placenamesCloondara
Cluain Dá Ráth
Cloondara grew around Richmond Harbour, where the Royal Canal joined a network of rivers, trade and local industry.
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
- Cluain Dá Ráth · Irish · main form · validated name
- Cloondara · English · main form
- Clondra · English · main form · local name
Place & story
John Killaly’s harbour
Richmond Harbour was completed in 1817 as the western terminus of the Royal Canal. Engineer John Killaly designed its layout, bringing the canal to the Camlin River and onward access to the Shannon. Dressed limestone walls and kerbs enclose the basin, with cast-iron mooring bollards around its edges. The lock, dry dock, bridge and former canal offices formed a coordinated working complex around which Cloondara developed. [2]
A trading village in 1837
Samuel Lewis described Richmond Harbour, also called Clondra or Cloondra, as a village of 41 houses and 214 inhabitants in 1837. Corn was sold daily, benefiting from the canal’s transport links. William Fleming’s distillery reportedly employed more than seventy people and produced over 70,000 gallons of whiskey a year. A constabulary station and penny post to Longford added administrative and communication services to the industrial settlement. [3]
Restoring the waterfront
An RTÉ report broadcast on 11 April 2009 recorded the redevelopment of Richmond Harbour by Waterways Ireland with Longford County Council and Fáilte Ireland. Éanna Rowe described proposed jetties, harbour improvements and a service block, while local businesses anticipated renewed visitor activity. The report captures a change in purpose: a harbour built for commercial transport was being prepared for recreation and tourism. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Cloondara. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Richmond Harbour,NIAH13307014 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Richmond Harbour,A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland,1837 · Samuel Lewis
- Richmond Harbour Revival2009: news report11April2009 · RTÉ Archives; Ciaran Mullooly
- Richmond Harbour, Cloondara illustration: based on a Richmond Harbour on the Royal Canal, Cloondara, Co. Longford by JP. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.