Cill Ghallagáin
| Cill Ghallagáin | |
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| Village | |
 Cill Ghallagáin
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| Coordinates: 54°18′50″N 9°49′01″W / 54.3139°N 9.8169°WCoordinates: 54°18′50″N 9°49′01″W / 54.3139°N 9.8169°W | |
| Country | Republic of Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Mayo |
| Elevation | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Irish Grid Reference | F818421 |
| Cill Ghallagáin is the only official name. The anglicised spelling Kilgalligan has no official status. | |
Cill Ghallagáin (anglicised as Kilgalligan) is a small Gaeltacht coastal townland and village in the northwest corner of Kilcommon Parish, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, an area of 852 acres (3.45 km2) in size. Off the northern coast of this townland lies Kid Island, an island of 32 acres (130,000 m2) rising on steep cliffs to a height of 311 feet (95 m) above sea level. The island is used for grazing sheep in the summer months. Kilcommon Parish consists of two peninsulas – Dún Chaocháin (on which Cill Ghallagáin lies) and Dún Chiortáin, to the west.
This townland has many forts and ancient buildings.
In Kilgalligan graveyard which is close to the beach at Broadhaven Bay there is a large mound about which there are many stories. It has never been archaeologically investigated. It may be the remains of the early Christian church of St. Galligan, from who this townland takes its name. Galligan himself is considered to have been buried within the large cairn. Nearby is a holy well to which people come on pilgrimage on 14 August, the Eve of St. Galligan's Feast.(Corduff, Irish Folklore Commission). In the 1830s a survey reported that "the cairn was caused by accumulated burials until a sort of pyramid has been formed that, at a distance, has a curious effect with the headstones and small crosses covering all sides of its conical surface. Another writer at the time described it as "here are the ruins of a monastery".(Samuel Lewis, Topographical Dictionary)
There was a promontory fort known as Doonkeeghan (Dún Chaocháin) which probably dated from the Bronze Age. In 1318 it belonged to the De Exeter-Jordan family. The family appears to have lived in the area for a long period of time as in 1905 a Dr. De Exeter-Jordan was Medical Officer of Knocknalower dispensary on the Dún Chiortáin peninsula of the same parish – Kilcommon, Erris.
The Barrett clan built a fortified residence on the site of an earlier promontory fort in the 14th century AD. In 1580 the second husband of pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley is believed to have owned this fort, known as Doonaniron. Richard Burke owned large tracts of land along the north western coast of Erris. In 1618 the fort at Doonaniron became the property of Michael Cormuck who resided in Inver Castle on the Dún Chiortáin peninsula further west. This fort must have been an imposing structure. It had a lofty enclosing wall with a large arched gateway which was taken down by the great gale of January 1839. (Westropp, Promontory forts and Otway, Sketches in Erris and Tyrawley.
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