Overview
Corrandulla is a small village in the parish of Annaghdown, north of Galway city and a few kilometres east of Lough Corrib, sitting on free-draining limestone. For one day each summer it swells to many times its normal size for the Corrandulla Show. The rest of the year the interest is quieter: the village’s milling past, the ruined tower house on the skyline and the lanes and lakeshore nearby.
The Corrandulla Show
The Corrandulla Show has run since 1977 and has grown into a proper day out, pairing serious livestock judging with the full country-fair works. The horse classes are a centrepiece, with show jumping alongside cattle classes, a sheep section that stretches from pedigree breeds to a fancy-dress pet-lamb competition, and poultry. Inside the main hall are baking, home produce and arts-and-crafts displays, plus the Bonny Baby and Little Miss and Mister pageants.
For families there is children’s entertainment, a funfair and a music marquee, and market stalls sell food and crafts through the day.
The show has traditionally been held in late June. Dates, entry prices, times and the competitor programme change from year to year, so check the organisers’ next published date at corrandullashow.com and follow their event travel and parking instructions. Competitors in the livestock sections must pre-enter through the organisers.
The watermills
Corrandulla’s older interest is its milling past. The best known is Cregg Mill, powered by the Cregg river, which ground wheat and oats for Cregg Castle and the surrounding tenants. Cregg Castle itself was built in 1648 by the Kirwan family. During the Great Famine the mill became a relief centre, feeding the local poor.
A little further away, Kilroe Mills was built as a flax mill, later switched to flour, and worked until the 1960s, with a Georgian miller’s house linked to the mill by a stone bridge. Both are private properties, so leave their grounds and entrances undisturbed. The Annaghdown Heritage Society records the former mills of the area, and its local histories are the best way to read about them.
The ruin of Castlecreevy Castle, a 14th-century tower house said to have been built by a woman named Creeven A Bourke (Craoibhín a’ Búrca), also belongs to the district. Little of its story is firm.
Practical information
- Show day: follow the organisers’ published travel and parking instructions rather than stopping on the roadside.
- Getting around: Corrandulla is north of Galway city and not far from Tuam. If you plan to come by bus, check current timetables, especially around show day.
- Accessibility: the mill sites and castle ruin are on uneven ground and private land, and are not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
- When to go: summer for the show; the village and the lakeside roads are there year-round, with late spring and early autumn the most comfortable for walking.
Nearby
- Ashford Castle – a grand estate on Lough Corrib with guided tours, falconry and lakeside activities.
- Aughnanure Castle – a well-preserved 16th-century tower house in a riverside park.
- Ballynahinch Castle – a country-house hotel and estate with walking trails and fishing on Ballynahinch Lake.