placenamesBallyconneely
Baile Conaola
The village’s nineteenth-century church, its census households and the peninsula’s holy wells preserve different strands of Ballyconneely’s community history.
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
- Baile Conaola · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballyconneely · English · main form
Place & story
The village in 1901
Research published by Galway County Heritage Office gives a detailed picture of Ballyconneely townland in 1901. Its thirty-one recorded buildings included a Catholic chapel, a police barracks, a post office and a public house. Most of the remainder were private dwellings. Only five buildings had roofs recorded as slate, iron or tile; most belonged to the census category covering thatch, wood and other perishable materials. [2]
The Holy Family church
The Church of the Holy Family stands as a focal point of the village. The architectural survey dates it approximately to the middle of the nineteenth century and identifies a five-bay nave, a western porch and a bellcote above the entrance gable. Its restrained exterior is enlivened by corner buttresses and round-headed windows, with decorative surrounds and hood-mouldings. Timber sliding sash windows incorporate tracery in their upper sections. [3]
Saints and the sea
Parish tradition connects the wider peninsula with holy wells dedicated to several saints. At Keeraunmore, the pilgrimage to St Cailin’s well takes place on his feast day, 13 November. The parish account describes fishermen praying to him for protection at sea. It also records the Well of the Seven Daughters at Aillebrack and a former annual pilgrimage on 18 December to St Flannan’s well in Errislannan. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Galway
- Barony
- Ballynahinch
- Civil parish
- Ballindoon & Islands
- Within
- Ballyconneely
- Coordinates
- 53.42804, -10.07642 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413446 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballyconneely. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballyconneely: 1901 census research · Galway County Heritage Office, Connemara Roots
- Catholic Church of the Holy Family, NIAH30404901 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Ballyconneely: church and holy wells · Clifden Parish
- Church of the Holy Family, Ballyconneely, County Galway illustration: based on a The Church of the Holy Family - Ballyconneely Townland (3 September 2012) by Mac McCarron. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-03-11. How this page was prepared.