On the first of April, 2022 GMIT amalgamated with IT Sligo and Letterfrack IT to become the Atlantic Technological University (ATU).  Making GMIT Letterfrack now ATU  Connemara, the  most westerly university campus  in Europe. To mark the final ever awards as GMIT; Honorary Fellowships were conferred on  five outstanding individuals marking their vast contribution to and success in business, education, public service and sport and one of those recipients was  [...]

Mr. Sean Smyth, Special Projects Officer, Mayo County Development Team (left) presented the award for the Best Tourism Project by a Voluntary Community Effort to Mr. Michael O'Neill, Secretary Connemara West Ltd at the 'Cleaner Community Campaign' function in the Sacre Coeur Hotel, Salthill. Also in the photograph is Mr Paddy Coyne, Director, Connemara West Ltd. Image and caption from The Connacht Tribune, Friday December 5, 1980.

As a nod to National Tree Week and with assistance from Jeff Coon, Aquinas Tullycross 1987 and Ron and Miriam Pederson, Aquinas College Professors for the Ireland Program in Tullycross in 1992, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009.  We are now sharing two photos and all the students have been named by Miriam and Ron Pederson.  The tree planting was a tradition of several years when Aquinas selected and planted a [...]

"The programme of self help which began in Renvyle within the past five years is a model and an inspiration for any community in the West of Ireland...It was the drive, initiative and most of all the real regard for development through community enterprise of Connemara West Ltd which prompted my company  to respond immediately to the development group's request or assistance in establishing a cottage scheme in Renvyle.  Because [...]

In 'Patchwork of Dreams 50 years of Community Development in the Parish of Ballinakill,  there is a photograph of the men who helped to build the Marian Hall in Tullycross with  an extract from the Connacht Tribune from May 1958 about the opening of the Marian Hall.  This wonderful 'do-it-yourself' attitude has been the inspiration for  many of the local community development organisations in our including Connemara West.   We are [...]

Since we shared the copy of the 1973 Aquinas study abroad  program in an earlier blog we were contacted by Jeff Coon.  Jeff  was part of the Aquinas  Ireland Program in Tullycross and  lived in  Cottage 9 in 1987.  He  shared with us the Ireland Program Booklet for 1987 which makes for some very interesting reading.  Jeff  also shared some photos of the Cottage 9 on fire!  As Jeff tells [...]