Carna is a small area in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland, located on the country's west coast in the heart of the Gaeltacht and about 50 km west of Galway city. Carna may be a small area but it has a big enough influence on the surrounding areas in Connemara as it contains a Garda Síochána station, a Health Centre including a Rapid Response Ambulance and it also houses an Irish Coastguard lifeboat. Carna is located close to the village of Cill Chiarain and they share the peninsula locally called Iorras Aithneach. There is currently 178 people living in Carna Village but there are 1786 people living in the townlands around Carna and the Iorras Aithneach area. The population dramatically dropped from the previous average of 8000 before the Great Famine. There are a number of public buildings in Carna. There is a hotel in carna called Carna Bay Hotel, there is a nursing home located there and there is a pharmacy called Cogaslann Agatha located in the village centre. There are also 4 shops located in Carna and 3 pubs. The National University of Ireland, Galway, has an Irish-language and educational centre (Áras Shorcha Ní Ghuairim) in Carna. It also operates a marine biology station Martin Ryan Institute in Maínis and an atmospheric research station at Mace Head, Carna, which is run by the university's experimental physics department. There is a water reservoir in Carna that provides West Connemara including Roundstone with fresh water. A bus is also based in Carna that brings passengers between Carna and Galway City picking up passengers along the N59.
Since Carna is in Conamara, it is an area that Catholics emigrated to during the Cromwell days, when the statement "to hell or to Connacht" was familiar to all Catholics. Carna is in a strong Gaeltacht region, so most of the people speak Irish at home. The population is almost totally (96 per cent - 2006) bilingual with English being the second language spoken. There is an Irish language college for second level students located in Carna and Cill Chiarain called Coláiste Sheosaimh. Claudia sent this pretty card, which looks like a painting to me.
