Kinnitty () is a village in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

, Ireland. It is located 13 km east of Birr on the R440 and R421 roads. 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.

Name and location

The village derives its name from the myth that the head of an ancient princess is buried beneath the village, ''Ceann Eitigh'' being the "Head of Eiteach" in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

- where Eiteach is the name of the princess. The village is situated at the foot of the

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains (; ) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of . While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The highest points are Arderin () () at the southwestern en ...

in the ancient kingdom of

Éile Éile (; , ), commonly anglicised as Ely, was a medieval petty kingdom in the southern part of the modern county of Offaly and parts of North Tipperary in Ireland. The historic barony of Eliogarty was once a significant portion of the kingdom. ...

Parish

Kinnity is also the name of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish. The present chapel was built around 1815.

Amenities

Kinnitty is served by a primary school, creche, two churches, post office, community centre, children's playground, two pubs, café, some shops, a number of bed and breakfasts and a hotel (the modern day use of

Kinnitty Castle Kinnitty Castle or Castle Bernard is a 19th-century gothic revival castle and hotel in Kinnitty (''Cionn Eitigh''), County Offaly, Ireland. It is located contiguous to Droughtville and Lettybrook, north of the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the R ...

). The trail head for the Slieve Bloom Mountain biking trails is located in the village of Kinnitty, as is one of the trailheads for the long distance Slieve Bloom Way walking route. Kinnitty Forest or Glenregan Forest is operated by

Coillte Coillte (; ; meaning /) is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a 'land solut ...

and is located near the village.

Buildings

There is an unusual pyramid-shaped tomb in the grounds of the St Finian's Church. It was built by the Bernard family who resided in

, on the site of St. Finnian's monastery. The 9th century Kinnitty High Cross is located at the front of Kinnitty Castle (now a hotel).

Notable people

*Saint

Finan Cam Finan Cam (or Fionan, Finian), Abbot of Kinnity was an early Irish saint associated with County Kerry, Ireland, who lived in the 6th century AD, and possibly the 7th century. To distinguish him from other saints of the same name the appellation of ...

founded a monastery here around the end of the 6th century * Rex Ingram, the Hollywood director, and his brother, Colonel

Francis Clere Hitchcock Colonel Francis Clere Hitchcock MC (1896–1962) wrote ''Stand To—A Diary of the Trenches 1915–1918'' about the activities of the second Leinster Regiment of the British Army in World War I. Biography He was born in Dublin and spent most ...

MC, spent most of their early life here where their father was the parish rector. (The " Old Rectory" now a private home, can be seen from the Roscrea Road opposite the Church of Ireland.)

References