placenamesKillashee
Cill na Sí
Ballyclare’s lock keeper’s house preserves the domestic side of canal operation, while Aghnaskea Bridge records a neighbouring road crossing.
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
- Cill na Sí · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Killashee · English · main form
Place & story
Living beside the 44th Lock
The lock keeper’s house at Ballyclare was built in 1815 beside the Royal Canal’s 44th Lock. Its three-bay, single-storey front has window and door openings placed within shallow segmental-headed recesses. A hipped slate roof and central chimney complete the compact form. The architectural inventory relates this standardised house type to the canal authority’s building programme and cautiously attributes its design to engineer John Killaly. [2]
The restoration remembered on the house
A plaque on the cottage commemorates Frances K. Kelly, who financed its restoration in 1990. The inventory records the building’s subsequent use as a private house. That restoration adds a later chapter to the navigation complex: accommodation once tied to the daily operation of a lock was retained as a dwelling, preserving much of the original building rather than leaving only the canal’s engineering structures. [2]
A neighbouring canal crossing at Aghnaskea
East of Killashee, Aghnaskea Bridge carries a small road across the Royal Canal. Built about 1817, it has a single arch, dressed limestone walls and curved parapet ends terminating in square piers. The inventory groups it with the nearby lock and lock keeper’s house at Aghnaskea. It is a separate crossing from Savage Bridge beside Ballyclare’s 44th Lock, illustrating the repeated provision of road connections along this short stretch of canal. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Killashee. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- 44th Lock keeper’s house, Ballyclare, Killashee ED:13311005 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Aghnaskea Bridge:13311009 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.