placenamesGlenvar
Gleann Bhairr
The church and former school preserve different chapters of this Fanad community’s history.
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
- Gleann Bhairr · Irish · main form · validated name
- Glenvar · English · main form
Place & story
Saint Mary Star of the Sea
The Irish Architectural Archive records a new Early English-style church at Glenvar dedicated in October 1862. Its entry, citing the Dublin Builder of that November, identifies a nave, chancel and sacristy. Philip Doherty of Derry supplied cut stone; Barff and Company of Dublin produced enamel panels for the altar and reredos. [2]
From school to community centre
Education Minister Mary Hanafin recorded that Glenvar National School closed on 31 August 1997. In July 2008, local photographer Sarah Gallagher documented the old school’s reuse as a community centre, identifying it as the school opened in 1929. [3] [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Kilmacrenan
- Civil parish
- Clondavaddog
- Within
- Knockalla
- Within
- Tirlaydan
- Coordinates
- 55.15254, -7.60781 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 130379 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Glenvar. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Glenvar, Church of Saint Mary Star of the Sea — work 714 · Irish Architectural Archive, Dictionary of Irish Architects
- Dáil Éireann, 28 September 2006, question 291, School Closures, columns 1191–1192 · Houses of the Oireachtas
- Community Centre, Glenvar — photographed 6 July 2008 · Sarah Gallagher
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.