Omey Island - Galway

Omey Island is a tidal island situated near Claddaghduff on the western edge of Connemara in County Galway, Ireland. From the mainland, the island is almost hidden. It is possible to drive or walk across a large sandy strand to the island by following the arrowed signs. At high tide, the water is deep enough to cover a car.
#irelandshistoricalspots #omeyisland #galway #wildatlanticway #ireland

[@cwillison1]

I know the house without the roof is the "Kearney ruins." I'm interested in any information that you may have on the Kearneys. That's my maiden name...and my great-grandparents are buried on Omey.

[@irelandshistoricalspots]

It's a lovely ruin on a beautiful island. I'm not from that area, so unfortunately, I wouldn't know of any information regarding them, but after a bit of digging, I found the census information for Omey. heritage.galwaycommunityheritage.org/content/places/connemara-roots-nw-connemara-heritage/townlands-omey/sturrakeen Hope this helps

[@ruthbickerstaffe1915]

I’m Irish from further north West but living in Canada. That must have been a pretty grand house in its day. It even has ornamental big pillars at the entrance. I’m just guessing that once you entered the gates there would have been a very nice garden or an orchard. The reason I say this, it’s similar to my homestead. We had big pillars and gates to keep the cattle from destroying the flowers and shrubs. On the other side of my home we had an Orchard with many different varieties of apples and also plumb trees which was protected by a fairly high stone wall. Now Omey is extremely beautiful but windswept. I visited Omey in 2019 and there were some cattle but not big dairy herds as I grew up with. There were a lot of sheep too. It’s well worth a trip if you could go. I had never been before as it’s probably about 4 hours from where I grew up but as I truly love old customs I went to attend The Omey Races which are held on the beach first weekend in August. I felt as thought I was transported back to the turn of the Century. However my flowery outfit stayed in the suitcase as it was misty and wet. It did clear somewhat but it was a cold wind coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. It is heartbreaking to go through the Cemetery there and read all the headstones and loss of life the Atlantic has claimed over the years.☘️