placenamesCarriganarra
Carraig an Earra
An old place of worship and recently investigated pits preserve traces of Carriganarra before Ballincollig’s outward growth.
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
- Carraig an Earra · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Carriganarra · English · main form
Place & story
Clash Cross and parish worship
Before Ballincollig acquired a chapel in 1808, Catholic families from the surrounding area attended Mass at places including Clash Cross in Carriganarra. Ballincollig parish’s own history names it alongside Ballinora and Kilnaglory. The gunpowder mills brought employment and population growth, creating demand for a church in Ballincollig itself. Carriganarra’s cross thus belongs to the earlier geography of worship serving the communities around the developing town. [2]
Pits beside Carriganarra Road
Archaeological testing beside Carriganarra Road in 2023 identified six probable prehistoric pits and a larger spread at the northern end of a proposed housing site. Avril Purcell’s report records ten trial trenches following geophysical survey. No objects were recovered, and the identification remained provisional. A separate shallow pit farther south might instead have belonged to a removed field boundary, illustrating the care needed to distinguish ancient activity from later farming. [3]
Heathfield’s development
Carriganarra also became a focus for residential expansion through the Heathfield development. The project’s planning consultants describe obtaining permission for two applications, covering fifty-nine and 210 homes, together with a crèche and road improvements. Their account records an earlier zoning process followed by the coordination of architects and planning submissions. This phase placed Carriganarra within the growth of Ballincollig’s residential neighbourhoods. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Cork
- Barony
- Cork
- Civil parish
- Carrigrohane
- Within
- Carrigrohane
- Coordinates
- 51.88224, -8.58024 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 108546 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Carriganarra. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Short History: The Church of St Mary and St John, Ballincollig Parishioner, 9 June 2002 · Ballincollig Parish
- 2023:463: Ballincollig, Carrigrohane, Carriganarra Road · Avril Purcell, Lane Purcell Archaeology
- Heathfield, Ballincollig · HW Planning
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2017-12-01. How this page was prepared.