placenamesKilgarriff
An Chill Gharbh
The parish around Clonakilty combined cultivated land and quarrying with substantial investment in classrooms during the nineteenth century.
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
- An Chill Gharbh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilgarriff · English · main form
Place & story
Farms, bog and blue slate
Kilgarriff stretched around Clonakilty harbour, crossing the historical divisions of East Carbery and Ibane and Barryroe. Lewis described most of its land as cultivated, with fertile soil interrupted by exposed rock and areas of pasture. Bogland near the town and at Crohane supplied another part of the rural landscape. Blue slate was quarried on the Earl of Shannon’s property, while copper indications were noted without evidence of an operating mine. [2]
Sharing the cost of classrooms
The boys’ parochial schoolhouse cost £150, divided equally between the Association for Discountenancing Vice, the Earl of Shannon and Horatio Townsend. A girls’ parochial school had been built by subscription in 1810. A larger school followed in 1835, with three rooms and accommodation for its mistress, supported by subscriptions and a National Board grant of £310 on land given by the earl. Lewis counted 400 girls there, within a parish school network that also included private teaching. [2]
The technical school on Western Road
The former technical school at Tawnies Upper dates from around 1880 in the architectural inventory. Its nine-bay, two-storey front has a central gabled projection, with an additional wing and later extensions behind. A limestone name plaque identifies the building, while quoins, horizontal bands and a rendered plinth articulate its walls. Slate roofs and a cross finial above the central gable form part of the survey’s record of this substantial educational building. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Cork
- Barony
- Carbery East (E.D.)
- Barony
- Ibane and Barryroe
- Coordinates
- 51.64228, -8.91404
- Mapped area
- 17.73 km²
- Logainm ID
- 606 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilgarriff. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Kilgarriffe in A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis
- Clonakilty Technical School, registration 20846169 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.