placenamesCloondaff
Cluain Damh
Cloondaff’s local record includes a prehistoric burial monument, a nineteenth-century church nearby and a post office remembered through its final-day mail.
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 Damh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Cloondaff · English · main form
Place & story
The court tomb in Cloondaff townland
The National Monuments Service records a court tomb in Cloondaff townland, east of the settlement near Lough Beltra. In its 1996 county register it appears as monument MA058-006, distinguished from a separate enclosure farther west. The two entries preserve evidence of older occupation within the broader townland, rather than identifying the modern village itself as a single archaeological site. [2]
Saint Joseph’s at Glenhest
Nearby Saint Joseph's Church stands in Gortnaheltia townland at Glenhest. Built in 1838 under parish priest John Hopkins, it follows a simple rectangular plan with slender pointed windows. Its interior retains an exposed timber roof and an octagonal limestone baptismal font, while the sanctuary has been reordered. The building records the provision of a Catholic place of worship in the years following emancipation. [3]
The post office’s final-day letter
Philatelist Johannes Boine visited Cloondaff's post office and adjoining shop in 2001. His published account dates its foundation to 1898 and records postmaster Kevin Marley's announcement that it would close on 31 August 2001. Marley subsequently sent him a registered letter bearing the final day's stamp. The surviving postal evidence gives a precise endpoint to more than a century of local service. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Mayo
- Barony
- Tirawley
- Civil parish
- Addergoole
- Coordinates
- 53.94056, -9.44683 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414380 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Cloondaff. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Mayo Record of Monuments and Places1996,sheet58 · National Monuments Service
- Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church,Gortnaheltia,Glenhest,record31305801 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Cloondaff Post Office,DieHarfe79,p19 · Johannes Boine,Forschungs-und Arbeitsgemeinschaft Irland
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.