Book on 40 Connemara families who migrated east

John Conroy was on the first bus that left An Maimin above Leitir Móir in the early morning of 12th April 1935 along with his parents and other siblings. They headed off in CIE buses, along with 40 other families from congested areas of the South Conamara Gaeltacht and traveled all day across Ireland. It was near 10:00pm that night when they arrived, exhausted in The Promised Land of Ráth Chairn near Athboy in County Meath to take possession of new farms allotted to them by The Irish Land Commission.
John is photographed in 1995 making tea in what was one of the most traditional housed in the new Gaeltacht of Ráth Chairn. — John Conroy was on the first bus that left An Maimin above Leitir Móir in the early morning of 12th April 1935 along with his parents and other siblings. They headed off in CIE buses, along with 40 other families from congested areas of the South Conamara Gaeltacht and traveled all day across Ireland. It was near 10:00pm that night when they arrived, exhausted in The Promised Land of Ráth Chairn near Athboy in County Meath to take possession of new farms allotted to them by The Irish Land Commission. John is photographed in 1995 making tea in what was one of the most traditional housed in the new Gaeltacht of Ráth Chairn.

placeholder image — John Conroy was on the first bus that left An Maimin above Leitir Móir in the early morning of 12th April 1935 along with his parents and other siblings. They headed off in CIE buses, along with 40 other families from congested areas of the South Conamara Gaeltacht and traveled all day across Ireland. It was near 10:00pm that night when they arrived, exhausted in The Promised Land of Ráth Chairn near Athboy in County Meath to take possession of new farms allotted to them by The Irish Land Commission. John is photographed in 1995 making tea in what was one of the most traditional housed in the new Gaeltacht of Ráth Chairn.

A new book tells the powerful story of how a group of Connemara families migrated east to build new lives for themselves – and take their culture and language with them – to the newly established Gaeltacht village of Ráth Chairn in County Meath.

The Government-sponsored scheme saw 40 families relocate to new lives back in 1935 – and their story has now been beautifully brought to life with extraordinary photographs from an almost forgotten Ireland by Matt Nolan.

The new book is entitled Ráth Chairn: An Talamh Bán, The Promised Land.

The book explores the migration of the 40 Irish speaking families from difficult and often-overpopulated coastal areas of Ceantar na nOileán in South Connemara in 1935 to new farms near Athboy.

The book, which will be launched by Government Chief Whip and Galway West TD Seán Kyne in Ráth Chairn next Monday, details how the colony survived with their language and traditions still intact to this day.

It’s a story of sadness, parting ways with old family and friends in order to start a new life, farming challenges and language difficulties but above all it’s a story of belief and pride in community and identity.

The book contains rare photographs of Ráth Chairn and its inhabitants from various periods over the past 80 years mostly taken by the author himself, along with a bilingual text carefully detailing life in Ráth Chairn from 1935 to the present day. Among those to enjoy their sneak preview of the book is RTÉ’s Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, herself a Ráth Chairn native,

“I love this book for it makes me laugh and it makes me cry...It’s a postcard from my youth.” she said.

The author, Matt Nolan has also published books on his hometown of Ballygar, and on Mullingar, Co. Westmeath where he lives.

Matt is also a frequent contributor to the Connacht Tribune, chronicling the lives of many of those who stayed behind in Connemara.

A passionate Irish language enthusiast and speaker, he also worked in the fisheries service for many years.

The book will be on sale in all good local bookshops – or you can contact the publishers Comharchumann Ráth Chairn at [email protected] or the author at [email protected]