Kiltoom, County Roscommon

Kiltoom, also Kiltomb, in Irish Cill Tuama, is a civil parish[1] as well as an electoral division[2] in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland. There is also the eponymous townland[3] in the parish. Kiltoom is located northwest of Athlone on the western shore of Lough Ree.

Kiltoom Stores on the N61
Cottage at Kiltoom

The main road in the parish area is the N61 between Athlone and Roscommon. Kiltoom also had a railway station on the Dublin to Westport line. The station opened in 1860 and closed in 1963.[4] The primary school, Ballybay Central National School, is a Catholic school.[5] The townlands and parishes of Kiltoom and Cam were used as examples in a study of rural communities in Roscommon in the century preceding the Great Famine.[6]

Historic sites are an ancient burial mound on which the first church in the village was built, near which a holy well, known as Tobar Pádraig or Patrick's Well, is found. The Kiltoom rectory was served by Cluniac monks from Athlone in the 15th century. In the late 17th century a secular priest resided at Kiltoom. In the second half of the 18th century the Roman Catholic parishes of Kiltoom and neighbouring Cam were united.[7] The church of Kiltoom is dedicated to the Risen Christ, and the new central window in the sacristy depicts the resurrection of Jesus.[8] The old graveyard with ruins of a 12th-century church is situated in Kiltoom townland in the northern part of the parish.[9] Several stately homes were located in the area of the parish.[10] A hotel has been built at Hodson's Bay on Lough Ree, near the site of one of these homes.[11]

References
  1. "Civil Parish of Kiltoom, Co. Roscommon". Townlands.ie. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  2. "Kiltoom Electoral Division, Co. Roscommon". Townlands.ie. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  3. "Kiltoom Townland, Co. Roscommon". Townlands.ie. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  4. "Irish Railways" (PDF). Railscot. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  5. "Ballybay Central National School". Ballybay Central National School. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. Gacquin, William (1996). Roscommon Before the Famine: The Parishes of Kiltoom and Cam, 1749-1845. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-7165-2597-4.
  7. "History of the Parish". Kiltoom Parish. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  8. "The New Church Windows". Kiltoom Parish. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  9. "Kiltoom Old Graveyard". Find a Grave. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  10. Samuel Lewis (1837). "Kiltoom". A Topographic Dictionary of Ireland.
  11. Graham Horn (13 September 2008). "Hodson's Bay Hotel". Geograph Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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