placenamesCuilmore
An Choill Mhór
Local recollections trace a wartime school and a later community water project.
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
- An Choill Mhór · Irish · main form · validated name
- Cuilmore · English · main form
Place & story
The school as a community centre
Cuilmore’s school was built during the early years of the Second World War. Former teacher Sheila Kelly recalled that it originally had three teachers, but falling pupil numbers had reduced the staff to two when she arrived in 1958. Her account remembers music and handcraft teaching alongside ordinary lessons, including a tin-whistle band led by Mrs Coughlan. [2]
Bringing water to local homes
After dry conditions in 1982, residents met at the school to plan a group water scheme. Jimmy Langan’s account records a gravity-fed supply drawn from the upper Black Oak River. Pipe-laying began in spring 1989 and finished in spring 1992, connecting 119 houses spread across eighteen miles. Each household contributed £520 towards an overall cost of £280,000. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Mayo
- Barony
- Burrishoole
- Civil parish
- Burrishoole
- Within
- Derryloughan
- Coordinates
- 53.88592, -9.50579 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414517 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Cuilmore. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Cuilmore School, A Social History of Cuilmore (1992),page49 · Sheila Kelly
- Cuilmore Group Water Scheme, A Social History of Cuilmore (1992),page95 · Jimmy Langan
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.