the sale of Colonel John Browne’s estate to John Edwards for Richard Martin in 1699. The early generations of Martins lived at Birch Hall and Dangan, in the townland of Oranhill, parish of Rahoon, near Galway city. Richard Martin, better known as ‘Humanity Dick’, was the first member of the family to be reared as a Protestant. He was a famous duellist and founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Ballynahinch Castle was built in the centre of his estate. His son Thomas Martin died in 1847 during the Famine and Thomas’s only daughter and heir, Mary Laetita, inherited a heavily encumbered estate. She married her cousin, Arthur Gonne Bell, and died in New York in 1850. The Martin estates were offered for sale in two sections in 1849. Their property close to Galway town included Dangan, Corcullen, Bushypark and Killeen. Their Connemara estate was acquired by the Law Life Assurance Society in 1852, to whom it was heavily mortgaged. In 1853 the estate of almost 200,000 acres was surveyed by Thomas Colville Scott for a prospective buyer. Richard Martin, second son of Richard ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin of Ballynahinch, is recorded as holding five townlands in the parish of Killannin, barony of Moycullen, county Galway, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation although he emigrated to Canada in 1833. He was also recorded as the occupier of Clareville, a Martin home in the village of Oughterard. Many of his descendants still reside in Canada.

Information from the Down Survey Website:

The Down Survey website will tell you who owned this townland in 1641 (pre Cromwell) and in 1671 (post Cromwell).

Down Survey website

Griffith’s Valuation

In Griffith’s Valuation the area is 200acres 3 roods 15perches with a land value of £48 0s 0d. Value of Buildings is £3 5s 0d, and the total value is £51 5s 0d.

Occupiers of the Land; Thomas Mc Donagh, Francis Roche, John Clancy, R. Mc Donagh(Patt), Cecilia Mc Donagh, R. Mc Donagh (James), Thomas Griffin, Edward Sullivan, Peter Mc Donagh, Patrick Frazer and Michael Corcoran.

 Landlord – Immediate Lessor: Henry Hodgson

 Ownership of Land and Property: All of the occupants owned a house, land and out-offices except for Michael Corcoran who owned just land.

 Annual Valuation

All of the families had their land rated at £4 except Francis Roche whose land was rated £8.  All of their buildings were rated 5s each except Francis Roche, Cecilia Mc Donagh and Edward Sullivan whose buildings which included house and out–offices were rated 10s 0d.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&PlaceID=559026

 Out Offices and Land

The out office was a farm building, a cow house, piggery or barn. The land was very poor and sterile and people were always poverty-stricken. At this time most tenants were trying to eke out a living on 5acres or less and a farmers needed at least 15.3 acres to survive.

Poor Law Union Ireland

In Ireland the Poor Relief Act of 1838 divided into districts or “unions” in which the local taxable inhabitants were to be financially responsible for all paupers in the area. In 1898 the Poor Law Union was adopted as the basic administrative division in place of the civil parish and barony. Further subdivision into 828 registration districts and 3,751 district electoral divisions followed. Townlands were not arranged according to these divisions with parish and barony retained as a means to make comparisons with records gathered before 1898.

The 1838 Act

The main provisions of the 1838 Act were:

• The extension of the existing Poor Law Commissioners’ powers to Ireland, with the appointment of Assistant Commissioners who were to implement the Act in Ireland.
• The division of the country into Poor Law Unions based on Irish electoral divisions which were themselves made up from townlands.
• The creation of a Board of Guardians for each Union, two-thirds of whom were to be elected, the other third to be appointed ex officio.
• The setting up of a workhouse in each Union.
• The collection of a local poor-rate to finance the system.
• Assistance for emigration.

Initially, 130 Unions were created, based upon 2,049 electoral divisions. The divisions were composed of townlands, a peculiarly Irish unit, traditionally of 120 Irish acres in area. (Between 1848 and 1850, an additional 33 Unions were created by subdividing and reorganizing the boundaries of some existing Unions, particularly in the west of the country.

Boards of Guardians were elected annually on 25th March. Only rate-payers were eligible for election, which effectively disenfranchised most of the native Irish who were usually tenants at this time. Rate-payers were allowed between one and six votes depending on the size of a valuation of their property.

