placenamesDunhill
Dún Aill
The Catholic community’s account preserves a sequence of changing worship places and a gift associated with survival of 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
- Dún Aill · Irish · main form · validated name
- Dunhill · English · main form
Place & story
From Cappagh to the present church
Sorcha Hartley’s parish history records a thatched chapel at Cappagh in Shanaclune, demolished in 1798 and replaced by another on the site of the present Dunhill church. A slate-roofed building followed. Construction of the present church began on 1 March 1883, outside the walls of its predecessor. [2]
A gift remembered after the Famine
Hartley also records that women of the Catholic parish gave jewellery in 1857 to make a gold chalice in thanksgiving for surviving the Famine. That community included Dunhill, Reisk and Islandkeane, so the gift belongs to a wider church district than Dunhill civil parish alone. The account preserves women’s collective contribution to the community’s worship. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Waterford
- Barony
- Middlethird
- Coordinates
- 52.17324, -7.28147 (approximate)
- Mapped area
- 25.57 km²
- Logainm ID
- 2433 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Dunhill. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Second Millennium, published 4 February 2014 · Sorcha Hartley; Dunhill and Fenor Parish
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.