placenamesBelclare
Béal Chláir
A Galway village where the Sacred Heart Church, early football and the seasonal turlough tell connected local stories.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Béal Chláir · Irish · main form · validated name
- Belclare · English · main form
Place & story
A church dedicated in 1924
The Sacred Heart Church was dedicated on 31 August 1924 by Archbishop Gilmartin of Tuam. Designed by R. M. Butler and built by James Stewart, it replaced St Michael the Archangel’s church about two hundred yards away at Churchfriar. The builder’s successor company recalled this connection when the community marked the new church’s centenary with a special Mass in September 2024. [2]
Belclare’s part in forming Corofin GAA
Belclare contested Galway senior football finals in 1891 and 1900 but lost both to Dunmore. In 1925, its players joined with Corofin to create a single club. The club’s history records a match at Anbally on Easter Sunday, 12 April, to decide which name the new organisation would carry. Corofin won. The same account remembers Belclare’s turlough as an important early playing ground. [3]
Common grazing and a seasonal lake
The turlough beside the Tuam–Headford road changes the village landscape with the seasons. Material preserved in Belclare’s community archive describes winter water rising through swallow holes, followed by grassy commonage used by local stockowners after flooding receded. The Irish Wildbird Conservancy account connects this alternation with the winter feeding habitat for waterfowl. The ground therefore supported both farming and birdlife at different times of year. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Belclare. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Centenary of the Sacred Heart Church, Belclare, Co. Galway, September 2024 · Stewart Construction
- A new club: Anbally, April 12th 1925 · Corofin GAA Club
- The Turlough, 28 April 2012: extracts from Irish Wildbird Conservancy brochure and Belclare Christmas Newsletter 1985 · Belclare community archive
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-03-11. How this page was prepared.