Geevagh
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Ireland: With Geevagh located in North West.
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Map of Geevagh.
Geevagh (Irish : Ghaobhach) is a village in the south east corner of County Sligo, Ireland. It takes its name from the Irish word "Gaobhach" meaning "windy valley". A description which accurately describes the surrounding countryside and its prominent climatic feature. Geevagh and the surrounding parish of the same name lies, in the main, wedged between Carran Hill (458m) to the north east and a series of drumlins to the south west, of roughly 170 metres in height. Two notable lakes lie encircled by these hills to the south west: Lough Bo (93m) and Lough Nasool (109m) Lough Nasool (Lake of the Eye) is unususal in that it has on several occassions drained away, and as of 2006 it is almost completely gone diverted into underground channels whose paths are not fully understood. Lying just beyond the southern borders of Geevagh lies a much larger lake: Lough Arrow. To the east lies the border with County Roscommon and to the north beyond Carran Hill lies County Leitrim. To the west lies Riverstown, and the bulk of County Sligo. The underlying rock structure is a combination of limestone, shale and sandstone, many examples of which can be seen in the local stone walls. A blanket bog, as a result lies atop Carran Hill itself and indeed boggy land with poor quality soil is a feature of the local farms, the shallow soil being fertile enough to support only low density mixed farming of cattle and sheep. As a consequence of this, many local farmers supplement their meagre income from farming with wages from jobs in the local big town of Sligo. One of the few local industries that supplied work to generations of men from the community was the Arigna mines, located near the community of Glenkillamey to the north of Geevagh. This mine in operation in one form or another since the eighteenth century provided a low grade coal to a small power station operated by the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) since 1958. However the mine closed for the last time in 1990 hitting the local communities hard, particularly in the Arigna/Glenkillamey area.
History
In common with much of County Sligo, there are many signs of ancient habitation in the locality, including cairns, megalithic tombs, and ring forts. Later signs of early christian structures includes the ruins of a church attributed to Saint Patrick. Many of these old structures have spawned a rich story-telling tradition in the locality with many outlandish tales explaining their origins, such as the tale "Balor of the Evil Eye" being associated with the disappearance of Lough Nasool. There are however real and present evidence of many church ruins including in particular the notable Ballindoon Abbey on the shores of Lough Arrow, a Dominican Priory from the late fourteenth century. It contains the grave of Terence McDonough, a member of the local clan that governed much of the area prior to the post - Cromwellian seizure of the land in the parish and its dispersal amongst English settler families such as King and Nicholson, and later its transfer to landlords such as Duke, Keogh and Whitney.
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Geevagh: Carran Hill with Lough Bo in the left foreground.
