Kinvarra, meaning the ‘head of the sea’ in Irish, is a sea port village located in the south of County Galway in Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Kinvarradoorus toward the north of the barony of Kiltartan. In the Catholic Church, the Ecclesiastical parish of Kinvarra is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, and comprises of the civil parishes of Kinvarradoorus and Killinny. The Great Famine in the 1840s and a series of emigrations that continued until the 1960s have reduced the population of the village that was once a thriving port and a significant exporter of corn and seaweed to no more than a few hundred people. From around the 1980s, the population of the parish of Kinvarra started to increase and the village started to grow in size. Here, you can visit the the Dunguaire Castle, which is a towerhouse of the Ó hEidhin clan and is located to the east of the village. Kinvara is also home to two festivals that occur annually. The Fleadh na gCuach or ‘the cuckoo festival’ is an Irish music festival that takes place at the beginning of May and the Cruinniú na mBád or the ‘gathering of the boats’ takes place in mid August. The small stone harbor of Kinvarra sits at the southeastern corner of Galway Bay. Filled with vividly painted buildings, the charming village makes an excellent pit stop between Galway city and County Clare.