CROGHAN village

Killummod (Roscommon)

Chruachán aka CROGHAN (Boyle, Co. Roscommon) derives its name from Croghan Hill. This ancient Gaelic placename for a small round hill (located on the northern approach to the village, on the road to Boyle) was applied to the village and townland in which it sits. Technically it belongs to the civil parish of KILLUKIN (Boyle).   

Sráidbhaile Chruacháin aka Croghan Village (7 km north of Elphin; 10 km west of Carrick-on-Shannon) was the nearest market and post town for residents of the civil parishes of KILLUMMOD, ESTERSNOW, KILLUKIN, and parts of KILCOLAGH East and TUMNA South.  There was no village here until the late 18th century.

 

17th CENTURY CROGHAN

Before Cromwell, Croghan was no more than a townland with one ringfort.  In 1641, it was the Catholic-owned property of Liam Ó Maolaodha of Uachtar Tíre aka  William O'Mulloy “the great O'Mulloy, of Ughterhera, Co. Roscommon, knight of the shire and governor of that county.”

Between 1641 and 1653 Ireland was devastated by Oliver Cromwell's English reconquest of the island. Consequently, Croghan was awarded to Capt. Owen Lloyd of Co. Leitrim (d.1664) for his services to the crown.

While Killappoge and Enagh are recorded in Petty's Map of 1657, Croghan is not. By the time of the Census of 1659, the townland of Croghan had a total of 16 inhabitants - all English. 

 

18th CENTURY CROGHAN

It wasn't until the Lloyds of Norfolk inherited the estate that the development of Croghan began. At first, the Lloyds built 3 smaller Georgian gentlemen's residences: the manor of Croghan (near where the GAA Club Rooms now stand) Fairview and the Hermitage.  

By the time of the Elphin Census of 1749, Croghan townland was home to 12 households (10 of which were Catholic).  A merchant (PM Donnellan, Papist) had set up shop nearby (on the site of St. Michael's Church) and a weaver (WM Goodfellow, Protestant) was also trading in Croghan at this time. Weaving was the chief trade for men during this time; the women spinning flax. The linens manufactured in Croghan were mostly of the coarse and narrow kinds; drugget, frieze, and flannel.  [see Flaxgrower's List 1796]. Croghan had no market. 

Farming here were two additional Donnellan households. Croghan's cottier households (all Catholic) numbered 7, most of whom would have been labouring for J. Lloyd ("spinster"?) who was residing at Croghan manor with 8 children and 7 servants.

In 1796, as Penal Laws relaxed for Catholics, Donnellan's shop (a thatched building) changed use to Croghan RC Chapel.

 

19th CENTURY CROGHAN

By 1816, Croghan had a parish school (Hibernian Sunday School Society) and its own bi-annual cattle fairs (June and October). Croghan Fair was much celebrated, drawing crowds from across the west for its Croghan Shorthorn. At this time, Pat Browne Esq. resided at the manor of Croghan.

In 1826, Croghan Dispensary was established. By then, Croghan also had its own constabulary police station, and a small courtroom where petty sessions were held every Tuesday. 

By 1830 an estate mansion, Croghan House, had been built as a residence for Guy Lloyd Esq. (1803-1860) Croghan village consisted of 20 houses all on one side of the road (facing east towards the big house). The reason the village was designed in this way was that Lloyd didn't want the smell from their outhouses and other activities wafting anywhere near his fine residence. Lloyd also encouraged improvements along the roadside of other townlands leading into the village. 

"If" said Mr Weld in 1832, "a position be taken on an eminence near the village, which extends an extensive view, on looking eastward along the road leading to the Shannon, the whole country as far as the eye can reach in that direction appears studded with whitened cottages. These are the erection of Mr. Lloyd: in other words, he insists upon improvements being made by his tenants and grants a considerable allowance for the purpose out of their rents."

In 1833 a loan fund was established by Mr. Lloyd, with a capital of £500. Under the encouragement of Guy Lloyd, Croghan quickly became a progressive agricultural centre.

In 1837, Croghan was mapped by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland for the first time and Samuel Lewis described Croghan in his Topographical Survey of Ireland. 

In 1845, Great Famine hit Croghan badly as it did most everywhere in Co. Roscommon and by 1850 the Catholic Clergy had turned on Lloyd. 

In 1858, the Catholic Parish of Croghan was formed (amalgamating the parishes of Tumna South, Killukin, Killummod and the eastern parts of Kilcola and Eastersnow). Guy Lloyd laid the foundation stone for Croghan's St Michael's RC Church in 1859. The Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity, near Croghan House, followed in 1861. 

In 1889, Croghan's GAA Club was formed. In 1898, Croghan was one of the first to see a Co-operative creamery established.

 

TODAY

Croghan today, with all of its original village buildings still intact and in active use, is certainly worth a visit. It has an abundance of local historians, such as Tom Mullaney, and Croghan's Tidy Towns committee, committed to conservation, has a high level of community participation.  

Check out the old pound, old painted agriculture machinery (and a cartwheel), and the restored pumps at both ends of the village. The churches of St. Michael's [RC] and Holy Trinity [CofI] are also well-maintained.   The Shannon Gaels GAA Club (on the site of Croghan Demesne) is also very active here. 

Croghan is flourishing again, as it continues to serve its growing community: among its most recent additions are three new housing estates, a newly-constructed 6-teacher primary school, and social housing for the elderly. An engaging community centre stands on the site of the old creamery and 

Reference Books:

Shannon Gaels G.A.A. club, 1884-1984 : Croghan/Drumlion : a history

 by Thomas Mullaney. http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000763243

St. Michael's Church - Drumlion - Co. Roscommon, 1856-2006 : 

church, people and landscape / 

compiled and edited by John Keenehan.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000249706