Looking for information on Kinnagrelly, Co. Sligo

I played some with the Ordnance Survey maps and found Kinnagrelly, which is basically a townland (a parcel of land) west of of the town of Collooney...between it and Coolaney. You should be able to go stand on the land, but there is no town there now.

There's a fair amount to see in the area (Yeats sites around Sligo, Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetary, Carrowkeel, etc.) and I can highly recommend Cromleach Lodge near Castlebaldwin (about 10 miles south of Collooney). Lovely facility and fabulous food. I was there is 2001 and I'll be back next month. (BTW my family comes from townlands near Longford, which I'll visit then.)

Skibumette - thank you for the information and the recommendation. I will definitely look into it.

Nancy,

I grew up in that area and the above poster is correct with the description given. Kinnagrelly is about a mile outside the village of Collooney. If you know the name of your ancestors I may be able to find out more infomation on them for you. I have family that still live in the area and might be able to help you further. The local church might also be a good place to look up birth records (depending on how long ago they left). If needed I can get you an e-mail for the local priest in the town of Collooney.

tdc123,

What a kind offer!! Thank you so much. The names I have are Harraghy, Fahey and Lang. Ballysadare is another village that might be connected to these families. I think that they may have left in the 1860s. Thanks again.

Nancy,

I will contact my family and see if any of these names ring a bell. I know a family of Lang's that are still in the area and could put you in contact with them if you wish. Ballysadare is another small village about 2 miles from Collooney.

Thank you tdc123! I would be very grateful if you could help me make a connection. Wouldn't it be amazing if they are actually my relatives. Do you have any recommendations for a bed and breakfast or hotel in the area? Thank you again.

Nancy: Ballysadare is also the name of the civil parish. You might look at the 1858 Griffiths Valuation for Co. Sligo, Ballysadare civil parish.

Irelands Valuation office conducted its first survey of property ownership in Ireland from 1848 to 1864. This survey became known as "Griffiths Valuation" after Richard Griffith who was the director of the office at that time. The survey was used to determine the amount of tax each person should pay towards the support of the poor within their poor law union. This involved determining the value of all privately held lands and buildings in rural as well as urban areas to figure the rate at which each unit of property could be rented year after year. The resulting survey was arranged by barony and civil parish with an index to the townlands appearing in each volume. Griffith's Valuation can be used as an excellent census substitute for the years after the Great Famine as censuses prior to 1901 were destroyed.

At this site: www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/sligo/ballysadare.php I came up with a Harraghy in Kinnagrelly townland...but no Faheys or Langs.

If you possibly can, drive the Gleniff Horseshoe just out of Cliffony, between Sligo and Bundoran. Stop at the mill; there doesn't seem to be much of the mill left but there is a lovely little nature walk with a stream meandering about. And the waterfall on Glencar Lake is beautiful.

We stayed at Iorras, just out of Sligo toward Rosses Point and would recommend it. Unfortunately, they have no website but you may e-mail connollyiorras@eircom.net . BTW, it's pronounced air-us.

Funny you should ask....but the Langs own Union Farm Guest House B&B, just outside of Collooney about 2 miles from Kinnagrelly. They operated this guesthouse when I grew up there and am not sure if they still take guests or not but I will look around on-line and get you some more info. I did call my family and they were not familar with any Faheys or Harraghy in the area at this time. I will get back to you on the Langs

I looked around and do not see any website for Union Farm Guesthouse but if you go into www.eirecomphonebook.ie and type in the last name and town "collooney" your contact phone number will be listed there.

Re: accommodations....apart from the above B&B (if they are still taking guests) there are may others in the area and also there is Markree Castle (if you would like that experience) near by and also in the town of Sligo many different hotels and B&B's.

Thank you all so much. I really appreciate all of your input. I hope to find out more information about the family and will be able to do that prior to our trip with your help. The more I hear about the area makes me look forward more and more to our trip!

Thanks again,
Nancy

Nancy,

Just wondering if you ever made it to Sligo and if you had any luck tracking down your ancestors.

Hi tdc123,

We haven't made it to Ireland yet. However, my cousins from Dublin visited the US during the past couple weeks. We don't have definitive plans, but planning is half the fun.