Glangevlin
Encyclopedia
Glangevlin or The Kingdom of Glan is situated in the northwest of County Cavan
, Ireland
. It is surrounded by the Cuilcagh
Mountains and borders the counties of Leitrim
and Fermanagh
.
A large stone known as 'Maguire's chair' is deposited on the right hand side of the road, roughly 4 miles from Glangevlin village, so-called because it was supposedly the inauguration site of the Maguire clan in medieval times.
Glangevlin has a strong traditional Irish background and Irish was spoken up until the 1920s, one of the last places in Cavan where this was commonplace.
. The Book of Magauran, written c.1340, spells it as but it has also been spelled , as in this scribal note to the Poems on the O'Reillys:
The Gap of Glan was supposedly created by the cow when it ran away from the blacksmith's forge. In the townland of in Glan is shown the site of Gaibhlean's forge today. MacKillop's Celtic Dictionary gives:
, the Milesians
and the Celts found their way up the rivers Erne
and Shannon
. The evidence for this settlement can be seen in the form of the dolmens, ringed forts, caiseal
s, passage grave
s and lake dwellings associated with the area. These numerous caves and underground passages provided a shelter for these early settlers. The Ringed Forts were built as a defense against the wolves and eagles during the Bronze Age and were even used up to the 12th Century and later. They were built of clay, stone and bushes.
In the 1609 Plantation of Ulster, Glangevlin formed part of lands which were granted to John Sandford Esq. by letters patent dated 7th July 1613 (Pat. 11 James I – LXXI – 38, ‘Glangewley’). It was later granted to Sir Toby Caulfield, Master of the Ordnance by letters patent of 12th July 1620 (Pat. 19 James I. XI. 45, ‘Glangewly’).
The Roman Catholic parish of Glangevlin formed part of Templeport
parish until 1750 when it was hived off into a separate parish.
John O'Donovan
visited Glan on Monday 16th May 1836 for the purpose of the Ordnance Survey then taking place. He states:–
The Kingdom of Glan is described by Lewis (1837) as a mountainous district between the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim, generally known as the country of the MacGaurans. Around 1837 there was no public road, only one difficult pass; the Gap of Beal. At that time the area was approximately 16 miles in length by 7 in breadth, and was densely inhabited by a 'primitive race' known as Mac Gaurans and Dolans, who (it was reported) intermarried and observed some peculiar customs; electing their own king and queen from the ancient race of the Mac Gaurans, to whom they paid implicit obedience. It was also stated by Samuel Lewis that their sole occupation was tilling the land and attending the cattle; potatoes and milk, sometimes with oaten bread, being their chief food; and that "the want of a road by which the produce of the district might be taken to the neighbouring markets operates as a discouragement to industry and an incentive to the illicit application of their surplus corn."
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It is surrounded by the Cuilcagh
Cuilcagh
Cuilcagh, historically Slieve Cuilcagh , is the highest mountain in the Breifne area and the 165th highest on the island of Ireland . The summit lies on the border between County Fermanagh and County Cavan , and is the highest point in both counties...
Mountains and borders the counties of Leitrim
County Leitrim
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...
and Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
.
A large stone known as 'Maguire's chair' is deposited on the right hand side of the road, roughly 4 miles from Glangevlin village, so-called because it was supposedly the inauguration site of the Maguire clan in medieval times.
Glangevlin has a strong traditional Irish background and Irish was spoken up until the 1920s, one of the last places in Cavan where this was commonplace.
Etymology
The modern interpretation of Glangevlin is "Glen with the Fork", but traditionally the name is said to derive from the mythical cow which belonged to Gaibhnen, the blacksmith of the Tuatha Dé DanannTuatha Dé Danann
The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
. The Book of Magauran, written c.1340, spells it as but it has also been spelled , as in this scribal note to the Poems on the O'Reillys:
"I am in Gleann Gaibhneann, now called Gleann Gaibhle, to-day, the vigil of the feast of John the Baptist, 1599."
The Gap of Glan was supposedly created by the cow when it ran away from the blacksmith's forge. In the townland of in Glan is shown the site of Gaibhlean's forge today. MacKillop's Celtic Dictionary gives:
”Glas Ghaibhleann, Gaibhleann, Ghaibhnann, Ghaibhnenn, Ghoibhneann, Gavelen, Gaivlen, Glasgavelen [Ir. glas, green, greenish blue; of Gaiblín (?), of Goibniu (?)]. Celebrated, magical cow, white with green spots, whose inexhaustible supply of milk signalled prosperity. The original owner is a matter of some dispute, possibly Goibniu the smith or Gaiblín, a farmer of Co. Cavan or Balor the Formorian of Tory Island".
History
This region was reputedly inhabited as far back as 5000 years ago, when tribes such as the Tuatha Dé Danann, the FomoriansFomorians
In Irish mythology, the Fomoire are a semi-divine race said to have inhabited Ireland in ancient times. They may have once been believed to be the beings who preceded the gods, similar to the Greek Titans. It has been suggested that they represent the gods of chaos and wild nature, as opposed to...
