Galboly

Galboly Clachan was studied by the first year students of St. MacNissi’s, Garron Tower.

The Clachan of Galboly
The clachan was an isolated place on the mountain near Garron Tower, the summer home of the late Marchioness, Lady Frances Anne Vane. The closest village is Glenariffe. This would have taken hours to get to because the people of Galboly would have had to walk down the mountain and along the coast road, which was recently built in the time of Galboly, to get there. The clachan had about 10 houses. There is now one house and a few ruins.
by Paul

The Clachan of GalbolyThe HousesThe houses of Galboly were not large and extravagant; they were small and simple like the people who inhabited them. The houses were quite small, they had about one room where food was made, the family slept and it was also used as a living room. There is a house that is two storeys high, it would have been owned by someone quite rich. There is another house that has two rooms and is quite big. It has two fireplaces which says they were rich as they could afford the extra fuel. The clachan would not have been as noisy in the summer because the farmers took their animals to the top of the mountain and lived their with them and looked after them.The houses are now in ruins and uninhabited.
by Paul

Mr Bobby McMullan from the Historical Society showing pupils the houses in Galboly

The People of Galboly in 1901The O’Boyles lived in the first house. Charles was the head of the family and Lizzie was his wife. They had two children and also Arthur Robinson lived in the house, his relationship was unknown.
In house no. 2 Annie White and her son Robert Gibson lived.
The Blacks lived in house no. 3, Daniel and his sister Margaret.
One of the Murphy families lived in the fourth house. Patrick and Anne, his wife, had two children.
In house number 6 lived another Murphy family, Neal and Jane had four children.
The seventh house was unoccupied.
Lots of the people of Galboly were farmers and a few were housekeepers or scholars.
This information was taken from the 1901 census.

by Lauren
What was it Like to Live in Galboly?Living in Galboly was very hard work. Their diet included seafood. There were water problems as they had to get water from the coast road and then get it transported to Galboly. Every household kept pigs for food and to pay rent with. Lots of the people worked in Garron Tower when it was a hotel. Ladies often carried turf on their backs from the mountain to the clachan before going to work in the hotel.I think that life in Galboly would have been hard work but good fun.
By Katy
A big part of their diet was sea-food. They also ate rabbits and hares. Although there wasn’t much fire wood they had turf banks which provided heating fuels. The donkey with creels was a necessary means of transport because they had to get the turf from the mountain banks and carry it down the narrow ‘perths’.
If I lived in Galboly Clachan I do not think I could stick it up there with only a few people around me, but if I was used to it I would probably say it was a lovely place, out of the road, away from all the hustle and bustle of a busy city with people rushing everywhere, everybody knew everybody, we got along with each other and at night we would all go to a friends house to talk and the men would go and play cards.
I think the people of Galboly had a fairly hard life tending to their crops and livestock, but on the other hand I think they accepted their life style and just got on with their jobs in Galboly.
By Lauren