placenamesKilbennan
Cill Bheanáin
The surviving fabric distinguishes a reduced round tower from the later church ruins.
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
- Cill Bheanáin · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Kilbennan · English · main form
Place & story
A doorway above the ground
The round tower recorded in Kilbennan parish by Samuel Lewis in 1837 stands beside the church ruins west of the River Clare, northwest of Tuam. The Office of Public Works describes a limestone tower surviving to 16.5 metres at its highest point, with a diameter of 4.8 metres. Its sandstone doorway is 4.5 metres above ground. These measurements distinguish the entrance height from the tower’s surviving height and width. [2] [3]
The later church
OPW dates the Franciscan church approximately to 1428 and records its two surviving end gables. The east gable contains a paired window with cusped ogee heads, although both lights are largely blocked. The church belongs to a later phase of the site’s history; its surviving gables should not be treated as the fabric of a securely dated fifth-century foundation. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilbennan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Kilbennan, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis
- Kilbennan Ecclesiastical Site · Office of Public Works / Heritage Ireland
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.