placenamesKilbane
An Choill Bhán
Kilbane’s nineteenth-century church, its restoration and the merger of its school preserve a local history of buildings sustained and institutions reshaped.
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 Choill Bhán · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilbane · English · main form
Place & story
A church in the valley
Saint Mary’s stands beside Kilbane in the Glenomera valley. Its Gothic Revival design combines a tall central space with projecting transepts, pointed windows and an ornamented entrance gable. Cut stone marks the corners and frames the doorway, while a bellcote, pinnacles and finials shape the roofline. The surrounding graveyard and iron gates complete the setting. The architectural inventory records surviving interior features as well as the building’s carefully worked exterior details. [2]
Repairing the roof
The diocese records refurbishments of Saint Mary’s in 1859 and 1988, followed by a substantial roof project in 2009. Most of the Killaloe slates were replaced and a new ceiling installed, funded through parish fundraising and loans from parishioners. Work exposed arched roof timbers compared in the diocesan account to the hull of an upturned ship. The same account identifies Kilbane as the birthplace of Daniel Vaughan, Bishop of Killaloe from 1850 to 1859. [3]
Joining two school communities
Kilbane’s Saint Joseph’s National School became part of a new shared institution in 2014. The school’s own history records the August decision to unite it with Scoil na Maighdine Muire in Broadford, using the Broadford school grounds. The combined name, Broadford and Kilbane National School, retains both communities’ identities. This change followed a much older local educational landscape: the same history records two schools in Kilokennedy, the Kilbane parish area, in 1821. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Clare
- Barony
- Tulla Lower
- Civil parish
- Killokennedy
- Within
- Kilbane
- Coordinates
- 52.80671, -8.56355 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412556 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilbane. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Kilbane, 20404401 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Saint Mary’s Church, Kilbane · Diocese of Killaloe
- History of Education in Broadford Parish · Broadford and Kilbane National School
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.