placenamesCallow
An Caladh
Saint Thomas the Apostle’s Church records two centuries of building, restoration and artistic patronage.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Caladh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Callow · English · main form
Place & story
A church above the lake
Saint Thomas the Apostle’s Church was built in 1811–12 under parish priest Michael O’Brien. It began with a T-shaped plan overlooking Callow Lough Upper. Work between 1928 and 1932 produced its later cruciform form, incorporating a design by Dublin architect Rudolph Maximilian Butler. Further renovation followed in 1948–49, with restoration again in 2006. The building therefore combines an early nineteenth-century parish foundation with substantial later alterations. [2]
Artists and donors
The church’s furnishings also record individual contributions. Belfast stained-glass maker Walter F. Clokey supplied windows, while the Harry Clarke studios produced the Cullen Memorial window in 1943. Its design is attributed to Castlebar artist Richard Joseph King. Ellen Keane donated the Stations of the Cross in 1951. These works give the small lakeside church associations with both local patrons and specialist workshops beyond Mayo. [2]
Plans for a new school
Callow’s educational provision entered the national parliamentary record in October 1963. Asked about several proposed Mayo schools, Education Minister Patrick Hillery said grants for Callow’s new national school would be sanctioned once the necessary documents establishing title to the site arrived. The reply records a specific stage in the project’s preparation, when securing the site remained essential to proceeding with the building. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Callow. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Catholic Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle, NIAH 31306103 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Mayo National Schools, Dáil Éireann question 104, 24 October 1963 · Houses of the Oireachtas
- Callow Lough Lower, near Callow, County Mayo illustration: based on a Callow Lough Lower by Pamela Norrington. 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 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.