Kilreekill


Kilrickle or Kilreekill is a civil parish and small village in County Galway, Ireland. It lies within an electoral division of the same name and within the historical barony of Leitrim. The area is served by Citylink bus services from Galway City via Loughrea.

Name

The Irish place name Cill Rícill is anglicised as 'Kilrickle' and 'Kilreekill'. It is associated with Richill – a local woman who, according to folklore, was a 5th-century contemporary of Saint Patrick and founded a church in the area.

History

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ringfort, souterrain and holy well sites in the townlands of Lecarrownagappoge, Dartfield and Wallscourt. The remains of a fortified house lie in Wallscourt townland, and the ruins of Dartfield House are in Dartfield.
The local Catholic church, which is in the townland of Wallscourt, was built in 1839. Dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, it is within the ecclesiastical parish of Cappatagle and Kilrickle in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert.
The local national school, Kilrickle National School, was built in 1922. It had an enrollment of 56 pupils in 2024.
In 2023, the village was linked to the mainline water system for the first time in 50 years.

People