placenamesKiltealy
Cill Téile
Kiltealy’s church, school and commemoration of Mogue Kearns reveal distinct chapters in the history of this Wexford village.
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 Téile · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kiltealy · English · main form
Place & story
The church of 1807
The Catholic Church of Saint Patrick and Saint Cecelia is dated 1807. Its long rectangular form and granite bellcote give it a clear presence in the village. The national architectural inventory records reroofing in 1901 and renovation in 1975–76, when the sanctuary was reordered. These changes distinguish the early nineteenth-century building from the later finishes and arrangements through which successive congregations adapted it. [2]
The school on its present site
Kiltealy National School opened on its present site in 1928 as a two-classroom school. Its own history places the building after a period when several hedge schools operated in the surrounding area. Later extensions increased its accommodation. The account also describes the village’s educational links with Bunclody and Enniscorthy, where pupils continued to secondary school, connecting a local primary institution with the neighbouring towns. [3]
Mogue Kearns and 1798
Mogue Kearns, a Catholic priest involved in the 1798 rebellion, was born at Kiltealy. Ordained in 1786, he fought with the insurgents at Enniscorthy and Newtownbarry. He later accompanied Anthony Perry’s force into Kildare and Meath. Captured near Edenderry, Kearns was executed there with Perry on 21 July 1798. The Dictionary of Irish Biography records commemorative plaques to him in both Edenderry and Kiltealy. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Wexford
- Barony
- Scarawalsh
- Civil parish
- Templeshanbo
- Within
- Kiltealy
- Coordinates
- 52.56775, -6.74627 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413890 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kiltealy. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Catholic Church of Saint Patrick and Saint Cecelia,15701303 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- History of Kiltealy National School · Kiltealy National School
- Kearns, Mogue · C. J. Woods, Dictionary of Irish Biography
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.