placenamesRaheen
An Ráithín
Raheen’s church dates from 1814, while a volunteer childcare project grew into a wider network of local services.
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
- An Ráithín · Irish · main form · validated name
- Raheen · English · main form
Place & story
John Shalloe’s parish building
Raheen’s Catholic church was built in 1814 under parish priest John Shalloe. He had transferred from Castlebridge to Adamstown in April 1795, serving a large combined parish that also included Newbawn. The parish’s account of his career records his rebuilding of Newbawn church before the Raheen project. Shalloe retired in 1817 and died in 1831. His building work placed Raheen within the recovery and expansion of Catholic parish facilities during the early nineteenth century. [2] [3]
A church reshaped
The church now dedicated to Saint John Paul II retains a compact rectangular plan, but its appearance also reflects substantial work in 1938–39. Round-headed windows contain timber Y-shaped mullions, and a projecting entrance porch has pointed openings. Inside, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records a choir gallery supported on timber pillars, a vaulted ceiling and decorative plasterwork. The building combines the scale of the earlier church with later alterations to its windows, fittings and sanctuary. [3]
From a back room to a resource centre
A 1997 social audit identified a shortage of childcare in Raheen and its surrounding district. Volunteers initially provided a small service in a back room of the community centre. A not-for-profit company followed in 2000, and a purpose-built childcare facility opened in October 2004. The organisation’s history records its successful application to the Family Resource Centre programme in 2001. Later renamed ARC, it extended its work into education, youth activities and services for older people, with its main office in Raheen’s old parochial house. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Wexford
- Barony
- Bantry
- Civil parish
- Newbawn
- Within
- Raheenahennedy
- Coordinates
- 52.39748, -6.79518 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 131874 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Raheen. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- A bit of history: Rev John Shalloe, newsletter 14 November 2021 · Saint Abban’s parish, citing Raheen Church – Our Sacred Place, Built on Faith, 2014
- Catholic Church of Saint John Paul II, Courthoyle New, Raheen, 15703013 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- About us: ARC FRC through the years · ARC Family Resource Centre
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.