placenamesBallynakill
Baile na Cille
The university survey distinguishes local holdings from the family’s Portlick Castle base in Westmeath.
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
- Baile na Cille · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Ballynakill · English · main form
Place & story
Two townlands and a purchase offer
The University of Galway’s Landed Estates survey records that the Smyths of Portlick Castle held an estate of two townlands in Ballynakill parish, Killian barony, by the mid-1850s. Its house records associate Castlegar and Springlawn with this Galway parish, while Portlick itself lies in Westmeath. By March 1916 Robert W. Smyth had received a final £6,000 offer from the Congested Districts’ Board for his Galway estate; the entry records an offer, rather than confirming a completed sale. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballynakill. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Smyth of Portlick Castle, estate record 1231 · Landed Estates Database, University of Galway
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.