placenamesKilclone
Coill Chluana
Known locally as Kilcloon, this Meath village has connections with Oliver Plunkett’s education and a long history of shared parish spaces.
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
- Coill Chluana · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilclone · English · main form
- Kilcloone · English · main form
Place & story
An old parish and a newer church
Kilclone, more commonly written Kilcloon locally, was one of six medieval parishes united into the Catholic parish in 1704. The local heritage trail places the old church and graveyard within that longer history. A nineteenth-century church was demolished in 1976 when a new parish church was built at Ballynare Cross. The change shifted the place of worship while the older burial ground preserved an earlier focus. [2]
Oliver Plunkett’s tutor
Kilcloon has a specific connection with Oliver Plunkett's education. His relative Patrick Plunkett supervised his studies as a boy and was acting parish priest here when Oliver first entered his household. Patrick later became abbot of Saint Mary's in Dublin and a bishop. Desmond Forristal's biography identifies this tutor as a formative influence before Oliver's later studies in Rome and career as archbishop of Armagh. [3]
A long campaign for a shared hall
A new community centre reached its sod-turning ceremony on 2 June 2026, following years of local effort. Meath County Council described plans for a main hall, meeting rooms and youth space, intended to support schools, clubs and community organisations. The ceremony marked the start of this building phase, rather than its completion: the council's announcement expected work to continue towards an opening in 2027. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Town
- County
- Meath
- Barony
- Deece Upper
- Civil parish
- Kilclone
- Coordinates
- 53.42273, -6.57319
- Logainm ID
- 1416709 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilclone. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Batterstown Kilcloon Heritage Trail · Batterstown Kilcloon Heritage
- Oliver Plunkett in his own words · Desmond Forristal, Veritas; extract on CatholicIreland.net
- Sod Turned for New Kilcloon Community Centre, 2 June 2026 · Meath County Council
- St Oliver Plunkett Church, Kilcloon illustration: based on a Church, Kilcloon, Co Meath by C O'Flanagan. 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.