Census 1881/ 1891 

The Table shows that there were 4 Registrar’s Districts and Electoral Divisions in the Oughterard Poor Law Union. The total area of the whole Union was 172,289 acres.  The table gives the number of houses and the population for each district from 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, to 1891.The divisions of the Oughterard Union were Kilcummin, Letterfore, Oughterard and Wormhole. The total number of houses listed in 1841 were 4,465 and by 1881 there were 3,641 houses. The population in 1871 was 19,572 and by 1891 it was 18,975.

Townlands

A town land is one of the smallest land divisions in Ireland. They range in size from a few acres to thousands of acres. Many are Gaelic in origin, but some came into existence after the Norman invasion 1169. Gorterwulla is a townland and other place names in or near this townland are:

•  Drumnaglogh (subdenomination)
• Drumnaskeagh (hill)
• Gortluggagh (subdenomination)

Population & Census Information:

People who lived here:

You can retrieve a list of people who lived in this townland from 1827 to 1911. This list is compiled from the following resources.

• The Tithe Applotment Books
• Griffith’s Valuation
• 1901 Census
• 1911 Census

List of nineteenth century and early twentieth century inhabitants.

 1901 Census Gorterwulla

This is a return of the members of the family, visitors, boarders or servants who slept or abode in their house on the night of Sunday March 31^st 1901 in Gorterwulla.

There were 9 houses listed in the Townland of Gorterwulla. The people were all Roman Catholics and they were born in County Galway. There were 14 males and 16 females a total of 30 persons in the townland. There were 27 in total of farm buildings and out-offices which included, a store, stables, cow houses, barns, piggeries, and a fowl house.

Class of House: The class of house depended on the materials used in the roof, walls, number of rooms and number of front windows. A 1^st class house was considered the highest standard.

Walls of the houses: The walls were of stone, brick, concrete or of mud, wood or other perishable material. The houses in Gorterwulla were built of stone, brick or concrete. There were no mud cabins.

Landholder of the property unless otherwise stated was the lawful owner.

Roofs were of slate, iron, tiles, thatch, wood or other perishable material. The roofs of houses were of thatch, wood or perishable material. Most likely they were thatched as there was ample reeds for thatching in the lakes.

House Occupancy: Each of the 9 houses was occupied by one family.

The people listed as Head of the Family were also listed as the lawful Landholder of the property.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840367/

House & Building Returns

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840368/

Out Offices & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840369/

House 1: Kate Flaherty aged 70 a widow and a farmer lived alone. She spoke Irish and English but she didn’t read or write. She lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. One person occupied 2 rooms. She had a calf house and a cow house.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394481/

House 2: Mary McDonagh a farmer and a widow aged 60 lived with her son Patrick 19 – a farmer’s son. He was single and he could read and write but his mother didn’t read or write. They spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 2 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a stable, cow house, piggery and barn.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394482/

House 3: Patrick O Brien aged 40 a farmer was head of the family He lived with his wife Mary 48 and their son Michael 22 a farmer’s son. Michael and Patrick could read and write but Mary did not. They spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 2 house with 3 front windows. 3 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a stable, cow house piggery and barn.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394483/

House 4: Richard Keneavy aged 38 an agricultural worker was head of the family. He lived with his wife Bridget 38, daughter Julia 15 both house attendants, Delia 9 and Michael 7 were scholars, William 4 and Anne 2. The family spoke Irish and English and they could read and write. They lived in a Class 3 house with 2 front windows. 7 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house, calf house and a piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394484/

House 5: Cecila Mc Donagh aged 53 a widow and a farmer was head of the family. Living with her were her adult children who were single – Walter 24, Maggie 20 and Patrick 16 – farmer’s sons and daughter. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 4 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had cow house, piggery and barn.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394485/

House 6: Michael Sullivan a farmer aged 44 was head of the family. Living with him was his wife Margaret 35 and cousin Michael Mc Donagh – a labourer, aged 35 who was single. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 3 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house, calf house and piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394486/

House 7: James Kelly aged 51 a farmer was head of the family. He lived with his wife Bridget 50 and children Margaret 20, Mary 19 and John 16 who were single – farmer’s son and daughter’s. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 5 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house, calf house and piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394487/

House 8: Anne Mc Donagh who was single aged 20 was head of the family. Kate Joyce aged 12 was visiting her. She could read and write and she spoke Irish and English. She lived in a class 2 house with 3 front windows. 2 persons occupied 2 rooms. She had a cow house and a barn.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394488/

House 9: John Canavan aged 78 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Bridget 64 and son Mark 22 who was single and a farmer’s son. Mark could read and write but his parents did not. They spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 3 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house, piggery and a barn.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/1394489/

Gorterwulla Census 1911

This is a return of the Members of families in Gorterwulla, their visitors, boarders and servants who slept or abode in the house on the night of Sunday the 2^nd of April 1911.

