Stonepark (Leagan Gaeilge – Páirc na gCloch): The townland of Stonepark is situated 3.5 kilometres north of the town of Glenamaddy. It borders the Glenamaddy to Ballymoe road. The townland name is topographically based. The Irish version of the name may be translated as the field of the stones, páirc meaning field and cloch meaning stone. Other forms of the townland name mentioned in O’Donovan’s Field Name Books are Páirc Cloiche and Stone Park.
Distinctive Features:
• The field boundary dry-stone walls prevalent in Stonepark indicate the presence of limestone rock close to the surface of the ground. Stone walls were built after the great Famine of the 1840s when the open system of farming, known as the Rundale system, was replaced and the land redistributed. Stone walls not only defined field boundaries but also helped to clear them of obstacles which interfered with cultivation. Stone walls were relatively easy to build, having no foundations, and required little maintenance.
• The residence of local landlord, Malachy Keavney, was situated on the eastern side of the townland along the Ballymoe Road.
• In 1840 there were twelve houses in Stonepark mostly located in the south east corner close to a larger cluster of dwellings in the north west of Stonetown.
1656-58 Down Survey: The owner of Stonepark townland at the time of the Down Survey is listed as the Protestant Archbishop of Tuam. The Protestant Archbishop had been granted vast tracts of land across numerous townlands, primarily in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
1823 -1838 Tithe Applotment Books: Surviving documentation of the Tithe Applotment Books is in poor condition making it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to decipher the names of landholders. Stonepark is not specifically mentioned as a townland in the online version of Tithe Applotment Books. Stonetown and Ballinaglough (Irish version of Stonetown) are listed. It is possible that one of them encompasses Stonepark. In so far as it can be ascertained the Catholic landholders in the townlands concerned who paid the tithe (tax) levied to support the Established Church (Church of Ireland) were Pat Keaveny, John Brady, Edmond Geoghegan, James Murphy, Martin Fahey, John Jennings, James Burke and Edward Mannion. Protestant occupiers of agricultural holdings were exempt from this tax. Protestant occupiers of agricultural holdings were exempt from this tax.

1838 O’Donovan’s Field Name Books: O’Donovan describes the townland of Stonepark as follows – “This townland is tillage and pasture except a sand pit in which there are two lime kilns situated about 21/4 chains from the S.E. boundary. This townland is tillage and pasture except a sand pit in which there are two lime kilns situated about 21/4 chains from the S.E. boundary.”
1856 Griffith’s Valuation: The survey established that the townland covered an area of 117 acres 3 roods 24 perches and the total rateable valuation of the land and buildings combined amounted to £55 7s 0d. There were six occupiers in the townland of Stonepark at the time the survey was carried out – Keavney, Mannion, Brady, Collins, Reilly and Jennings. The landlord at the time the survey was conducted was Sir St. George Gore.
Adjoining Townlands: The following townlands share a border with Stonepark – Ardeevin, Ballinastack, Ballinapeaka, Stonetown, Bushtown, Felimspark and Cloonlara North.

Census Records: Population and Household data for the townland of Stonepark:

Census Years	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	2011
Population	70	30	33	34	30	17	17	22	15
Households	12	3	3	6	6	5	5	4	5

Glenamaddy and the Irish Folklore Collections:

The article posted on this website under the ‘Heritage > Folklore’ tab provides an overview of the folklore material submitted by Glenamaddy parishioners to the National Folklore Commission, now known as the Irish Folklore Collections. It also explains the background to the 1937 Schools’ Collection (Bailiúchán na Scol) project which has good representation from a parish perspective

The Irish Folklore Collections housed in the Folklore Department of University College Dublin contain a treasure trove of folklore material, some of which is accessible online. Both the Main Manuscript Collection and the Schools’ Collection contain a considerable number of submissions from collectors and informants who resided in the parish of Glenamaddy. The quick reference directories featured in the ‘Parish > Townlands’ section of this website complement the user-friendly search features of the dúcas.ie website and are helpful in tracking Schools’ Collection submissions associated with townlands. Submissions are categorised under – School, Teacher, Language, Volume Number, Page Number, Collector, Collector’s Townland, Informant and Informant’s Townland. Where applicable, Schools’ Collection directories showing online townland-related submissions appear at the end of the following townland posts on this website – Ballinapeaka, Ballinastack, Barna, Boyounagh More (Middletown), Bushtwon, Cashel, Classaghroe, Cloonacross, Clooncon East, Clooncon West, Cloonkeen, Cultiafadda, Eskeromullacaun (Esker), Felimspark, Glenamaddy, Gortaganny, Gortnagier, Kiltullagh, Knockauns, Lisheenaheltia, Loughpark, Meelick, Scotland, Shannagh More, Stonetown and Woodfield.

Parish folklore submissions contained in the Schools’ Collection are also accessible online via the following links:-

Árd Aoibhinn National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613680

Árd Aoibhinn National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613681 

Glenamaddy Girls’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613677

Glenamaddy Boys’ National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613678

Glenamaddy Boys’ National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613679 

Gort na Léime National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4569061   

Gort na Léime National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4569062 

Lisheenaheltia Girls’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613675 

Lisheenaheltia Boys’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613676    

Glenamaddy submissions which form part of the Main Manuscript Collection are not posted online but may be examined in the reading room of the Folklore Department in U.C.D., Belfield, Dublin 4. Typed versions of some of the parish contributions contained in the Main Manuscript Collection are published under the ‘Heritage > Folklore’ tab on this website.   

Quick Reference Directory of Glenamaddy folklore submissions in the Main Manuscript Collection:-

Author: Pat Keaveny

Sources:

Townlands in County Galway

Place Name Books of Galway

The Down Survey of Ireland

The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837

Griffith Valuation – Ask About Ireland

Central Statistics Office

National Archives: Census Reports 1901/1911

Essex University: Historic Population Census Reports