Barroosky

Barroosky Barr Rúscaígh
Townland
View of Barroosky
Barroosky Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54°12′30″N 9°37′19″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Mayo
Area
• Total	7.78 km^2 (3.00 sq mi)
Time zone	WET
• Summer (DST)	IST (WEST)
Irish Grid Reference	F 94231 30017
As this is in the Gaeltacht, the Irish Barr Rúscaígh is the only official name. The anglicized spelling Barroosky has no official status.

Barroosky (also spelt as Barroskey or Barrooskey. Irish: Barr Rúscaígh, meaning "top of the undulation")^[1] is a Gaeltacht townland within the civil parish of Kilcommon in County Mayo, Ireland.^[2] It is located within the ecclesiastical parish of Kilcommon-Erris.^[3] Barroosky townland has an area of approximately 1,923 acres (7.8 km²).^[2]

Barroosky is also the name of the electoral division (ED) in which the townland lies.^[2] As of 2022, Barroosky ED had a population of 96 people.^[4]

History

Farm shed in Barroosky

In Irish folklore, Barroosky is mentioned in the epic tale of Táin Bó Flidhais. It also is mentioned in a popular Erris folktale called the Fool of Barr Rúscaígh as part of the year of the French celebrations.^[5] In 1911, the population was recorded as 34.^[6]

In September 1922, during the Irish Civil War, the Battle of Glenamoy took place nearby.^[7]

Agriculture and geography

The area in which the Barroosky lies on is mostly covered in peaty, blanket bog which covers much of the North Mayo coastlines of Kilcommon and the Barony of Erris.^[8]

Glenamoy bog

The Glenamoy bog complex, which spans parts of Barroosky,^[9] is a large site situated in the extreme north-west of Erris, County Mayo.^[10] The area, which incorporates both inland and coastal regions, has a wet and oceanic climate and there are frequent strong winds across the largely treeless and relatively exposed area. The bog complex is drained by four main river systems - the Glenamoy, the Muingnabo, the Belderg and the Glenglassra rivers. Extreme oceanic blanket bog dominates the site in its inland areas.^[8]

Sheskin forestry

Barroosky is situated near to the Sheskin Forest (not to be confused with Sheskin, County Monaghan) which stretches from near Ballycastle to Bellacorick. The forest is a large area of conifer forest plantation established on the bog lands of north Mayo.^[11] A hunting lodge built by the McDonnell family and later owned by the Jameson family, now in ruins lies there.^[12][13][14]

Gallery

• 
  Drainage in a field
• 
  Dry stone walling
• 
  Ruin of a house
• 
  A view of Slieve Fyagh (335 Metres).^[15]
• 
  View of a sign

References

1. Noone, Fr Sean (1991). Where The Sun Sets (1st ed.). Naas: The Leinster Leader. p. 148. ISBN 0951817906.
2. "Barroosky Townland, Co. Mayo". www.townlands.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
3. "Parish of Kilcommon Erris, County Mayo, Ireland". Retrieved 11 December 2018.
4. "FP009 - Population and Actual and Percentage Change 2016 to 2022". data.gov.ie. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 2 January 2024. Barr Rúscaí, Co.Mayo, 29054 [..] Electoral Division [..] Population - 2022 [..] 96
5. Beiner, Guy (2007). Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299218249.
6. "Census of Ireland, 1911". www.census.nationalarchives.ie. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
7. "Civil War in Mayo: The Battle of Glenamoy, 1922 by Thomas Langan | Family History in North County Mayo". goldenlangan.com. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
8. "Glenamoy Bog Complex SAC". Protected Planet. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
9. "Site Synopsis - Glenamoy Bog Complex" (PDF). National Parks and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
10. "EUNIS -Site factsheet for Glenamoy Bog Complex SAC". eunis.eea.europa.eu. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
11. "Sheskin North". Coillte. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
12. "Estate Record: Jameson (Sheskin)". landedestates.nuigalway.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
13. "HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie]". landedestates.nuigalway.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
14. Connolly, Linda (August 2004). "The limits of 'Irish Studies': historicism, culturalism, paternalism". Irish Studies Review. 12 (2): 139–162. doi:10.1080/0967088042000228914. ISSN 0967-0882. S2CID 145506909.
15. "Slieve Fyagh 335m hill, North Mayo Ireland at MountainViews.ie". mountainviews.ie. Retrieved 21 December 2018.