placenamesKilbaha
Cill Bheathach
Kilbaha's history links a movable chapel, the skilled work of Shannon estuary pilots and the memory of Irish-speaking craftsman Henry Blake.
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 Bheathach · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilbaha · English · main form
Place & story
A movable place of worship
Clare County Library's local-studies account describes how Father Michael Meehan sought a place for Catholic worship when a church site was unavailable. Carpenter Owen Collins built a wheeled timber structure, covered with tarred canvas, which became the Little Ark. Congregations gathered around it on the shore. A permanent church followed at Moneen, with its foundation stone laid in July 1857 and dedication in October 1858; the Ark was preserved there. [2]
The pilots of the Shannon mouth
Kilbaha supplied licensed pilots for vessels entering the Shannon estuary. Brian Goggin's waterways research records seven licensed men here in 1825, within a system administered under an 1823 Act. Large local currachs, often called canoes, carried pilots out to ships. A village memorial commemorates five pilots lost together in 1873. Their work belonged to a demanding navigation service connecting ocean-going vessels with the ports farther upriver. [3]
Remembering Henry Blake
Henry Blake, also known as Aonraoí de Bláca, is remembered locally as an Irish speaker, storyteller, dancer and woodcarver. Kilbaha Gallery's account accompanying Una Heaton's portrait identifies him as a native of the village and describes the familiar sight of him walking with his cane after losing his sight. The portrait's local significance lies in that remembered presence and in the craft and language traditions associated with him. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Clare
- Barony
- Moyarta
- Civil parish
- Kilballyowen
- Within
- Kilbaha North
- Coordinates
- 52.56878, -9.85856 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412554 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilbaha. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Little Ark of Kilbaha · Clare Local Studies Project; Clare County Library
- Nimmo’s non-existent harbour: Kilbaha pilots · Brian Goggin, Irish Waterways History
- Henry Blake, Kilbaha: Una Heaton portrait description · Kilbaha Gallery
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.