Moylough (/mɔɪˈlɒx/ moy-LOKH; Irish: Maigh Locha, meaning 'plain of the lake')[2][3] is a rural village located in County Galway in Ireland. As of the 2016 census, it had a population of 518.[1]

Moylough
Maigh Locha (Irish)
Village
Moylough Castle is a 13th century tower or hall house
Moylough Castle is a 13th century tower or hall house
Moylough is located in Ireland
Moylough
Moylough
Coordinates: 53°29′17″N 8°34′05″W / 53.488°N 8.568°W / 53.488; -8.568
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyCounty Galway
Population518

Moylough is 5 km northwest of Mountbellew and 50 km from Galway. It is located on the N63 national secondary road, and is also served by the R328 and R364 regional roads.

History

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Moylough was part of the ancient kingdom of the Soghain of Connacht.[citation needed] An 8th century Irish reliquary shaped in the form of a belt, the Moylough Belt-Shrine, was found in a peat bog by John Towey while he was cutting turf near Moylough in 1947.[4][5]

Other evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes Moylough Castle, a 13th-century tower house historically associated with the Norman de Cotterell and de Cogeshale families.[6]

Together with nearby Mountbellew, Moylough has been twinned with Elliant in Brittany since 1998.[7][8]

Amenities

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Amenities within Moylough include a national (primary) school, Garda station, post office and community centre.[9] Many of the village's amenities lie within the townland of Moylough More, including the local Catholic church (built c. 1830).[10] As of the 2011 census, Moylough More townland had a population of over 440 people.[11]

Notable people

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Moylough is the birthplace of Thomas Higgins who became the shortest serving MP in Westminster when, representing the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was posthumously declared elected a Member of Parliament of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 26 January 1906.[citation needed]

Thomas Carr, Archbishop of Melbourne 1886–1917, was born near Moylough in 1839.[citation needed]

There is a statue of the Galway Gaelic footballer Enda Colleran in the town.[citation needed]

Former Irish rugby manager Eddie O'Sullivan is from Moylough.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Moylough (Ireland) Census Town". City Population. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Maigh Locha / Moylough". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  3. ^ Mills, A. D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ "Moylough Belt Shrine". 100 Objects. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ The date has at times been erroneously reported as 1943 or 1944. See Ó Floinn (2003), p. 197
  6. ^ "Moylough Castle". visitgalway.ie. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Historique". Comité de jumelage Elliant – Mountbellew-Moylough (in French). Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Elliant. Le comité de jumelage va animer le bourg". ouest-france.fr (in French). Société Ouest France. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. ^ "17.1 Moylough Small Growth Village". Draft Galway County Development Plan 2022-2028. Galway County Council. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Saint Patrick's Catholic Church, Main Street, Chapel Road, Moylough More, Moylough, Galway". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  11. ^ "CD155 - Galway Population by Private Households, Occupied and Vacancy Rate". data.gov.ie. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 19 February 2023. Population [..] Townlands [..] Moylough More, Mount Bellew, Co. Galway [..] 443