placenames.ie
Civil parish

Rahan

Raithean

Presentation education and a canal crossing trace practical connections across the parish.

Recorded locationRahan53.29027° N · 7.63070° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.

Recorded forms

  • Raithean · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Rahan · English · main form

Place & story

People & connections

Maria O’Brien’s school

Maria O’Brien opened a school at Rahan in 1812 and later invited Presentation Sisters from George’s Hill in Dublin to take charge. They assumed control in 1817. Nano Nagle Place’s exhibition records that O’Brien paid for a convent modelled on her own nearby Rahan Lodge. She subsequently joined the community herself, becoming Sister Mary Clare in 1822. [2]

Two schools join in 2007

The educational foundations continued through separate boys’ and girls’ schools. Scoil Charthaigh Naofa’s own history dates the boys’ school to 1832 and Saint Joseph’s Girls Presentation National School at Killina to 1812. Their amalgamation in September 2007 created a coeducational primary school, bringing those two institutional histories together while acknowledging the Presentation contribution to education in the parish. [3]

A footbridge for parishioners and pupils

In March 1913, Father Michael Conlan sought the Grand Canal Company’s permission for a Rahan footbridge serving parishioners and schoolchildren. James Scully’s study of the company minutes records approval subject to maintenance and liability conditions. The company declined to build the foundations but agreed to carry the girders without charge. Scully also records an informal inscription indicating construction in 1914. [4]

Geographic information

Place type
Civil parish
County
Offaly
Coordinates
53.29027, -7.63070
Mapped area
61.22 km²
Logainm ID
2038 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Rahan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Rahan, Branching Out exhibition · Nano Nagle Place
  3. Scoil Charthaigh Naofa: About Us · Scoil Charthaigh Naofa, Rahan
  4. Offaly in the Grand Canal Company minutes,1900–1950,22May2024 · James Scully, Offaly History

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.