POSTED FROM

CALTRA

CO. GALWAY · IE

Caltra
An Chealtrach, Co. Galway

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

An Chealtrach · Co. Galway

A farming village in east Galway that beat the whole of Ireland at football in 2004, and otherwise keeps to itself.

Caltra is a small farming village in east Galway, in the civil parish of Killosolan and the barony of Kilconnell, sitting on the R358 between Tuam and Ballinasloe. The townland held about 115 people at the last count, and the village has the look of every east-Galway settlement of its size - a church, a graveyard, a pub, a post office, a school, and a great deal of field in every direction. The Irish name is An Chealtrach, taken to mean the burial-ground of the palisade, which tells you the land here has been worked and buried in for a very long time.

And then there is the football. In 2003 and 2004 this village, which most of the country could not have found on a map, won the Galway, Connacht and All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championships in a single run, beating An Ghaeltacht of Kerry by a single point in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park on St Patrick's Day 2004. It is the kind of thing that happens once to a place this size, and it has happened here. The Meehan brothers - Declan, Tomas and Michael - were the spine of that team, and Michael went on to play for Galway.

You do not come to Caltra as a tourist; there is no attraction here in the brochure sense. You come because you have roots in the parish, or because the road from Ballinasloe to Mountbellew runs through it, or because you want to see the actual village behind one of the great GAA stories. Ballinasloe, fifteen kilometres south-east, is where the real services are. What Caltra offers is a true working village and the memory of one extraordinary spring.

Population

~115 (2011 townland)

Pubs

1and counting

Founded

Church of St Solan c. 1840, on the site of an earlier friary; village recorded with 200 inhabitants in 1837

Coords

53.2250° N, 8.7300° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The football

All-Ireland club champions, 2004 - one small village against the lot of them.

On St Patrick's Day 2004, Caltra beat An Ghaeltacht of Kerry 0-13 to 0-12 at Croke Park to win the All-Ireland Senior Club Football title. A village of barely a couple of hundred people. The Meehan brothers were at the heart of it. Still the thing people mean when they say the name.

Stories & lore → 02 The place

St Solan's church, a graveyard, a pub, a post office, and fields.

Caltra sits in Killosolan civil parish on the R358, the old Tuam-to-Ballinasloe road. The Roman Catholic church is dedicated to St Solan and was built around 1840 over an earlier friary. The rest is farmland, narrow roads, and ringforts you would walk past without noticing.

Walks & outings →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Keary's

The one pub, and the local

Village pub

Caltra's pub, in the heart of the village. A well-stocked bar with a lounge and a pool room, and a steady local following. In a village this size the pub is one of the two places people gather, the GAA grounds being the other. Do not expect food or late hours - expect a pint and whoever is in.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

One village, one point, the whole of Ireland

The 2004 All-Ireland

Caltra GAA was founded in 1899 and spent a century as an ordinary east-Galway club. Then came the 2003-04 season. The team won the Galway Senior Football Championship and the Connacht club title in 2003, and on St Patrick's Day 2004 walked out at Croke Park and beat An Ghaeltacht of Kerry 0-13 to 0-12 in the All-Ireland Senior Club Football final. A single point. A village whose entire population would not fill a corner of the stadium. The Meehan brothers - Declan, Tomas and Michael - drove it, and Michael Meehan went on to a long inter-county career with Galway. Twenty years on it remains the first thing anyone says about the place, and rightly.

Built on a friary, around 1840

St Solan's church

The Roman Catholic church in the village is dedicated to St Solan and was built around 1840 on the site of an earlier friary, a reminder that there was religious settlement here long before the present building. It was extended in the late 1930s by the Dublin practice W.H. Byrne and Sons, the firm behind a long list of Irish parish churches. It is a parish church, not a cathedral - plain, well kept, and the social anchor of the village alongside the GAA grounds.

A farming family in Caltra, 1955

Eamon Gilmore was born here

Eamon Gilmore, who led the Labour Party and served as Tanaiste from 2011 to 2014, was born into a small farming family in Caltra in 1955 before his political life took him to Dublin and Galway city. For a village this size, two Croke Park medals and a Tanaiste is a fair return on a couple of hundred people.

Older settlement, mostly unmarked

Ringforts in the fields

The land around Caltra carries the usual quiet archaeology of east Galway - ringfort, fosse and enclosure sites scattered through the townlands of Caltra, Lisnagree and Lislea. None of it is signposted or set up for visitors. These are field monuments on working farms, the grassy rings and banks you only notice once someone points them out. Respect the gates and the stock if you go looking.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

The village and graveyard There is no waymarked trail here, just the village itself: St Solan's church, the old graveyard with headstones going back to the early 1700s, and the quiet roads out past the GAA grounds. A short, honest wander rather than a hike. Bring nothing but time.

1-2 kmdistance

30-45 minutestime

Country roads toward Castleblakeney The R358 and the local roads run flat through limestone farmland between Caltra, Castleblakeney and Ahascragh. Good for a bike or a long quiet walk if you like big skies and field after field. Narrow roads, so listen for cars and step in for the tractors.

as far as you likedistance

opentime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The fields green up and the GAA season starts. St Patrick's weekend carries an extra charge here for obvious reasons. The best window for a quiet look at the village.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings over flat farmland and club football in full swing. The pub is at its liveliest after a match. Bring your own plans - the village will not supply them.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Harvest country and the business end of the club championship. Soft light over the limestone. A fine time to pass through.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and not much open beyond the pub and the church. Pleasant enough if you have reason to be here, thin if you do not.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Coming for a day out

Caltra is a working village, not a destination. There is one pub, a church, a graveyard and a famous football club - and that is the honest list. Set your expectations to match and you will not be disappointed; arrive looking for a heritage trail and you will be.

Hunting for the ringforts unguided

The ringfort and enclosure sites around Caltra are on private farmland and are not signposted or set up for visitors. Admire the archaeology from the road, or ask locally, but do not go climbing into fields after them.

Getting there.

By car

From Ballinasloe, Caltra is about 15 km north-west on the R358 toward Mountbellew and Tuam. From Galway city, take the M6 to Ballinasloe (about 1 hour), then the R358. From the north, the R358 runs down from Mountbellew. Small village, so a satnav and the eircode help.

By bus

Caltra is not on a mainline bus route. Ballinasloe has regular Bus Eireann and rail connections from Galway and Dublin; from there it is a taxi or a lift. Galway Local Link runs limited rural services in the wider east-Galway area - check current timetables before relying on them.

By train

Ballinasloe station, about 15 km south-east, is on the Dublin Heuston to Galway line. From there you will need a car or taxi for the last stretch to Caltra.