'Forget not the field
where they perished,
The truest, the last of the brave,
All gone-and the bright hope we cherish'd,
Gone with them, and quench'd in their grave!
Moore's Melodies
Aughrim is the Irish Gettysburg or Culloden. There the similarity
ends: no institutional defender protects Aughrim.
Despite this the Aughrim battle site remained to a large
extent, unspoiled until quite recently. The landscape of
two ridges facing each other across wet ground anchored
on the north by a nucleated village is, or was until
recently, recognisable at a glance. The all-important
physical context of the battle was clear. Admittedly,
damage has been done by the 1970 bypass (marked N6) and
more recent widening and associated drainage. More will
be done by the planned East Ballinasloe to Galway dual
carriageway (broken red line) though not as much as
would have if the new road had been pushed through the
middle of the battle site as originally proposed. An
Taisce unsuccessfully opposed the planned route of the
dual carriageway at the planning hearing in 2005.
In addition, the battle site has also been facing a more
insidious threat from housing development. An auctioneer’s
billboard has recently offered an eleven acre site (see
map) for sale as ‘suitable for residential and commercial
development’. Moreover, a rash of ‘one off’ planning
applications has appeared for residential development on or
about Aughrim Hill. If you don’t believe this check,
Galway County
Council’s own map which shows applications in train.
The Council’s position is that to the north of the N6
(the northern third of the battle site) is suitable for
residential development. Bad Enough: Unbelievably,
houses are being thrown up along Aughrim Hill as well!
The sketch map based on air photos and personal
inspection clearly shows the spreading dark areas of
development (dwellings and gardens) along the two
boreens that run south through the middle and southern
portions of the Irish battle lines. This is mostly very
recent and raw development, though some, notably the
graveyard, is older. Auctioneers offer adjacent sites
for sale, presumably confident of planning permission.
They have every reason to be confident.