Description of the Houses

All the houses in Gorterwulla were listed as private dwellings and were built of concrete or stone.  The roofs of the houses were of wood, thatch or other perishable material. Most likely they were thatched. The head of the family was listed as the landholders. One family lived in each property. The Class of the house depended on the material used in the roof, walls, number of rooms and number of front windows. Most of the houses came under “2’ in the census form meaning that there could be 2, 3, or 4, rooms in the house. There were 9 males and 16 females in the townland and they were all Roman Catholics. There were 26 farm buildings in the townland.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434939/

House & Building Returns

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434941/

Out Offices & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434943/

House 1: Patrick O Brien a farmer aged 58 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Mary 71! And their son Michael 33 a farmer’s son married to Mary aged 33 for 5 years. They had no family. Patrick and Mary were married 35 years and they had one son born alive and one son still living. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a Class 3 house with 2 front windows. 4 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a stable, 2 cow houses, piggery, fowl house barn and a shed.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912179/

House 2: Mary Mc Donagh a widow and farmer aged 72 was head of the family. She didn’t read or write but her son Patrick living with her did read and write. Aged 26 Patrick was single and was listed as a farmer’s son. The family spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 2 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a stable, cow house, piggery, barn and shed.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912180/

House 3: Bridget Kelly a farmer and a widow aged 69 was head of the family. Living with her were her children Mary 28 and John 26 both single and her niece Mary Mc Donagh age 10 a scholar. The family spoke Irish and English and they could read and write. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 4 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912181/

House 4; Patrick Kinneavy a farmer aged 49 was head of the family. Living with him was his wife Bridget 51 and children Michael 17 – a farmer’s son and Patrick 13 and Anne both scholars. They were married 27 years and 9 children were born alive and 5 were still living. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 5 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912182/

House 5: Celia Mc Donagh a widow aged 70 a farmer was head of the family. Living with her were her adult children Walter 34, Margaret 22, Martin 28 and Pat 26. They were all single and were listed as farmer’s sons and daughters. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 2 house with 3 front windows. 5 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had 2 cow houses and a shed.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912183/

House 6: Michael Sullivan a farmer aged 50 was head of the family living with his wife Anne aged 20 who didn’t read or write. Michael Mc Donagh a farm labourer aged 40 was lodging with them. The occupants spoke Irish and English and both men could read and write. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 3 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house, calf house and piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912184/

House 7: Edmond Mc Donagh a farmer who was single and aged 30 lived alone. He could read and write and he spoke Irish and English. He lived in a class 2 house with 3 front windows. 1 person occupied 2 rooms. He had a cow house and a barn.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912185/

House 8: Bridget Canavan a widow aged 73 a farmer was head of the family. Living with her were Mark 32 her son and his wife Mary 32 and their children Bridget 5, John 4, Nora 2 and Mary 6 months old. The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They were married 6 years. 4 children were born alive and 4 were still living. They lived in a class 2 house with 3 front windows. 7 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a stable, cow house, piggery and a shed.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Gorterwulla/912186/

Church records of births, deaths and marriages:

Church records of births, deaths and marriages are available online at http://www.rootsireland.ie. To search these records, you will need to know the ‘church parish’ rather than the ‘civil parish’. (The civil parish is the pre-reformation parish and was frequently used as a unit of administration in the past.)

Gorterwulla is in the civil parish of Kilcummin.

 Catholic parish:

This civil parish corresponds with the following Roman Catholic parish or parishes.

• Clonbern & Kilkerrin in Galway East.
• Carraroe in Galway West.
• Kilannin in Galway West.
• Kilcummin/Oughterard in Galway West.
• Rosmuc in Galway West.

Church of Ireland parish:

This civil parish corresponds with the following Church of Ireland parish.

