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 Aichidh· Irish · main form · validated name
Killeigh· English · main form
Place & story
The enclosure beyond the churchyard
A 2005 geophysical investigation examined the landscape around Killeigh’s former religious houses. Paul Gibson described an arc of double bank and ditch near the holy well that aligned with boundaries north of the village, suggesting an enclosure more than 500 metres across. Within this wider area stood successive religious foundations, including Augustinian and Franciscan communities. The village’s monastic history therefore extends beyond individual standing ruins to boundaries and buried features spread across the settlement.[2]
Conserving the vaulted chapter house
Conservation work at Killeigh Abbey in 2024 focused on the vaulted chapter house. Archaeologist Denis Shine monitored repairs that included clearing vegetation, repointing, securing unsupported masonry and repairing an internal recess. A sedum covering was added above the barrel vault, and a modern oil tank was removed. Completed in November 2024 with Community Monuments Fund assistance, the work followed repairs in 2023. The report also notes that part of the former abbey church continues in Church of Ireland use.[3]
Saint Patrick’s new church
Saint Patrick’s Catholic church opened on 12 September 1971. Parish priest John Stapleton’s anniversary account explains that serious defects in the earlier church prompted discussion of rebuilding during the 1960s. Architect Patrick J. Sheahan prepared successive plans, revised as Bishop Patrick Lennon sought a layout reflecting the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council. The resulting arrangement placed the priest facing the congregation. Parish correspondence thus records how practical building concerns and changing worship shaped the new church together.[4]
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
Killeigh — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Killeigh, Offaly — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Killeigh, Offaly — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Killeigh, Offaly
Published census settlement populations
212people · 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.
Mick the Miller monument, Killeigh illustration: based on a Mick the Miller by kevin higgins. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
placenames