placenamesErrislanan
Iorras Fhlannáin
The Errislannan peninsula preserves an older church and holy well, a nineteenth-century Anglican church and a memorial distinct from the famous aircraft landing site.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Iorras Fhlannáin · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Errislanan · English · main form
- Errislannan · English · main form · local name
Place & story
St Flannan’s well at Kill
St Flannan’s ruined medieval church and holy well lie beside Lough Nakilla in the townland of Kill. A field visit reported by Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland in January 2018 describes the well as a rectangular stone-lined structure with steps and a surrounding low wall. Coins and religious medals left nearby indicated recent visitors. The writer visited on 18 December, the traditional pilgrimage day, but carefully noted that no pilgrims were seen during that particular visit. [2]
Holy Trinity on the peninsula
Holy Trinity Church was designed by Joseph Welland for the Reverend Richard Wall of Errislannan Manor. The parish describes a building distinguished by its projecting porch, buttresses and varied window openings. Inside, the exposed stone walls give it a different character from many plastered church interiors. The church occupies a prominent position in its graveyard, reflecting the nineteenth-century connection between the estate and Anglican worship on the peninsula. [3]
Friends preserve the building
When demolition threatened Holy Trinity, Maurice O’Connell, Rex Allen and Donal Brooks formed the Friends of St Flannan’s in 1961 and raised funds for its upkeep. A later crisis followed severe vandalism in October 2017. Donations supported repairs, and the restored church was rededicated on 5 August 2018. The Church of Ireland’s account records support from across the local community, including Catholic neighbours, continuing the earlier effort to preserve the building. [4]
The airmen’s memorial
The aircraft-tail monument on Errislannan hill was erected in 1959 to commemorate John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown’s Atlantic flight. It overlooks the wider landscape associated with their arrival, but it does not mark the place where they landed in 1919. Engineer and industrial archaeology researcher Shane Joyce emphasised that distinction in a 2011 report on research at Derrygimlagh. Keeping memorial and landing site separate helps explain the peninsula’s connection with the flight. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Galway
- Barony
- Ballynahinch
- Civil parish
- Ballindoon & Islands
- Within
- Drimmeen
- Coordinates
- 53.48165, -10.09410 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 130962 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Errislanan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- St Flannan’s Holy Well, Errislannan,8 January 2018 · Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland
- Holy Trinity, Errislannan · Omey Group of Parishes
- Rededication of Holy Trinity, Errislannan,7 August 2018 · Church of Ireland, Diocese of Tuam
- Researchers on trail of Marconi and aviators,19 May 2011 · Lorna Siggins / The Irish Times
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.