Walk – Na Forbacha
Walk I
Time: 1¾-2 hours
Distance: 7km
Grade: Moderate
Walk II
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 12½km
Grade: Moderate/Strenuous
Walk I
A. Park your car in the carpark by the beach, walk westwards uphill and turn right at the first road – Aill a’ Phréacháin, as it is called, meaning The Cliff of the Crow, or possibly from a corruption of Fraoch Bháin – white heather. Walk through Furbo Wood until you come to open space again – the little fields and stone walls of Connemara.
a. After going uphill for 800m (10-15min) take the first turn left. This road goes through a farmyard and continues up to the bog.
b. After two kilometers (30min) the road curves to the left and soon turns left again so that you are heading south. Rest here a while and look around the circuit, think of how lonely life must have been for the people of these remote farms before the arrival of the motor car. It is 2.4km (30-40min) from here to where the road joins the main road again.
c. Turn left (east) down the hill again to return to your starting point (700m or 10min).
Walk II
A. Park your car in the carpark by the beach, walk westwards uphill and turn right at the first road – Aill a’ Phréacháin, as it is called, meaning The Cliff of the Crow, or possibly from a corruption of Fraoch Bháin – white heather. Walk through Furbo Wood until you come to open space again – the little fields and stone walls of Connemara.
B. Follow this road for 1.7km (20min) until you arrive at a small stream with a stone bridge. This townland is called Baile na hAbhann (The Townland of the River). Take a sharp left and then after 100m, but before you reach the next bridge, take a sharp right and make your way towards Na Poillíní (The Small Holes).
C. Follow this road for 350m (5min), turn left at the junction and continue past the fortified house. The road rises gradually as you approach the bog and you will have a grand view of Furbo Wood, Furbo House and Galway Bay.
D. When you reach the crossroad (3¼km or 30-40min) turn left and follow the road as it heads south, passing the turn for Leitir Gungaid (after 2.7km or 30-40min), then going downwards until you are back at the stone bridge (1.76km or 20min) in Baile na hAbhann. You have a choice of returning on the same road you walked up by turning right, but you can also turn left and walk until you reach the main road just east of the church (1½km or 30min). Turn right at this point to return to your starting point (1.1km or 15min).
History
In 1585 the Barony of Moycullen was created from the two ancient territories of Gnó Mór and Gnó Beag, comprising much of the area taken up by present day Cois Farraige, Moycullen and Uachtar Ard. Murrogh na dTuath Ó Flatharta was hereditary chief of Gnó Mór and resided at Aughnanure in Uachtar Ard; Ruairí Ó Flatharta, grandfather of the renowned writer of the same name, was hereditary chief of Gnó Beag and resided in Moycullen. Such were the territorial disputes involving Murrogh, Ruairí, the O’Briens of Thomond (who had possession of ancient Ó Flatharta land) as well as the English in the vicinity of Loch Corrib, that Queen Elizabeth I, after instigating many unsuccessful attempts to subdue him, culminating in a rout of Crown forces on the shores of Trá na gCeann in Barna, settled on conciliation and offered Murrogh free and general pardon for his offences, appointing him overall chieftain of Iar-Chonnacht.
A portion of his land in Na Forbacha was retained and given by Queen Elizabeth to Marcus Lynch Gibbon. In 1699 a grant for four quarters of land (a quarter was 120 acres – hence the name ‘Ceathrú’) six miles beyond Galway at Lynch’s Folly was given to the Blake (or de Bláca) family. There they resided for over 200 years until 1936; for the most part as notoriously unpopular landlords, forbidding tenants for example to sell or keep hay as it was needed as bedding for their horses; and even, it is said, claiming the ‘Droit de Seigneur’. A point in their favour may be that they allowed the local population to worship in the family chapel, there being no church in Na Forbacha until the building of the Réalt na Mara chapel in 1933. The remains of their house, built in 1841 of limestone brought from Co. Clare, may be seen in the wood to the east of the river.
Na Forbacha lay to the west of the ‘Liberties’, or the lands that lay within the city boundries, which began at ‘Liberty Stream,’ seperating Na Forbacha from Barna. Tolls were collected at entry points to these boundries and the money used to maintain the city walls. The remains of one of these toll points, built in the 18th century, may still be seen in the form of a brick wall incorporated into the stone wall surrounding Knocknagreena House. This house was built by Dean Butson, son of the (protestant) Bishop of Clonfert, and sold in 1925 to the Presentation Sisters. It is now used for educational purposes.
The fine Connemara Coast Hotel is built around what was once Teach Furbo, previously known as Marino Lodge and formerly home of the High Sheriff. In the gate lodge of this house soup was served in the 1870s after a bad famine period. Directly across from the hotel can be seen the offices of Údarás na Gaeltachta, the development authority for Gaeltacht or Irish speaking regions.
Na Forbacha, whose name probably derives from ‘Forba’ meaning a type of land (re: the townland ‘Na Forbacha garbha’ i.e. rough lands) now has a population of about 1000 people of whom roughly half originate from the area, the rest having moved here primarily for the renowned beaches, scenic views and, of course, Na Forbacha’s proximity to the historic city of Galway.