Today is a historic day for Connemara West as it was incorporated as a company on the 10th December 1971. Connemara West was established by the people of the Parish of Ballinakill, who dug deep and by becoming shareholders, enabled the company to build its first project Renvyle Thatched Cottages. This first project was the catalyst for future developments including the building of the Teach Ceoil in Tully Village and with a second shareholding drive to purchase of the Old Industrial School complex now the Connemara West Centre in Letterfrack. The Directors of Connemara West are cautiously working a number of events to mark the 50th year of Connemara West in 2022 including the development of a new strategic plan for the next decade and Connemara West will be consulting with the local community in the coming months.
Over the next year, we will also be looking through our archives and posting old photos, documents and snippets of history mainly about Connemara West. However, to prove a point that no person is an island or no organisation in this case, we will start with Ballinakill Parish Community Council who went out to the local community in the early 1970s with a questionnaire to find how what projects did the local community feel that Ballinakill Parish Community Council and Connemara West Ltd should consider under three headings A) Economic B) Social Amenities C) Social and Cultural Life. The Five Year Development Programme first draft from c 1970 is published here. It is a pure coincidence that Connemara West are now working on plan for the coming years but it is good sign to see that community consultation is still seen as important now as it was in 1970.