placenamesKillala
Cill Ala
Lewis’s figures trace grain exports and imports across two periods before the Famine.
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 Ala · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Killala · English · main form
Place & story
Grain and competition from Ballina
Samuel Lewis gave Killala’s annual grain exports an average of 5,000 tons for 1810–20, chiefly oats and barley. For 1830–35, he reported average exports of no more than 3,500 tons and annual imports valued at no more than £4,000. He connected the change with improvements at Ballina’s port, allowing goods previously landed at Killala for Ballina to travel directly up the Moy. [2]
Fishing and the quay
Lewis also recorded a fishery employing more than three hundred people on an occasional basis. His 1837 account describes substantial quantities of sea-manure landed at the quay and an old pier that had recently been repaired. The workforce figure therefore describes intermittent fishing activity, rather than a permanent tally of full-time jobs. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Killala. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Killala: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-05-28. How this page was prepared.