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
Cill Díoma· Irish · main form · validated name
Kildimo· English · main form
Place & story
Two villages in one account
In 1837 Samuel Lewis distinguished the small village of Kildimo from a second settlement, New Kildimo, growing on the new mail road from Limerick towards Tralee. His account captures the transition while it was still underway. The surrounding parish produced wheat on limestone land, with rich riverside pasture and areas of bog. Its Catholic district also included Ardcanny and Chapelrussell, a wider area than either village alone.[2]
A new church with older fittings
Saint Joseph’s Church in the present village has a foundation stone recording its blessing by Bishop Murphy on 6 January 1969, during John Godfrey’s ministry. The diocesan heritage account describes fittings transferred from the old parish church, including the Stations of the Cross. Older stained glass was incorporated into new windows, with Saint Agnes and Saint Brigid among the surviving subjects. The newer building therefore contains pieces of the church life that preceded it.[3]
People & connections
Recovering a missing window
In February 2015 a parishioner recognised an auction listing for a stained-glass panel from Old Kildimo’s church. Parish priest John Donworth travelled to Castlecomer and bought it back with the finance committee’s support. Jimmy Woulfe’s contemporary report records a winning bid of €12,500, or €15,000 with commission. Donworth identified it as Harry Clarke glass and hoped its return would ease lingering hurt over the disposal of fittings when the old church closed.[4]
Three quern stones in a wall
Testing near the former Catholic church at Old Kildimo in 2022 uncovered no archaeological features or objects in five trenches. Fiona Reilly’s report nevertheless recorded three quern stones built into a new perimeter wall. One had been found on the property earlier; the other two, a pair, came from an isolated farm at Cragganacree, about 1.8 kilometres to the south-west. Their recorded origins matter: the visible group does not represent three finds from the church site.[5]
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
Kildimo — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Kildimo, Limerick
Published census settlement populations
417people · 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.
Dromore Castle remains, near Kildimo illustration: based on a Dromore Castle, Limerick (1) by Garry Dickinson. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
placenames