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 Dalua· Irish · main form · validated name
Killaloe· English · main form
Place & story
People & connections
A fort above the Shannon
The ringfort associated with Brian Boru occupies a spur overlooking the Shannon near Killaloe. Excavations in 1961 revealed evidence of a substantial fortified enclosure with a retaining wall, timber palisade and defensive ditch. Its position gave control over movement along the river. The fort was destroyed in 1116, leaving high banks and a deep ditch around the raised interior. These earthworks preserve a physical setting for the royal power associated with the district.[2]
Sandstone and a stone roof
St Flannan's Cathedral is a cruciform medieval building of purple and yellow sandstone, with a low tower over its crossing. Nearby stands the smaller Romanesque oratory, also dedicated to Flannan. Its western doorway carries much of the carved decoration, while the steep stone roof rests above a small upper chamber. The oratory's lost eastern chancel once extended its plan. The contrast between these neighbouring buildings makes the different scales of medieval ecclesiastical architecture particularly clear.[3]
Folklore & tradition
Brian's name in local tradition
Westropp recorded in 1889 that people at Killaloe and O'Brien's Bridge told how Brian broke a bridge to escape a pursuing Danish army. Around the cathedral, tradition called the stone-roofed oratory Brian Boru's vault and attributed an ornate doorway to his palace. Another local claim placed his burial beneath a carved stone there. Brian was buried at Armagh; the Killaloe stories show how strongly his memory became attached to the town's surviving monuments.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Killaloe — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Killaloe, Clare — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Killaloe, Clare — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Killaloe, Clare
Published census settlement populations
1,484people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames