In October 1642 Patrick D'Arcy, described as an ancestor of the D'Arcys of Ballybackagh, Houndswood and Gurteen, was a Catholic and a famous lawyer living in Galway city. He was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which degenerated into a civil war known as the Irish Confederate Wars. In the 1650's Cromwell re-conquered Ireland and in 1655 all Catholics were expelled from Galway city. Like most catholic landowners Patrick D'Arcy had already had his lands confiscated through the Act for the Settlement of Ireland. He apparently took refuge at Ballybackagh until the Restoration when he was able to practice law again.
The Books of Survey and Distribution were compiled around 1680 to record all the land that had been confiscated and re-distributed to protestants. These list the Townland of Ballybackagh as having been owned in 1641 by Sir Richard Blake (Catholic) who may have been Stephen D'Arcy's maternal grandfather as John D'Arcy's first wife was a Blake. Ballybackagh is described as containing 78 acres of profitable land, all of which was forfeited. In 1670 Ballybackagh was owned by Robert Blake (Protestant). Robert Blake may have been a relation of Sir Richard Blake who managed to buy the family lands back after the confiscations.
Cromwell pulled down a lot of the fortified tower houses in the Shrule area in 1652, so the tower at Ballybackagh may have been damaged or demolished at that time. It is possible that Stephen D'Arcy or his immediate successors built a new building (that became our house?) after the tower house was pulled down, so in the late 1600's.
The house appears on the first Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland compiled between 1829-41. Most of the other buildings shown no longer exist though a couple of surviving stone outbuildings (not ours) may also be shown.
At least some of the population of Ballybackagh survived though, or the village was subsequently re-populated, as another set of Ordnance Survey maps compiled 1897-1913 shows the house surrounded by even more additional buildings that no longer exist. The parlour addition on the end is shown as not lining up with the main house, so may have been an early one that was later replaced, or even a separate building.
The 1901 census lists 32 people living in Ballybackagh, including Michael and Bridget Brennan (aged 65 and 60) and their son Patrick Brennan (aged 23) who lived in our house. There is also the Laffy family, which is our neighbour Johnny's surname, and a whole lot of Murphy's. Sheila Murphy is another neighbour, but most of her family are now in America. The other families are Walsh, Mallett and Connell. One of these three families must have been the blacksmith's, whose forge and house are still just about visible though very overgrown with trees. By the 1911 census Patrick Brennan had married Mary. The village's population had risen to 37 with the same family names. The current population is around half that, depending on where you draw the boundary of the village.