<
 
 
 
 
×
>
hide You are viewing an archived web page collected at the request of University of Alberta using Archive-It. This page was captured on 17:15:24 Dec 08, 2010, and is part of the HCF Alberta Online Encyclopedia collection. The information on this web page may be out of date. See All versions of this archived page. Loading media information

Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia

Top Left Corner

Top Right Corner

Top Right Corner
Home Top English | Français Sitemap Search Partners Help
Home Bottom
  • Home
  • Land of Opportunity
  • Settlement
  • Rural Life
  • Links
  • Resources
  • Contact Us!
  • Heritage Community Foundation
  • Heritage Community Foundation Logo

Le Heritage Trails sont présentés de courtoisie CKUA Radio Network et Cheryl Croucher

CKUA Radio Network logo

Visit Alberta Source!

Government of Alberta

Government of Canada

 

Ce texte a été publié en anglais et n'est pas disponible en français.

Irish Place Names: Connemara

Listen to this Heritage Trail

South of Calgary, near the town of Nanton, sits a tiny reminder of the Irish Sea. It's a place called Connemara. And according to historian Merrily Aubrey, Connemara, Alberta got its start as a speculator's dream.

Thomas Newell was the fellow who had great dreams for the place. First of all, it was located on the Mcleod subdivision of the CPR portion of line completed in 1892, so it is fairly old. Thomas Newell had title to the land and he promoted the area and the sale of lots on his land to people in Toronto and England, with the idea of founding Silver City - a name by which it is known, by some, to this very day.
Although he was able to sell a few lots, his dream of wealth and potential of the town site really never materialized.

Like many place names throughout Alberta, Connemara was endowed by the Canadian Pacific Railway as it established stations and sidings along its route.

The original wind-swept Connemara in Ireland is a region in County Galway and is noted for its exquisite marble. The name in Irish means "Seaside", so here, in the middle of continental Alberta, you get a little bit of Ireland and the sea and the birds and all that.

On the Heritage Trail,

I'm Cheryl Croucher.

Close this window

Albertasource.ca | Contact Us | Partnerships
            For more on the history of settlement in Alberta, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.