Killeagh () is a village in east

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland. It is approximately from

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

, between

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satelli ...

and

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

on the N25 national primary road. The village is in a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of the same name.

History

The name Killeagh derives from the Irish ''Cill Ia'', which may refer to a "grey church" or the "church of Aedh" (Abban). According to some sources, a Saint Abban founded a

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

at Killeagh in the 7th century, near the site of the current

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

(Anglican) church. Other evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of castle,

burnt mound A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon d ...

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

and

bullaun stone A bullaun (; from a word cognate with "bowl" and French ''bol'') is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun. The size of the bullaun is highly variable ...

sites in the neighbouring

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s of Lagile and Aghadoe. Several buildings in the area are included in the

Record of Protected Structures Conservation in the Republic of Ireland is overseen by a number of statutory and non-governmental agencies, including those with responsibility for Historic preservation, conservation of the built environment and Environmental protection, conservat ...

maintained by

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

. These include Killeagh mills, Saint John & Saint Virgilius Catholic church, Killeagh's Church of Ireland church and Dromdiah House. The latter, which is located to the north of the village, was built in the 1830s by members of the Davis family and is now in ruin.

Amenities

Amenities in Killeagh include a primary school, church, convenience stores, post office, pharmacy, Garda station, veterinary clinic and public houses. It is served by daily bus services between

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, Youghal and Cork City. Leisure amenities in the area include the

Killeagh GAA Killeagh GAA club is a hurling and Gaelic football club located in the small village of Killeagh in east County Cork, Ireland. The club is affiliated with the East Cork division of Imokilly and the Cork county board. It is the sister club of ...

grounds and Glenbower Wood. Glenbower Wood is situated along part of the Dissour River valley to the north of the village. The May Sunday Festival is a tradition in the village since the 1830s, when the De Capel Brooke family opened their estate (now Glenbower Wood) to the villagers to show off their improvements to the house and grounds. Since 2017, Killeagh has been home to Greywood Arts, an artist's residency and events centre.

Sport

The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA) club,

, won the

Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board ...

in 2001. The song "Killeagh" by

Kingfishr Kingfishr are an Irish indie folk group formed in Limerick in 2022, comprising members Eddie Keogh (vocals, guitar), Eoghan 'McGoo' McGrath (banjo), and Eoin 'Fitz' Fitzgibbon (bass). Their song "Killeagh" reached Number 1 on the Irish Singles ...

, which reached number 1 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

in mid-2025, refers to the GAA club.

Demographics

The population of Killeagh increased significantly between the 2002 census and 2016 census. The 2002 census recorded a population of 426, increasing to 521 (a 22.3% increase) by the 2006 census. By the 2016 census, the population had grown to 899. As of 2022, the population had dropped slightly to 895. Of these, 78% were white Irish, 10% were other white ethnicities, 1% black of black Irish, 2% were Asian, 1% were other ethnicities and 8% did not indicate an ethnicity. As of the 2022 census, 71% of Killeagh respondents indicated that they were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 7% were other stated religions, 13% had no religion, and over 8% did not indicate any religion.

Notable people

Mark Landers Mark Landers (born 13 July 1972) is an Irish hurling coach and former hurling, hurler. He is the coach of Cork Senior Hurling Championship, Cork Senior Championship club Bride Rovers GAA, Bride Rovers. Landers played for East Cork club Killeagh GA ...

, All-Ireland winning captain of Cork in 1999. *

Joe Deane Joseph Deane (born 15 November 1977) is an Irish retired hurler who played for East Cork club Killeagh. He played for the Cork senior hurling team for 13 years, during which time he usually lined out as a left corner-forward. Diminutive in s ...

, winner of three All-Ireland hurling medals with Cork.

References

External links

{{commons category
Killeagh/Inch Community Council website

History of Glenbower Wood
Towns and villages in County Cork Civil parishes of County Cork