Killagoola
Encyclopedia
Killagoola is a small townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 lying in the parish of Moycullen
Moycullen
Moycullen Moycullen Moycullen (official name: Maigh Cuilinn, Plain of Holly, or Plain of Cullen (a local giant) is a suburban village in County Galway, Ireland, about 10 km (7 mi) north west of Galway city. It is located near Lough Corrib, on the N59 road to Oughterard and Clifden in...

 in County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

.

It is located about 8 miles from Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

 city, just off the N59 road which travels north from Galway towards Clifden
Clifden
Clifden is a town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara's largest town, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". It is located on the Owenglen River where it flows into Clifden Bay...

.
Its name is derived from the Irish name of Chill U'goola, which means Church on the Shoulder (of a hill).
Indeed there is the ruins of a small church within the boundaries of killagoola, on the largest hill in the area, Cru Mountain.

Until the first half of the 20th century, Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 was the language used in the area, but this was lost in the latter half, with a change to English.

Killagoola has locally derived place-names such as Mountview, Sruthan, Sceith and Baile Thiar to distinguish areas of the townland.
Lough Kip river runs from the lake, Lough Kip, through the townland towards Ballyquirke Lake, a feeder for the much bigger lake, the Corrib
Lough Corrib
Lough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the second largest lough in Ireland . It covers 178 km² and lies mostly in County Galway with a small area of its northeast corner in County Mayo.The first canal in...

.

Most of the land in the area is used as farmland, reclaimed from boggy or mountainous areas.

Some of the families living in the area have lived there for generations and their names can be viewed on land deeds from the 19th century. After a drop in the townland population from the 1960s to the 1980s, an influx of people in the 1990s, due to its proximity to Galway city, has bolstered the small population.
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