The West Through the Ages

The West Through the Ages

Although Ireland's East, Southwest, and the North were influenced by either Norman, Scots, or English settlers, the West largely escaped systematic resettlement and, with the exception of the walled town of Galway, remained purely Irish in language, social organization, and general outlook far longer than the rest of the country. The land in the West, predominantly mountains and bogs, did not immediately tempt the conquering barons. Oliver Cromwell was among those who found the place thoroughly unattractive, and he gave the Irish chieftains who would not conform to English rule the choice of going "to Hell or Connaught."

It wasn't until the late 18th century, when better transport improved communications, that the West began to experience the so-called foreign influences that had already Europeanized the rest of the country.

The West was, in effect, propelled from the 16th century into the 19th. Virtually every significant building in the region dates either from before the 17th century or from the late 18th century onward. As in the southwest, the population of the West was decimated by the Great Famine (1845-49) and by the waves of emigration that persisted until the 1950s.