CMJ Office Blog

Farmland as far as the eye can see. An Irish farm is where my maternal grandmother was born and raised before being sent to America. The family is from two townlands in County Clare, Ireland. The first townland is Teerleheen and the second is Russa. They are both beautiful and typical with green pastures surrounded by stone walls.

These two townlands (a townland being the smallest rural division of a Parish) are situated in the Old Civil Parish of Clooney. Teerleheen comprises of 196 acres and Russa is approximately 80 acres and just east of Teerleheen. Teerleheen is just over 3 miles east of the town of Ennistymon which is 2 miles east of Lahinch and the Atlantic Ocean (Cliffs of Moher). When translated from Gaelic, Teerleheen reads, “the little field or land near at hand”. “Woody” is the translation for Russa. The general area for both of these townlands was referred to as Clooney.

My grandmother, Anna Clune, was born on the 10th of July, 1910, in Teerleheen. Thomas Clune and the Clune family were from Russa. When Thomas Clune married Mary O’Loughlin, he gained her family farm in Teerleheen, as she was an only child. Thomas and Mary are Anna’s parents.

The earliest land/property records available for the area were the Tithe Applotment Books of the mid 1820s. Tithe is a tax on all agricultural land. The tithe records for this area are dated 1827 with mentions of my family within them. In the 1911 Census of Teerleheen, the family home is described as having stone walls, a thatched roof, 3 windows to the front and 3 rooms. Thomas Clune’s occupation was given as a farmer. The Catholic Chapel, St. Columba est. 1846, still stands beside the Clune family home. It used to serve as the local school as well as the town church.

Anna Clune’s environment shaped her in many ways. She was a farmer’s daughter and loved the outdoors. She always had a green thumb. As a farming family, the Clune’s were poor and sent Anna to America where she worked and sent money home to Ireland. The “Troubles” which transpired in Ennistymon and the surrounding area of Clooney Parish also filled my grandmother with memories she never shook. I remember my grandmother telling me about this terrible time in her life and during the fight for Ireland’s independence. The English attacked the area in retaliation for the Rineen Ambush of September 22, 1920. There were many of these ambushes during this time period. The Monreal Ambush took place in December of 1920 on the road my grandmother grew up on. My grandmother and her siblings hid under the table while soldiers were at the door.

I don’t think they ever forgot. How could they? I was visiting my grandmother’s sister, Bridget O’Looney, during the summer when Prince Charles and Lady Di were getting married. I was not allowed to watch this on the TV. If I remember correctly, after a long rant, we took a day trip to Galway. Of course, I could not understand this being an eleven year old American wanting to see a real royal wedding.

The area is booming now with tourism and the computer industry. I have spent several summers with my relatives through my youth. It has been awhile. I intend on passing these memories down to my children. I’m lucky. I still have connections to my family members in Ireland. In fact, my grandmother’s nephew, Paddy Clune, still lives in the family home where she was born. If you’d like to read more about the area, here is an article that was written in the Ennistymon Parish Magazine, 2002. Everyone in this area is a relation of mine. I hope everyone enjoys the story. It was written for the Genealogy Carnival.

Colleen M. Johnson, CMJ Office