placenamesKilgobbin
Cill Ghobáin
The standing cross and excavated remains reveal different layers of Kilgobbin’s church landscape.
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
- Cill Ghobáin · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilgobbin · English · main form
Place & story
The high cross
Opposite Kilgobbin Church, the high cross stands at the foot of a slope. The Office of Public Works dates it between the tenth and twelfth centuries. Part of its ringed head is missing, and weathered figures of Christ remain on both faces. The nearby church dates to the early eighteenth century on an older church site. [2]
Archaeology beside the church
Teresa Bolger’s 2004 excavation investigated six areas beside the church. Successive curved ditches showed changing enclosures, some probably connected with the ecclesiastical site. Slag, crucible fragments and metal objects provided evidence of metalworking. Elsewhere, two corn-drying kilns and field ditches revealed agricultural activity alongside the settlement’s religious life. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilgobbin. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Kilgobbin High Cross · Office of Public Works, Heritage Ireland
- 2004:0647 — Stepaside: Kilgobbin, licence 04E1373 · Teresa Bolger, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd., Excavations.ie
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-02-17. How this page was prepared.