placenamesRaheen
Ráithín Chuileannáin
A nineteenth-century church and a separately attested well tradition preserve different forms of devotion in this Laois district.
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
- Ráithín Chuileannáin · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Raheen · English · main form
Place & story
A church enlarged in stages
Saint Fintan’s Catholic Church at Raheen is dated 1857 in the architectural inventory. Its tower and projecting porches belong to alterations around 1880, while another renovation around 1980 remodelled the interior. The present building therefore combines the original Gothic Revival church with later changes to its entrance, outline and internal arrangement. [2]
Pebbles from Cromoge
Cromoge, also within Raheen electoral division, has a holy well dedicated to Saint Fintan. The neighbouring school at Shanahoe records a belief that pebbles taken from it protected their bearers against shipwreck and accidental death. This is an attested devotional belief associated with the well, rather than a demonstrated property of its stones. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Raheen. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Saint Fintan’s Catholic Church, Raheen, record12801734 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Shanahoe school history: naming Saint Fintan and Cromogue well · Scoil Fionntáin Naofa, Shanahoe
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.