placenamesGlenhest
Gleann Hoiste
A nineteenth-century church and the recollections of a long-serving postmistress preserve different parts of Glenhest’s village life.
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
- Gleann Hoiste · Irish · main form
- Glenhest · English · main form
Place & story
Saint Joseph’s and its timber roof
Saint Joseph’s Church in Gortnaheltia, Glenhest, was built in 1838. Behind its simple rectangular exterior, the full-height interior exposes a carefully braced timber roof, with collars, struts and wind bracing forming part of its structure. Stained-glass roundels decorate the narrow windows, while a larger Trinity window lights the western sanctuary. The architectural inventory records the survival of much historic fabric despite later changes to the sanctuary. [2]
A shop that became the post office
Mamie Marley’s 2025 interview with The Mayo News recalls the shop she and her husband Kevin opened after returning from Gloucester. Their home stood between Saint Joseph’s and Cloondaff National School. A post office was subsequently incorporated into the business, and Mamie served as postmistress for 27 years before retiring in the early 2000s. Her account describes the shop as a meeting place as well as a source of everyday supplies. [3]
Weaving, dances and an open door
Marley also remembered a childhood in which households grew vegetables, kept livestock and spun wool, taking it to a village weaver to make cloth. Dances at Glenhest’s community centre brought neighbours together; she met Kevin there before their marriage and journey to England. Their own home later became known as a rambling house, where callers gathered for company. These personal recollections describe the social life around Glenhest’s institutions. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Mayo
- Barony
- Tirawley
- Civil parish
- Addergoole
- Coordinates
- 0.00000, 0.00000
- Logainm ID
- 1436428 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Glenhest. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, Gortnaheltia, Glenhest, record 31305801 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Cheque still in the post for Glenhest centenarian,8 March 2025 · Anton McNulty / The Mayo News
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2020-02-13. How this page was prepared.