Kinvara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Kinvara in the barony of Moycullen, see Kinvara (Moycullen).
| Kinvara Cinn Mhara |
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| Irish Grid Reference M369103 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Connacht | |
| County: | County Galway | |
| Elevation: | 10 m | |
| Population (2002) | 945 | |
Kinvara (Irish: Cinn Mhara, meaning "head of the sea"), a sea port village located in the south of County Galway in the province of Connacht on the west coast of Ireland. Kinvara is also the name of the parish and townland in which the village is situated. Kinvara is occasionally spelled Kinvarra in English; this may be seen on some maps and road signs, although Kinvara is the most common spelling used nowadays. Kinvarra is still the official form of the name for the townland and this form is still used on polling cards as the name of the townland while the District Electoral Division (DED) is called Kinvara.
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| Dialing Code: | 091 |
The village lies at the head of Cuan Chinn Mhara / Kinvara Bay, an inlet in the south-eastern corner of Galway Bay / Loch Lurgain. Kinvara is situated in the west of the barony of Kiltartan in County Galway close to the border with Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster. Kinvara is situated in the territory of Ui Fiachrach Aidhne also known as Maigh Aidhne ("the plain of Aidhne"), which is coextensive with the diocese of Kilmacduagh / Cill Mhic Dhuach. The parish of Kinvara is coextensive with the sub-district of Maigh Aidhne known as Coill Ua bhFhiachrach. The parish of Kinvara contains of the civil parishes of Kinvarradoorus and Killinny. Kinvara developed around an Ó hEidhin / O Hynes towerhouse (now totally demolished) close to the main pier, the medieval church of St. Comam / Caimín (in ruins) and the port. Dún Guaire, the principal towerhouse of the Ó hEidhin clan, is located to the east of the village. This towerhouse is believed to have been built on or close to the site of Ráth Dúrlais the main residence of Guaire Aidhneach the 7th century king of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne and Connachta. The enclosure on the small peninsula east of Dún Guaire is thought to be the remains of Ráth Dúrlais.
Kinvara's population according to the 2002 Census was 945. The Great Famine in the 1840s and a series of emigrations that continued up until the 1960s reduced the population of the village -- once a thriving port and a significant exporter of corn and seaweed -- to no more than a few hundred people. From around the 1980s the population of the parish of Kinvara started to increase while the village started to grow in size.
Kinvara is home every year to two festivals, Fleadh na gCuach ("the cuckoo festival") at the start of May and Cruinniú na mBád ("gathering of the boats") in August. Of these, the latter festival is the larger and longer-running; it celebrates the traditional sailing craft (Galway Hookers) and the trade they once did between Kinvara, western County Galway and the north of County Clare. Turf was imported into Kinvara from the west of County Galway while barley, lime and timber was exported from Kinvara. Turf, the main fuel used here prior to coal and oil, had to be imported as Kinvara is in an area without bogs. The festival started in 1979 and features a series of boat races as well as a variety of other events on the pier. The Fleadh na gCuach (started in 1994) is a festival of Irish music that celebrates the old Irish festival of Bealtaine (the First of May), which in Ireland marks the start of Summer.
Kinvara is also known as the birth place the secret society of extreme leftists, the B-dMG (Bi-directional Motor Group). The group were active in the area around Kinvara during the 1980s and 1990s. They carried out a number of attacks on holiday homes and Galway County Council offices and sent a number of hoax letter bombs to government offices in Dublin. No one was ever arrested for this activity. Their philosophy was based on Dialectic materialism and agrarian nationalism. They consider themselves to be the inheritors of the Terry Alts movement of the early 1800s. It is thought that a number of the members are direct descendents of members of that secret society.