• Kilcummin in Galway West.

In general, the civil parish and the Church of Ireland parish are the same, but, this is not always the case.

Maps

Original OS map of this area (Click on place name to view original map in new window.):

Ireland was first mapped in the 1840s. These original maps are available online.

Gorterwulla

Original OS maps at the Ordnance Survey of Ireland website (Click on place name to view original map in new window.):

Below is a link to the Ordnance Survey of Ireland website. It displays the original OS map that was created in the 1840s.

Gorterwulla

Information from Google Maps:

You can use this link to find this townland on Google Maps.

Google Maps
Information from the National Monuments Service:

You can use this link to view a map of archaeological features. This link brings you to a website wherein you will have to search for your townland.

Archaeological map from the National Monuments Service

Townlands.ie Website

http://www.townlands.ie/galway/moycullen/kilcummin/letterfore/gorterwulla/ 

Galway Library Website

http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/asp/fullresult.asp?id=52447 

Additional Information from ’A Valley Remembers Glann’

GORTERWULLA

Gort Oiriulaigh, ready fields or Gort Eiriobhulla – Eirriwills field. Also might be Apple fields. Could also be Gort an bhaille. Wall fields.

Area 200 acres.

Eirriwill was king of Ireland in 1741 B.C. is medium sized townland runs west along the lake shore from Kitts Bay and north to the mountain at Gowlaun, bordered to the east by Ballygally and the west by Farravaun. It consists of mainly dry drumlin type sandy land with good views of the Corrib. It may have been part of the estate of the Earl of Clonrichard in 1641.

Thomas B. Martin Esq. was the Proprietor at the time of the Griffith Valuation. The land then was described as very bad containing 200¼ acres all arable with the exception of about 60 acres of bog and heathy pasture and half an acre of water. A bye road passes

through it to the south.

Drumnaskeagh is an area in Gorterwulla townland. It is at the top of the hill above the Bridge at the bye road to Gorterwulla on the west side.

Drumnagloch is an area behind John Canavans house. Gortluggagh or Garrai Luggagh is located near Island View house.

In the 1850s, Henry Hodgson was the Landlord.

The families renting and living there at the time were:

Thomas McDonagh (Tom Molloy’s); Francis Roche (Canavan’s); John Clancy (Dick’s Field at Heinz Stadler’s); Richard McDonagh (Patt) (Ned McDonagh); Cecilia McDonagh (Michael Maloney’s above the road); Richard McDonagh (James) (Peter Clancy’s Nedeen’s and Mick Canavan’s); James Griffin (Sean T’s); Edward Sullivan (Maloney’s—Island View); Peter McDonagh (Edwin’s); Patrick Frazer (Canavan’s up Gowlaun road) and Michael Corcoran—land rented only (Peter Clancy’s up Gowlan road). They generally paid £4.0.0 rent for the land and five shillings for their homes. If you had an out-house you had to pay for it as well.

At the time of the 1911 census there were eight houses recorded in Gorterwulla. House no. 1 was home to Patrick and Mary O Brien and their son Michael and his wife Mary. Michael died 6 years later. As they had no children of their own, a nephew Martin Molloy came to live with them in Glann. He married Mary Flynn from Co. Leitrim. They reared three children Sis, Martin John, and Tom, who lives there today. Tom married Mary Davis from Kilteevan, Co. Roscommon. Their son Gerry and his wife Freda Hayes (Collinamuck) and daughter Paula also live there next door to Tom. The next house listed in 1911 was that of Bridget Kelly. Bridget had a daughter, Mary, and son, Johnny. Johnny married Nellie Walsh (Roscahill). Their son Sean T. emigrated to the U.S.A. but returned and built a new home. The old family home was sited where Pine Grove B& B is today. Mick Maloney and his wife Mary Conneely (Camp Street, Oughterard) live there. They have four in family Anna, Michelle, Carol and Colin. Michelle and her husband Barry Culligan now live at Island View.

Pete Clancy from Rath-hill, Farravaun, bought the property, on which Island View was built, in 1920. Biddy Kinneavey (nee Flaherty) sold the property to him, as her husband, Patrick from Inchagoill, was dead and all the family had gone to America.

John Andrew Sullivan built Island View beside the Kinneavey home. It was the first house he built. Pete lived there with his niece, Bride, sister of Mary McGloin and Bernadette Page. Another house listed then was that of Edmund McDonagh (Edmund Peter). He lived alone on the Gowlaun Road. He was a brilliant stone mason. The walls of the houses that he built still stand testament to his skill even though the roofs have gone. He took great pride in his work and arranged alcoves in the walls so that he would always have a place to rest while facing the sun. He passed away in the 1940s. He had a sister in America. The farm is part of Peter Clancy’s family holding.

Another family with strong roots in Gorterwulla is the Canavan family. In 1911 Bridget Canavan lived here with her son Mark and his wife Mary and their four children, Bridget John, Nora and Mary. Another son Martin was born later. John better known as Jack married Catherine O Halloran. Their children are Mark, Jimmy and Mae. The rest of the family emigrated. Mary who married Dudley Walsh returned to live at Ardvarna. Nora became a nun and worked in the U.SA. Mark and his wife Mary Enright from Bru Co. Limerick live at the family home. They have three in family Anne Marie, Martina and John. Jimmy lives in Moycullen. Th house of the next family in Gorterwulla is no longer there but at the time was occupied by Michael McDonagh (Mickey Edward) and his wife Anne. When Micheal died Anne re-married another McDonagh man named Pat (Pateen Eamon). Pateen was from Oughterard. He was a soldier in the Free State Army. There is a story told that he saved the life of a young teacher named John Donnellan from Oughterard who had been captured on suspicion of carrying information. Pateen recognised him and said he was sound and to release him. Pateens first wife Anne also died a young woman. Pat remarried Barbara O Donnell. They had five children, Ned, Sis, Joe, Nora and Colman. Ned married Nancy Kelly (Baurisheen). They have two in family P.J. and May. Further down the Gurterwulla road is another McDonagh family. Richard McDonagh. He was married to Maire de Burca from Maghera. He died leaving five children. In 1911 Richard, Michael, Martin and Margaret had left home and Paddy was looking after his mother and the farm. Michael returned later to live in Newvillage. His daughter Josie married Johnny O Connor from Newvillage and lives there to this day. Richard and Margaret went to the US and Martin went to Canada to be never heard of again. Paddy married Ann Joyce from Gowlaun. They had 9 children, Joe, Mary, Bridie, Stephen, Kevin, Dick, Raymond, Brendan and Winnie. Dick married Bridgie Walsh (Raha) and set up home in Gorterwulla. They have 6 in family Ann, Richard, Michael, Mary, Patrick and Brian.

Richard and his wife Eileen (Higgins) and daughter Lisa live in Gurterwulla as does Patrick and Bridgie. Dick sadly passed away before his time.

Because Gorterwulla has a shore line that contains some of the best fishing waters on Lough Corrib such as Kitts Bay, Snaithdans, Doonavilla and parts of Rineroon Bay. It comes as no surprise that the area gained popularity with anglers from far and wide. This led to some of the wealthier members of society moving west and the number of Holiday homes/ fishing lodges increased rapidly. Today they number 13 in Gurtherulla alone. One of the earliest to be built was by the Holland Family in the early sixties. Ronnie Holland came from London and was a regular visitor to Currarevagh Hotel. Their regular boatman was Martin Molloy (father of Tom). They bought a site of Dick McDonagh and built on it a fine house. They came every year in May and August and for many years and were well known and respected as top class anglers. Now the house is owned by Heinz and Christine Skalder, who are keen anglers and spend a lot of the summer there.

As time passed many more summer houses were built with the good fishing being the main attraction. These summer homes provided welcome sources of employment in harder times for boatmen, caretakers and down to the May fly pickers, many of whom honed their entrepreneurial skills on the shores of the Corrib. NAMA was never an issue either in those days. Some of the earlier anglers were from England but then as the economic situation improved more Irish people moved to the West. Names like De Burgh, McGrath, Bartons, McCoys, Donoghues, Leonards (the “shack”) and many more. Now there are 17 full time residents as well as the 13 Summer homes. There are three other families in Gorterwulla: John, Patricia, Mark and John Kavanagh; Mark, Maura and Mark Molloy and Tony, Tina, Jake, Simon, Anthony and Aaron Dixon. Tony and Tina Dixon live in the house overlooking Kitts Bay.