placenamesCastlerahan
Caisleán Raithin
Castlerahan’s church and community buildings record successive efforts to provide places for worship, gatherings, recreation and shared services.
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
- Caisleán Raithin · Irish · main form
- Castlerahan · English · main form
Place & story
Saint Mary’s and its later repairs
Saint Mary's Catholic Church opened in 1838. The Dictionary of Irish Architects records the opening from that year's Catholic Directory, without identifying the original architect. A later phase is more precisely attributed: Patrick Joseph Brady undertook repairs and alterations in 1923, including a new ceiling. These records distinguish the nineteenth-century foundation from work carried out almost a century later. [2]
The halls of 1922 and 1927
Castlerahan's first community hall opened on Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March 1922. Fire destroyed it a few years later, prompting a replacement on another site in 1927. The community organisation's own history records that this second hall continued serving local people until 2013. The long interval between rebuilding and replacement shows how one modest institution accommodated community activity across much of the twentieth century. [3]
A new centre on the parochial farm
Discussions about another community centre began in the mid-1990s and led to a lease of the parochial farm effective from January 2007. A funding opportunity first allowed a community pitch and nature walk to be developed, officially opened in 2009. The new centre followed in 2013. In October 2020 it also became County Cavan's first operational Broadband Connection Point, extending its role to shared internet access. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Castlerahan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Castlerahan,Saint Mary’s Church,work60820 · Irish Architectural Archive,Dictionary of Irish Architects
- History of Castlerahan Community Centre · Castlerahan Community
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2017-12-01. How this page was prepared.