- published: 10 Jun 2007
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Connemara (Irish: Conamara) is a district in the west of Ireland of which the boundaries are not well defined. Some[who?] define it to be the land contained by Killary Harbour, the Maam Valley, Lough Corrib (as far as Moycullen); a line from there to the sea at Barna, and the Atlantic ocean. Others[who?] draw the eastern boundary line from Killary Harbour to Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.
The term Connemara is frequently used to describe all of County Galway west of Lough Corrib; some[who?] argue that this is incorrect. It is also used to describe the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas) of western County Galway; again some[who?] argue that this too is inaccurate as some of these areas are outside of the traditional boundary of Connemara.[citation needed] Some[who?] also argue that it is not correct to say that Connemara's eastern boundary ends around Barna just on the outskirts of Galway City or at Maam Cross.[citation needed]
"Connemara" derives from the tribal name Conmacne Mara, which designated a branch of the Conmacne, an early tribal grouping that had a number of branches located in different parts of Connacht. Since this particular branch of the Conmacne lived by the sea, they became known as the Conmacne Mara. (Sea in Irish is muir, genitive mara, hence "of the sea".) The area in the east of what is now Connemara was called Delbhna Tír Dhá Locha.
Speaker: "While I'm sitting here
The waves of the sea are lapping
Against the wild shores of Connemara
The sky breaks
Dazzling light pierces through
Down to the water
Giving forth a thousand reflections of silver
So that I have to close my eyes
And then together with the vile wind
I fly away to all the places
I've never seen"
He said his eyes where looking queer
"Can't you take me out of here?
Can't you see the sky of Connemara?"
This is how his warning goes:
"Beware the night a whirlwind blows
Better leave this town for Connemara"
We hit the road, we hitched a ride
The morning faded into night
But we were on our way to Connemara
Asylum was a basic right
But socialism lost the fight
Thousands headed down to Connemara
In my imagination
I can feel the wild wind blow
The morning breeze will wipe away my fear
In my imagination
I can hear the howling sea
The cottage on the shore belongs to me
And when we reached the Emerald Isle
We stayed in Dublin for a while
But soon we reached the cliffs of Connemara
It's just the place I want to be
Shining in my fantasy
Can't you take me back to Connemara
Connemara, Connemara on my mind
Connemara, where even the rain shines
Connemara, leaving all my troubles behind