placenamesCorrofin
Cora Finne
Corrofin, usually written Corofin, grew beside the Fergus between the Clare lakes. Its church and nearby Clifden House connect the village with patronage, heritage work and painting.
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
- Cora Finne · Irish · main form · validated name
- Corrofin · English · main form
- Corofin · English · main form · local name
Place & story
A village organised around the crossing
Clare Libraries' historical account describes nineteenth-century Corofin as a market settlement near Inchiquin and Atedaun lakes, linked by the River Fergus. Its main street began near the bridge, with another street branching towards the churches. Most of the approximately 140 houses recorded in 1837 were thatched. This arrangement gives the river crossing a central role in the village's geography: streets, services and religious buildings gathered around a route through the surrounding lakeland countryside. [2]
Catherine Keightley’s church
Catherine Keightley sponsored Saint Catherine's Church in the early eighteenth century. The County Clare Heritage Office dates the building to about 1715–20, with its tower, spire and vestry added by 1829. Later adaptation for a heritage centre introduced a further wing while retaining memorials, a pulpit and gallery. The church's changing fabric records both its original religious role and the later effort to preserve and interpret local history. It should be distinguished from the separate genealogy centre on Church Street. [3]
Frederic William Burton at Clifden
Frederic William Burton grew up at Clifden House near Corofin before training in Dublin and becoming a successful watercolour painter. His later career included the directorship of the National Gallery in London from 1874 to 1894. The National Gallery of Ireland's collection records his Corofin upbringing while acknowledging Wicklow as his birthplace in a modern object description. The secure local association is therefore his childhood home, rather than an unqualified claim that he was born in the village. [4] [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Town
- County
- Clare
- Barony
- Inchiquin
- Civil parish
- Killinaboy
- Coordinates
- 52.94564, -9.06534
- Logainm ID
- 5922 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Corrofin. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Corofin: Historical Background · Clare Libraries Local Studies
- Corofin, Clare Heritage Museum, formerly Saint Catherine’s Church · County Clare Heritage Office
- Scottishe Schafer: Frederic William Burton biographical description · National Gallery of Ireland
- Our History: Frederic William Burton and Clifden House · Clare Museum
- St Brigid's Catholic Church, Corofin illustration: based on a Corofin - St Brigid's Church - 20190902144920 by The Banner. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted illustration distributed under the same licence.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.