placenamesMoylaw
Maoláth
A musician filmed by RTÉ and discoveries along the road towards Crossmolina offer two distinct glimpses of Moylaw’s cultural landscape.
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
- Maoláth · Irish · main form
- Moylaw · English · main form
Place & story
Paddy Moran’s homemade fiddle
When Frank Hall met Paddy Moran for a programme broadcast on 11 November 1972, RTÉ identified the musician as being from Moylaw, County Mayo. Moran had made a fiddle using parts of a Ford Anglia and tin, with a bow strung with hair from a mare's tail. He played Dinny O'Brien's Favourite, a tune he said he had learnt from the radio. Moran also recalled playing a Stradivarius borrowed from Martin Ruane of Castlebar. The broadcast preserves his own account of making and playing an unusual instrument. [2]
Discoveries on the road to Crossmolina
Archaeological monitoring for the N59 Moylaw–Crossmolina realignment in 2002 revealed earlier activity along the route west of Crossmolina. Sue Zajac’s report records three spreads of heat-fractured stone interpreted as the remains of levelled fulachta fiadh. A hollow-based flint arrowhead also came from disturbed ground at Carrowkilleen, near one of the stone spreads. The report places these discoveries along the road corridor, retaining the named townland for the arrowhead find. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Moylaw. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ford Anglia Fiddle 1972: Hall’s Pictorial Weekly, broadcast11November1972 · RTÉ Archives; Frank Hall interviewing Paddy Moran
- Moylaw/Crossmolina, Excavations2002:1404, licence02E0596, reproduced in River Deel Flood Relief Scheme constraints study, Appendix1.2 · Sue Zajac; primary Excavations Bulletin report reproduced by John Cronin & Associates for the OPW scheme study
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2011-09-23. How this page was prepared.