Barna

Bearna is a Gaeltacht village in Connemara, west of Galway city in County Galway, Ireland, on the R336 regional road. Once a satellite of Galway city, the village is now rapidly becoming one of its suburbs. Officially the village is regarded as Irish speaking and is therefore a constituent part of the regions of Ireland that make up the Gaeltacht. However, because of its absorption into the city, it has recently become a mainly English speaking village. Nonetheless, Irish is still the main language of its western and northern hinterland and the village has now effectively become the gateway to the largest Irish speaking region in the countryTo try to control the major development which has been undertaken in recent years, a very strongly supported local action group has been set up . In 1976 a community development group called Comharchumann Bearna Teo was formed after five local men put up the purchase money for 2acre at Troscaigh Thiar to be used for community purposes and has succeeded in developing several recreational facilities.Irish languageThere are 1,500 native Irish speakers in the Bearna ED. According to the 2011 census, 24% of Bearna's locals use Irish as a daily language.International linksBarna is twinned with Eskevien, Brittany, France. Also known as Esquibien (French)PopulationAt the time of the 2011 Census, the total population in this settlement was 1,878, of which Males numbered 920 and Females were 958. The total housing stock was 772, of which vacant households numbered 98. With an approximate area of 1.89 km2, this settlement has a 2011 population density of 994 persons per km2.