, the Milesians
Milesians
Milesia, Milesian, Milesians, or Miletans may refer to:* In Irish mythology, the Milesians were the descendants of Míl Espáine, the final invaders of Ireland who defeated and displaced the semi-divine Tuatha Dé Danann...
and the Celts found their way up the rivers Erne
River Erne
The River Erne , in the northwest of Ireland, rises in Beaghy Lough, two miles south of Stradone in County Cavan and flows 64 miles through Lough Gowna, Lough Oughter and Upper and Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, to the sea at Ballyshannon, County Donegal...
and Shannon
River Shannon
The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland at . It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
. The evidence for this settlement can be seen in the form of the dolmens, ringed forts, caiseal
Caiseal
The Gaelic name Caiseal may refer to:*A circular defensive fort, usually built of stone.*Cashel , various places, mainly in Ireland*Caiseal Mor, an Australian fanstay author...
s, passage grave
Passage grave
thumb|250px|right|A simple passage tomb in [[Carrowmore]] near [[Sligo]] in IrelandA passage grave or passage tomb consists of a narrow passage made of large stones and one or multiple burial chambers covered in earth or stone. Megaliths are usually used in the construction of passage tombs, which...
s and lake dwellings associated with the area. These numerous caves and underground passages provided a shelter for these early settlers. The Ringed Forts were built as a defense against the wolves and eagles during the Bronze Age and were even used up to the 12th Century and later. They were built of clay, stone and bushes.
In the 1609 Plantation of Ulster, Glangevlin formed part of lands which were granted to John Sandford Esq. by letters patent dated 7th July 1613 (Pat. 11 James I – LXXI – 38, ‘Glangewley’). It was later granted to Sir Toby Caulfield, Master of the Ordnance by letters patent of 12th July 1620 (Pat. 19 James I. XI. 45, ‘Glangewly’).
The Roman Catholic parish of Glangevlin formed part of Templeport
Templeport
Templeport civil parish is situated in the Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Republic of Ireland. The chief towns in the parish are Bawnboy and Ballymagauran...
parish until 1750 when it was hived off into a separate parish.
John O'Donovan
John O'Donovan
John O'Donovan may refer to:*John O'Donovan , Irish language scholar and place-name expert*John O'Donovan , Irish TD and Senator*John O'Donovan, guitarist with The Adolescents punk band...
visited Glan on Monday 16th May 1836 for the purpose of the Ordnance Survey then taking place. He states:–
"After having procured a kind of a dinner at the head Inn of Swanlinbar, wishing to lose no time in that uninteresting village we directed our course southwestwards for about three miles through the Parish of Kil Naile, and then turned northwestwards to make our way into the centre of the wild valley of Glen Gavlen, a distance of 8 long Irish miles. This is the worst road and perhaps the wildest district I ever saw. Situated between the two lofty and barren Mountains of Cailceach and Sliabhan-Iarainn, this valley will never induce mankind to run a railroad through it; its sides are precipitous and rocky, defying the exertions of the plough and the wheeled car, and even of the side car! The loy (a peculiar long spade) only can be used to form the nidus for the potato and grain. The snow lies brooding on the mountains on either side till late in Spring (which prevents early tillage) and when dissolving before the south wind warmed by the sun of spring it (i.e. the snow turned into water) overfloods and injures the sloping fields, the Mistks and Meenies of this Valley of Gavlen. Its road (if road it might be called) is precipitous and stony, and intersected by many deep and rough glens with their mountain streams (now nearly dried up) which makes it very difficult to run a rail road from the City of Bawnboy to that of the Black Lion. Perhaps the future industry of the men of Hy Briuin Breifny may open this important communicaion after they shall have again set up Magauran as the Lord of the Tribe of Eochy (Tullyhaw)! We lodged in a farmer's house in Glen Gavlen for two days; on Tuesday we directed our course northwards through the parish of Templeport, over a very bad, rough, rocky road and indulged our curiosity by visiting the large spring well in the Townland of Derrylahan in which the Shannon (according to tradition) had its source. It is a round deep pool throwing out a stream of considerable size which the country people call the Shannon. The pool itself is called by some Poll Lagan Sionna, and Lag Bhun na Sionna by others. From this pool we directed our course through the Parish of Killoynagh to hear the names of the townlands in it prounouned in Irish by the natives. They speak the Irish very well but retain no traditions connected with the old Church except that it was built by St.Bridget and St. Leyny, from the latter of whom it and its Parish have received its name. There are two wells dedicated to them which are set down in the name Books and which will consequently appear on the Map. Of St. Leyny nothing is now remembered but that he was a Leinsterman who, falling in love with St. Bridget, followed her hither, but who, when St. Bridget plucked out her eyes to destroy her beauty, repented, became a Saint and built this Church by which he transmitted his memory to posterity with more success than he would have by marrying the beautiful-eyed Bridget. When St. Leynie declared that he was in love with St. Bridget she asked with what part of her he was in love. He answered, with her eyes, upon hearing which she plucked out her eyes saying, here they are for you - a wonderful thing for one to do, who was herself a bastard. After getting the names of the Parish of Kil-Loynie we returned from the Black Lion and Lough Macnean to our host in Glenn Gaibhlean, and the next morning we remeasured our journey along the craggy and precipitous road between the mountains, the only pass out of this dreary district and proceeded southwards through the Parish of Templeport with a view of seeing Father Philip Magauran, a lineal descendant of the last chief of the tribe of Eochy (Tullyhaw) but he was not at home."
The Kingdom of Glan is described by Lewis (1837) as a mountainous district between the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim, generally known as the country of the MacGaurans. Around 1837 there was no public road, only one difficult pass; the Gap of Beal. At that time the area was approximately 16 miles in length by 7 in breadth, and was densely inhabited by a 'primitive race' known as Mac Gaurans and Dolans, who (it was reported) intermarried and observed some peculiar customs; electing their own king and queen from the ancient race of the Mac Gaurans, to whom they paid implicit obedience. It was also stated by Samuel Lewis that their sole occupation was tilling the land and attending the cattle; potatoes and milk, sometimes with oaten bread, being their chief food; and that "the want of a road by which the produce of the district might be taken to the neighbouring markets operates as a discouragement to industry and an incentive to the illicit application of their surplus corn."
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland