Unknown town/street names

At least two of those are townland names within the civil parish of Rahoon.  You can see more info about them here, with maps showing their locations:

Kimmeenmore:  https://www.townlands.ie/galway/galway/rahoon/barna/kimmeenmore/

Kerrane [Keeraun]:  https://www.townlands.ie/galway/galway/rahoon/keeraun/

I didn't see the other two listed, but if you want to search further, this link has a list of all the townlands in Rahoon:

Rahoon Civil Parish:  https://www.townlands.ie/galway/rahoon2/

Ireland is organized into civil parishes, which are now basically administrative districts, based roughly on the parish boundaries as they existed centuries ago, although there were some boundary changes as time went on.  When Catholics were officially allowed to organize parishes again, starting in the 1700’s and early 1800’s, the hierarchy established parishes based on what worked for them at the time, not necessarily following the old (now civil) parish boundaries.  The boundaries of the civil parishes and the Catholic parishes, which often share the same name, are not always identical, so a townland may be in a given civil parish, but in a Catholic parish with a different name and/or different boundaries (as a result, various records may use alternate names for the parishes). Catholic parishes are often larger, and may contain parts or all of several civil parishes.

Within each civil parish there are a number of townlands, sometimes just a dozen or so, but sometimes many more.  These are the smallest official districts, and are still used as addresses in many cases, since people in rural areas usually lacked street addresses.  The Irish government has been trying to change this, but most people still use townland names when describing a rural location.  The official townland names (some of which are quite ancient) and their boundaries were not formalized until the 1800’s.  During the 19th century, an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes.  These maps both documented and standardized the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland.  The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside the townland system.  Some adjustments are still made from time to time.

There are also some place names shown as townland names in older records which are not in modern lists of townland names for the given parish, although the locals may still use the old name and perhaps even think of it as a separate townland.  These are often referred to as “sub-townlands”.  The people creating older records may not have known which areas were officially townlands, and some sub-townland names were so well established that people (even in official records such as the Tithe Applotment Books or Griffith’s Valuation) may have treated them as townland names at some point in history.  So, the other names you have might be sub-townlands.

Townlands exist, even within cities, but there they have usually been superseded by street addresses.  Still, local people may use the townland names at times.  If you look at the maps at the sites I listed, you can see that those two townlands are on the western/northwestern outskirts of greater Galway town, but they were probably rural areas back when the records you have were made.

Google Earth a good way to find the location of places in Ireland, because it often includes place names not found in the official lists of townlands, and one can actually see a satellite photo of the place, and enlarge it.  Sometimes on Google Earth one can’t search the name directly, but if one starts with a nearby town and then zooms in and out and moves around the area, the location name may pop up.

Oh my, Kevin, you explained that so well, better than anything I have tried to study.  Thank you so much!  My eyes are still crossed by this, but my vision has become clearer with this explanation. :). Will I ever understand it all?  Probably not, but I have received such valuable information on this wonderful site.  I will try my hardest to digest all this.

Thank you again,

Judy

Hello Judy,

In his very well written and informative reply, Kevin mentioned Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland. He also deciphered your townland of interest, Kerrane, as Keeraun.

Keeraun is reproduced on an Ordnance Survey Map of County Galway, west of Galway City. The map, in color, is attached to this reply, and is from the 1829 to 1841 time period. Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland can be accessed for free at the GeoHive website.

Unfortunately, the townland of Kimmeenmore, Galway, is not on the Ordnance Survey Map. At least, I couldn’t find it on the map.

But, nearby Galway City is on the same map. You can see how the use of color is utilized with the Ordnance Survey Map of Galway City, which is also attached to this reply.

You can enlarge and pan the map images of Keeraun and Galway City for better viewing.

On a Google Map you’ll notice that Keeraun, by the shortest route, is only 2.6 miles west of Galway City: https://tinyurl.com/v6zye8hm

Here is a Google Street View of Keeraun: https://tinyurl.com/23sjftyj

Keeraun is the English spelling of the town. The letter k doesn’t exist in the Irish language, nor do the letters j, q, v, w, x, y, or z for that matter either.

In the Irish language, Keeraun is "An Caorán," meaning “The Moor,” or “The Bog.” In the Connacht dialect, An Caorán is pronounced:
“Un Quee-ron.”

In Irish, the townland of Kimmeenmore is spelled, “An Coimín Mór,” and translates as “The Large Common Pasturage.” The Irish pronunciation would be something akin to, “Un Qu-meen More.”

Judy, I thought it might be of interest to you to go back to the Ordnance Survey Map of County Galway, so that you can see what the old fishing village of Claddagh looked like, in full color. The village was located just southwest of Galway City. The Claddagh Ring gets its name from this village, which once consisted of thatched houses that were replaced in the 1930s by council houses and more modern homes. The map of Claddagh is attached to this reply.

On the map of Claddagh you’ll see the locations of the R.C. Chapel, the Claddagh National School, the Claddagh Quay, the “Grave Yard,” and the Revenue Police Barracks.

For an interesting history of the Claddagh Ring, see the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claddagh_ring

For an old photograph of Claddagh, and more information about the village, see the Irish Central link at:
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/claddagh-galway

Scroll down the Irish Central page to view a color photo of a young Claddagh girl taken in the year 1913 by two French women.

This Google Map shows that Keeraun, by the shortest route, is 2.9 miles from, “The Claddagh.”: https://tinyurl.com/2vajfftp

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

SOURCES

Ireland Reaching Out reply from Kevin to Judy, 5 October 2022
GeoHive: Ordnance Survey Maps
Google Maps
Google Street Views
Wikipedia
irishcentral.com

Oh Dave, thank you so very much.  I am so overwhelmed with the information.  I will also study your post as I will Kevin's. 

A very grateful Judy

You're welcome Judy, and many thanks for your reply.

Dave

Aloha dear helpers,

Is there a link you can share with me that helps me find old streets and what their new names are?  

The one I am looking for this time is on a baptism record...Folans Lane, Rahoon, Galway

Thank you for your help.

Judy