placenamesRaholp
Ráth Cholpa
The small church at Raholp preserves early masonry alongside later alterations and modern restoration.
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
- Ráth Cholpa · Irish · main form · validated name
- Raholp · English · main form
Place & story
An early stone church
Raholp’s church stands on a mound edged in places with dry stone walling and large slabs. The Department for Communities suggests a possible eleventh-century date. Its rectangular plan includes a west doorway with inward-sloping sides and an east window with crosses cut into its lintel. Medieval alterations introduced doors in the side walls and changed a north window. [2]
Restoration and excavation
Francis Joseph Bigger carried out extensive restoration around 1915, including the present doorways and stone altar. The church entered state care in the 1980s, by then again in poor condition. Conservation in the 1990s included excavation, which found at least one burial beneath the south wall. Earlier clay-bound masonry can be distinguished from later mortared work. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Down
- Barony
- Lecale Lower
- Civil parish
- Ballyculter
- Within
- Raholp
- Coordinates
- 54.34862, -5.64668 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413293 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Raholp. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Raholp Church · Department for Communities, Northern Ireland
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-10-08. How this page was prepared.