Tynagh

Tynagh (Irish: Tíne)[2] is a village and electoral division in south-east County Galway in Ireland.

Tynagh

Tíne
Village
Tynagh
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°09′00″N 8°22′23″W
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyCounty Galway
Elevation
85 m (279 ft)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Rural
447
 (Electoral Division of Tynagh)
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid ReferenceM621163

Origin of the name

Recorded as Tyneaach (1565), Teacneaghe (1543), Theaneac (1541),[2] its current name is a contraction of Teach nEachach, 'Eochu's house'. In medieval Irish sources it is referred to as Teach nEachach, or 'the house of Eochu'. It was originally associated with the townland of Lecarrow, one mile east of the village, now named a Billew Burial Ground, the word Billew derived from Bileadha, plural of bile, denoting a sacred tree.

The element Eachach refers to Dagda, the supreme deity of the pagan Irish. He is cited as the father of the founder of the church, Brandubh of Tynagh. This suggests that Tynagh was originally a cult centre for the festival of Lughnasa, later Christianised by Brandubh, who was cited as Lugh's son, thus betraying its true origins.

Geographic area and notable industry

From about the 8th or 9th century up to the 17th century, the name of the area it was situated within was Síol Anmchadha. Its kings and lords were the Maddan family.

Situated between the towns of Loughrea (15 km) and Portumna (13 km), the place is probably best known for the Tynagh mines which opened in the 1960s and were an important source of lead and zinc concentrates at that time.[3] From 1965 to 1981 the mines were managed by the Northgate Group subsidiary Irish Base Metals Ltd.[3] For almost twenty years Irish Base Metals Tynagh Ltd was a major source of employment for east Galway. This all changed in 1981, however, when the mines closed with the loss of 350 jobs.[4]

In 2004, after lying dormant for over twenty years, part of the site was redeveloped for industrial use with Sperrin Galvanisers (Ireland) Ltd opening a steel galvanising plant, and Tynagh Energy Ltd a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant, the first in Galway.

Sports

Tynagh has very strong hurling links. Between 1920 and 1929 no club in Galway went as long unbeaten in senior hurling. Also during this period, Tynagh had six members on the Galway team that won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1923, another unrivalled county record.

People

Paul Keating, the former prime minister of Australia, visited Tynagh in 1993 while tracing his ancestry, and found that he was related to a Thomas Donnellan from Tynag The grandfather (Michael Lyons) of another past Prime minister of Australia, Joseph Lyons, emigrated to Australia from Tynagh.[5]

See also

Further reading

References
  1. "Sapmap Area - Electoral Division - Tynagh". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. April 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  2. "Tíne / Tynagh". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  3. Editor, GSI (1 February 2016). "50th Anniversary of the Tynagh Mine Opening". Geoscience Ireland. Retrieved 1 December 2019.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. "Tynagh - concern over mining site". farmersjournal.ie. Farmers Journal. 28 June 2003. Archived from the original on 18 September 2003.
  5. "Message Boards". boards.ancestry.com.


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