placenamesWelchtown
Baile na mBreatnach
Near Welchtown in the Finn valley, Saint John’s Church and Glenmore’s estate buildings connect parish life with nineteenth-century landowners.
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
- Baile na mBreatnach · Irish · main form · validated name
- Welchtown · English · main form
Place & story
A new parish church
Saint John’s Church at nearby Aghaveagh was built between 1877 and 1879, replacing an older Kilteevogue church to the northwest. William H. M. Style of Glenmore provided the site. The architectural inventory also records a substantial contribution from Samuel Donaldson of Glenafton, remembered in the name of the adjoining parish hall. The new church was consecrated in 1879 by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. [2]
The shape of Saint John’s
The church’s Gothic Revival design includes an offset tower and broach spire, with nave and chancel windows retaining stained glass. Other windows use quarry glazing in cast-iron frames. McClays of Strabane carried out the building work. The architect was recorded as Mr Kennedy; the inventory cautiously suggests John Kennedy of Derry, so the fuller identification remains uncertain. [2]
The work behind Glenmore Lodge
Glenmore Lodge’s surviving estate buildings at Aghaveagh were arranged around a courtyard, with carriage arches and taller central blocks in the side ranges. A dovecote occupied an upper level, while a walled garden and further service buildings lay nearby. The inventory dates the complex to around 1780, with later alterations. The main house, remodelled in a Tudor and Arts and Crafts manner for Sir William Styles, was demolished around 2000. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Raphoe South
- Civil parish
- Kilteevoge
- Within
- Cloghan
- Within
- Welchtown
- Coordinates
- 54.81173, -7.87556 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413100 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Welchtown. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Saint John’s Church of Ireland Church, Aghaveagh, NIAH 40907702 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Glenmore Lodge outbuildings, Aghaveagh, NIAH 40907701 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.