Clonallan is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It is situated in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Iveagh Upper, Upper Half Iveagh Upper, Upper Half is the name of a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It was created by 1851 with the division of the barony of Iveagh Upper into two. It lies to the west and south of the county, split in half by the Lordship of ...

. The parish has an area of 11,464 acres. Clonallon Rath (geograph 3021709)

Etymology

The name of the parish derives from the townland of Clonallan Glebe situated within the parish. The townland itself was originally named after the early Irish church founded there c.595 AD by Saint

Dallán Forgaill Eochaid mac Colla ( 560 – 640), better known as Saint Dallán or Dallán Forgaill ( sga, Dallán Forchella; la, Dallanus Forcellius; Primitive Irish: ''Dallagnas Worgēllas''), was an early Christian Irish poet and saint known as the writer of ...

. The original name of the church was ''Cluain Dalláin'', meaning 'The Meadow of Dallán'. An archaeological excavation of part of the church was carried out in 2011. The Irish name was later corrupted into different spellings such as Clonallan, Clonallon, etc.
/ref> Another early saint associated with the church was St. Conall, who succeeded Cairbre as Bishop of

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

in 560. He met Saint Columcille at Coleraine after the Synod of Drumceat c.595, according to

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of Co ...

's ''Vitae Columbae''. As Dallán was a poet, not a priest, it is likely he donated the meadow to Saint Conall to establish the church probably at the same time. The earliest surviving mention of the name is in St. Conall's genealogy quoted in the

Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...

composed c. 1160, which states- ''Conall m Aeda m Sharáin m Maine m Fhothaid m Conaill m Echdach m Cruind Ba Drui. Is é congaib Cluain Dallain i n-Dál Echach i fail Chúain Snama Ech''. The Martrology of Gorman composed c. 1170, repeats this under the feast day of Saint Conall on 2 April,- ''Great Conall, son of Aed'' and the marginalia states- ''from Clúain Dalláin, near Snám Ech, i.e. the Cúan beside Cael in Húi Echach of Ulaid''. The Martrology of Donegal, composed c. 1630, then repeats Gorman- ''Conall, son of Aedh, of Cluain (i.e., of Cluain-Dallain), near Snamh Each, i.e., the harbour near unto the Cael in Ui-Eathach of Uladh. He was of the race of Irial, son of Conall Cearnach''. The Papal Annates for 1423 spell the name as ''Cluandallan'' and those for 1500 spell it as ''Claondalan''. In

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...

further to the north is a well now called 'St. Dillon's Well'. There is no Irish saint called Dillon but in 1875

John O'Hanlon (writer) John Canon O'Hanlon MRIA (30 April 1821 – 15 May 1905) was an Irish Catholic priest, scholar and writer who also published poetry and illustrations, and involved himself in Irish politics. He is best known as a folklorist and a hagiographer, an ...

in his book 'Lives of the Irish Saints' (Vol. 3, page 794n) called it St. Dallán's Well, which is probably more correct as Dillon seems to be a corruption on Dallan.

Townlands

Clonallan civil parish contains the following townlands: * Aghavilly * Aghnamoira * Aughnagon * Ballydesland * Ballydulany * Ballymaconaghy * Ballyrussell * Ballyvally * Bavan * Burren * Cabragh * Carmeen * Carrickcrossan * Carrickmacstay * Carrogs * Clonallan Glebe * Clonta Fleece *

Croan Lower Croan ( kw, Crowyn goles, meaning ''lower little hut'') is a farmstead in Cornwall, England, UK. It is in the parish of Egloshayle and Croan house (a quarter of a mile) and Croanford (half a mile) are to the east. Croan House is a manor h ...

* Cullion * Donaghaguy * Edentrumly * Lurgancanty *

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

* Milltown * Tamnaharry

References

{{reflist

External links

Saint Dallán Forgaill (c.560 -c.640), alias Eochaid Éices

Etymology

Townlands

See also

References

External links