placenamesSallyford
Áth na Sailí
Near Sallyford, Rath’s Sacred Heart church and adjoining parochial house preserve a nineteenth-century parish centre.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Áth na Sailí · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Sallyford · English · main form
Place & story
Replacing the wooden chapel
The parish’s account dates the Sacred Heart church at Rath to 1877, following the union of Courtwood with Emo parish. It replaced a wooden church at Courtwood. E. Dease of Rath House donated the site and contributed money, while parishioners raised £1,400 through a levy based on their property valuations. Father John Phelan added £100. [2]
Stonework and the opening ceremony
The same history records blue limestone from near The Heath and stone from Stradbally and Bagenalstown in the church’s construction. Its nave and aisles were divided by ornamental pillars, with no galleries. Bishop James Walsh conducted the opening ceremony on 25 August 1880. The parish also records a lightning strike that brought down the bell tower in 1950. [2]
The adjoining house
Beside the church in Rathronshin stands a two-storey parochial house, dated approximately to 1890 by the architectural inventory. Its three-bay front includes a projecting glazed porch and a canted bay window. Together the house and church form a compact group close to Sallyford. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Laois
- Barony
- Portnahinch
- Civil parish
- Lea
- Coordinates
- 53.09325, -7.09066
- Logainm ID
- 107038 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Sallyford. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Church of the Sacred Heart, Rath: parish history · Parishes of Portarlington and Emo, Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin
- Sacred Heart parochial house, Rathronshin, NIAH12800906 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-06-08. How this page was prepared.