placenamesCoolmeen
Cúil Mhín
Historical surveys show how Coolmeen served a scattered west Clare community, with institutions whose influence extended beyond a small cluster of houses.
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
- Cúil Mhín · Irish · main form · validated name
- Coolmeen · English · main form
Place & story
A chapel and plans for a school
Samuel Lewis’s account, preserved in Clare Libraries’ local history of the district, describes Coolmeen’s chapel as a substantial recent building in 1837. A schoolhouse was then planned through public subscription. The account also records schooling under the Catholic clergyman and several private schools across the parish. This places education and worship together in the development of a small rural centre, without implying that all the parish’s children lived in Coolmeen itself. [2]
A surveyor’s view in 1943
In September 1943, Irish Tourist Association surveyor Ralph Lucas described Coolmeen as a scattered hamlet rather than a compact village. He recorded a church, presbytery, school, licensed house and post office. The church was cruciform with two galleries; the two-teacher school was undergoing repairs. His account describes a farming district with limited transport and communications. Read as a dated survey, it preserves the local services that sustained the community during the Emergency. [3]
The football parish
Coolmeen GAA was founded in 1887 and won the Clare senior football championship in 1919 and 1922. Its catchment includes both Coolmeen and Cranny, reflecting the close relationship between the two communities. Later generations maintained the football tradition: the club won the county junior title in 2015 and reached that year’s Munster junior final. The county board’s history provides a clear record of those achievements, alongside the club’s role in football for younger players. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Clare
- Barony
- Clonderalaw
- Civil parish
- Kilfiddane
- Within
- Coolmeen
- Coordinates
- 52.64892, -9.22649 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412545 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Coolmeen. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Cranny and Coolmeen: historical account including Lewis’s 1837 description · Clare Libraries Local Studies; Samuel Lewis
- Cranny & Coolmeen: Irish Tourist Association survey, 27 September 1943 · Ralph Lucas, Irish Tourist Association; reproduced by Clare Libraries
- Coolmeen: Club Information · Clare GAA
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.