Richard de Burgo conquered Galway in 1236, and granted the land to Maurice Fitzgerald who built the castle whose ruins still stand today. The churchyard wall contains the remains of a round tower, which suggests that a monastic community may have existed on the site before the castle was built.[3]
Places of interest
The most noteworthy attraction in Ardrahan is Tulira Castle, once owned by playwright and independence activist Edward Martyn. Tulira Castle was for a long time owned by Galway County Council, but was bought in 2015 by CarTrawler owner Niall Turley for €5.8 million.[4]
Ardrahan railway station opened on 15 September 1869, was closed to passenger traffic on 5 April 1976 and finally closed on 11 June 1983.[7]
A new railway station has opened as part of phase one of the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor between Ennis and Athenry.
Education
There are three schools in Ardrahan: Labane N.S, Ballyglass N.S. & Kiltiernan NS
Ardrahan also has a Camogie club. In 2006, and again in 2019, the U14 girls won the Féile Final and went on to represent Galway in Cork. In 2006, they got to the All-Ireland Semi-Final.[citation needed]
Cultural references
Ardrahan is mentioned in William Hope Hodgson's book The House on the Borderland as the nearest greater village to a small village called Kraighten, near which the author's diary has been found.
Ardrahan also features in the rousing ballad The West's Awake, most famously rendered by Joe McDonagh in the immediate aftermath of Galway's All Ireland Hurling Championship victory of 1980.
^Gordon Bowe, Nicola; Caron, David; and Wynne, Michael. Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass, with an introduction and biographies by Nicola Gordon Bowe. Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1988
