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Population centre

Curragh Camp

Campa an Churraigh

Built as a permanent military camp in 1855, the Curragh became a community of soldiers, families and civilian workers.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of St Brigid’s Church, Curragh Camp.
Illustration, St Brigid’s Church, Curragh Camp
Recorded locationCurragh Camp53.14383° N · 6.83419° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ie

The name

currachmarsh

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

  • Campa an Churraigh · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Curragh Camp · English · main form

Place & story

A permanent camp

The British Army established its permanent Curragh post in 1855. By the period of the 1922 handover, the camp supported shops, schools, cinemas, barbers and a swimming pool alongside its military buildings. The Curragh Museum preserves photographs of that community and objects from the British and Irish military presence, including the last British flag flown over the camp. [2]

The handover on film

British Pathé filmed the transfer of the camp on 16 May 1922. The surviving silent newsreel shows Lieutenant General O’Connell at the water tower raising the tricolour as Irish troops took over. The Irish Film Institute preserves the thirty-two-second film in its Irish Independence collection. [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Population centre
County
Kildare
Civil parish
Ballysax
Coordinates
53.14383, -6.83419 (approximate)
Logainm ID
1166901 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Curragh Camp. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. The Curragh Museum · Defence Forces
  3. The Curragh Camp: British Pathé newsreel, 1922 · Irish Film Institute
  4. St Brigid’s Church, Curragh Camp illustration: based on a St Brigid's Church, The Curragh (Exterior) by Sheila1988. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC0 1.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.