A-Z Placefinder
Towns of Galway
Ardrahan —County Galway
Ardrahan, a charming village on the N18, with a wide market square and cross, still retains much of its rural charm, despite the passing traffic. The O'Heynes, or Hynes, Lords of Aidhne, had their stronghold here in ancient times and, with the help of other Irish clans, inflicted a terrible defeat on the Normans in 1225, a feat still recalled in that rousing song, The West's Awake. However, in 1236, Richard de Burgo, after successfully conquering County Galway, granted Ardrahan to Maurice Fitzgerald who built a stone castle, the ruins of which lie just north of the village. The boundary of this early Norman settlement continues across the N18 where the gable of a mediaeval church still stands in the churchyard. The lower section of a round tower, one of just four in County Galway, lies imbedded in the surrounding wall, suggesting an even earlier monastic settlement in Ardrahan.
