placenames.ie
Townland

Ballard

An Baile Ard

Baltard’s cliffs connect nineteenth-century fishing with the remains of a coastal warning station in Ballard townland.

Recorded locationBallard52.72894° N · 9.61699° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

ardheight; highbailetownland, town, homestead

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 Baile Ard · Irish · main form · non-validated name
  • Ballard · English · main form

Place & story

Fishing beyond the cliffs

Samuel Lewis’s 1837 account of Killard parish describes fishing banks off Baltard yielding turbot, cod, haddock, mackerel and other fish. He records local fishermen using wicker-framed canoes covered with canvas treated with pitch. His description places this form of boat within the practical conditions of a steep coast and heavy surf, rather than presenting it as a timeless custom. [2]

The demolished tower

The archaeological survey dates Baltard’s signal station to about 1804–05. It stood on a cliff-edge terrace, with Mutton Island and Knocknagharoon as neighbouring stations in the warning chain. The square tower has disappeared. Stuart Rathbone’s 2022 record describes rubble marking its position and reports its demolition, apparently in the 1960s. [3]

What remains around it

Parts of the station’s enclosing stone wall survive, with a gateway on the southeastern side. A separate roofless building retains a fireplace, chimney and blocked windows. These remains preserve accommodation and the boundaries of the compound even though the main signalling tower no longer stands. [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Townland
County
Clare
Barony
Ibrickan
Civil parish
Killard
Coordinates
52.72894, -9.61699
Mapped area
4.03 km²
Logainm ID
104014 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Ballard. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Killard: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 · Samuel Lewis
  3. Baltard signal station, Ballard, CL046-005----, record uploaded 14 July 2022 · Stuart Rathbone, Archaeological Survey of Ireland
  4. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2023-01-05. How this page was prepared.