A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
Cróch· Irish · main form · validated name
Croagh· English · main form
Place & story
A church partly in use
The Ordnance Survey account of Croagh described an old cruciform church with a ruined nave but a roofed chancel still used for Protestant worship. The nave measured fifty feet by thirty, while the chancel was fifty feet long. Remains of a castle adjoined its western end, and a large burial ground surrounded it. This account captures a building in mixed use and condition, with one part maintained for services while adjoining fabric stood roofless.[2]
Saint John the Baptist
The Catholic church in Croagh dates from 1830 and is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The diocesan heritage survey records repeated references to that dedication in its furnishings: a wooden carving of Christ’s baptism on the nave wall and a baptism scene in the porch glazing. Behind the altar, stained glass depicts the Virgin Mary, the Sacred Heart and John the Baptist. These works give the building’s interior a particular devotional programme.[3]
Folklore & tradition
A night at Amigan Castle
The Ordnance Survey also recorded a tradition that James II spent a night at the castle in Amaganmore after his defeat at the Boyne. It described the surviving castle as a compact rectangular building with thick walls and a spiral stair in the northern wall. The royal visit belongs to the tradition collected about the place; the survey does not provide independent proof of the king’s stay. The ruins and the attributed story should therefore be distinguished.[2]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Croagh — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Croagh, Limerick
Published census settlement populations
216people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames