POSTED FROM

KILKERRIN

CO. GALWAY · IE

Kilkerrin
Cill Choirín, Co. Galway

The East Galway
STOP 06 / 06

Cill Choirín · Co. Galway

A parish village in flat farming country that has won five All-Ireland ladies' club titles in a row.

Kilkerrin is small enough that it doesn't announce itself. Sit on the R364 about six kilometres south of Glenamaddy, in flat working farmland that rolls toward the Roscommon border, and the village is an agricultural parish first, anything else a distant second. The landscape is stone walls, field gates, and roads that follow boundaries laid down centuries back. The nearest drama is what the farming brings.

What gives Kilkerrin its identity is Kilkerrin-Clonberne GAA club, based at Father Stephen's Park. Since 2021 the ladies' team has won five consecutive All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championships. That is not small news in a small place. The club was founded in 1888 in the red and white. For most of its history it was a working parish club, producing footballers and training children and being what every parish club is. Then the women's team became a dynasty, and the parish, the county and the rest of the country took notice.

Day to day, the village runs on a shop, a bar and bistro, a school and a community playpark. That is the size of it. For a hotel, a pharmacy or a proper night out you go up the road to Glenamaddy, or further to Ballinasloe and Tuam. Come for the country and the story of the club, not for a strip of pubs.

Population

Very small (rural parish)

Founded

Parish church built 1784; GAA club founded 1888

Coords

53.5552° N, 8.6426° W

01 / 06

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The club

Kilkerrin-Clonberne, five All-Ireland senior ladies' titles in a row.

2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, the last sealed at Croke Park against St Ergnat's of Moneyglass. The grounds are Father Stephen's Park. For a parish this small, it is the kind of run that rewrites the place.

Stories & lore → 02 The place

Working farmland on the R364, six kilometres south of Glenamaddy.

Flat country that rolls toward the Roscommon border. Stone walls, field gates, a shop, a bar and bistro, a school and a community playpark. Glenamaddy is the service centre. There is no train and the bus runs through the next town.

The letter → 03 The land

Lough Lurgeen raised bog and Kiltullagh Lake.

Quiet water and raised ground, the small geography farmers have worked around for generations. Not postcard country. Working country, and honest about it.

Walks & outings →

02 / 06

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Kilkerrin-Clonberne ladies

The five-in-a-row

The Kilkerrin-Clonberne LGFA team won the All-Ireland Senior Club Championship five consecutive times: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The 2025 final was played at Croke Park, a 2-8 to 1-5 win over St Ergnat's of Moneyglass in Antrim, with Siobhan Divilly named player of the match. For a parish of this size, that is the kind of achievement that rewrites the story. The women's team carries the flag and the whole club carries the weight of it, and seems to want to.

Built 1784

The church

The parish church was erected in 1784 with the aid of a gift of £390 from the Board of First Fruits. In the Roman Catholic divisions Kilkerrin is the head of a union that also takes in Clonberne, and the records speak of three chapels, two at Kilkerrin and one at Clonberne. The church is still here and still working. The land around it holds the history of what matters in small places.

Lough Lurgeen and Kiltullagh Lake

The land

Lough Lurgeen is a raised bog on the boundary between the Boyounagh and Kilkerrin parishes. Kiltullagh Lake lies nearby. These are not dramatic features. They are the detail that shapes the parish, standing water and raised ground, the small geography farmers have worked around for generations. The land here is working country, not postcard country.

03 / 06

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Quiet-road loops around the parish There is no waymarked trail at Kilkerrin. What there is, is empty country roads through farmland, good for a long flat walk with little traffic. Stone walls, field gates, the odd farmyard. Bring a high-vis on the bends and expect to share the road with the occasional tractor rather than other walkers.

As long as you make itdistance

1-2 hourstime

Kiltullagh Lake and Lough Lurgeen The lake and the raised bog are the local geography. Neither is set up as a visitor attraction, so this is roadside viewing and quiet rather than a managed amenity. Go for the stillness and the birdlife, not for facilities.

Short, roadsidedistance

30-60 minutestime

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The farmland greens up and the roads are quiet and dry enough for walking. A good plain time to pass through.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings over flat country. The bistro and the local life are at their easiest. Still very quiet by any tourist measure, which is the appeal.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Harvest country and softer light. The club season builds toward the championship run that put the place on the map.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days, wet roads and little open. The All-Ireland club final falls around the turn of the year, so a winter visit can coincide with the parish in full voice, but day to day there is not much to do.

◐ Mind yourself

05 / 06

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

A pub crawl

This is a single bar-and-bistro village, not a strip of pubs. If a night of bar-hopping is the plan, base yourself in Glenamaddy, Ballinasloe or Tuam instead.

Expecting attractions

Kilkerrin is a working farming parish, not a heritage town. There is no castle trail, no visitor centre, no signposted walk. The draw is the country, the church and the story of the football club. Come with that expectation and the place is honest and quiet. Come for sights and you will be underwhelmed.

Getting there.

By car

Kilkerrin sits on the R364 about 6 km south of Glenamaddy. From Galway city it is roughly 55 km northeast, around 50 minutes, via Tuam on the N83 then north toward Glenamaddy. Ballinasloe and Tuam are the nearest larger towns.

By bus

There is no bus through Kilkerrin itself. The nearest service is at Glenamaddy, 6 km north, where Bus Éireann runs between Galway city and Glenamaddy and route 426 continues to Ballaghaderreen in Co. Roscommon. You will need a car for the last stretch.

By train

No railway. The nearest stations are at Ballinasloe and Athenry on the Galway-Dublin line, both a drive away.