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
Mainistir Chnoc Muaidhe· Irish · main form · validated name
Abbeyknockmoy· English · main form
Place & story
Cathal Crobhdearg’s foundation
Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, founded Knockmoy Abbey in 1189 or 1190. Monks came from Boyle Abbey, and Cathal was buried here in 1224 beside his wife Mór. Much of the surviving complex dates from the early thirteenth century. After the abbey’s surrender to the crown in 1542, its church continued in parish use, giving the site a religious life beyond the dissolution of its monastic community.[2]
Paintings protected within the ruins
The abbey’s chancel contains rare surviving medieval wall paintings, generally dated to the fifteenth century. Antiquarians reproduced them in engravings in 1790, and copies appeared at the Dublin Exhibition of 1853. Their survival required modern intervention: the Office of Public Works weather-proofed the part of the building containing them during the 1980s. Carved capitals and a damaged crowned head also survive among the stonework.[2]
A tomb inscription preserved on paper
A drawing attributed to Austin Cooper, dated 1785 and based on William Leeson’s earlier work, records an inscription from the O’Kelly funeral monument. The National Library identifies the people commemorated as Maelsechlainn O’Ceallaigh, king of Uí Maine, and Finnghuala, daughter of O’Conchobair, and names Matthew O’Coigle as its maker. The stone itself later travelled to Dublin for the 1853 exhibition and then to Ballyglunin House. The drawing preserves a record of that displaced monument.[3]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Abbeyknockmoy — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Abbeyknockmoy, Galway
Published census settlement populations
262people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
Knockmoy Abbey near Abbeyknockmoy, County Galway illustration: based on a Knockmoy Abbey by liam murphy. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
placenames