Cill Chiaráin (anglicized as Kilkieran) is a coastal village in the Connemara area of

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The R340 passes through Cill Chiaráin. Cill Chiaráin lies in a ''

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

'' region (

Irish-speaking Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

area), and ''Coláiste Sheosaimh'' hosts Irish language courses within the village.

Name

The village is named after Saint Ciarán, "Cill Chiaráin" translates to "Ciarán's church" from Irish. It shares its name with a second Cill Chiaráin in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

History

On St Ciarán's feast day, there is a Pattern Day in honour of the saint held in the village. Organised by the local festival committee, Coiste Fhéile Chill Chiaráin, there is a Roman Catholic

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

performed at the well which St Ciarán blessed back in the 6th century.

Amenities

Cill Chiaráin has a number of facilities and public buildings, including a health centre, a "

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves food of high quality, with a nearly equal emphasis on eating and drinking. The term was coined in the 1990s in the United Kingdom. History The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coi ...

" (''Tigh Chadhain''), local supermarket, a national school, community hall, church and fish factory. The Arramara Teo seaweed factory is also nearby. The company was previously Irish owned, but has since been bought by a Canadian company. The village also has a children's playground and the Páirc Peile Chill Chiaráin ( artificial pitch) which opened in 2015. The pitch is used by the local GAA team, Carna-Cashel, and the athletics club.

References

{{County Galway Towns and villages in Connemara Gaeltacht places in County Galway Gaeltacht towns and villages

Name

History

Amenities

See also

References