In the 1960s the Irish name for Gortnahoe was Gort na hUaighe, meaning the ploughed field of the grave. This would seem to be a more accurate name than Gort na hUamha. There is no evidence of a cave in Gortnahoe, and it is likely that the name came from the existence of a grave.
History
The village of New Birmingham lies between Gortnahoe and Glengoole. In early 19th century, the local landlord Vere Hunt saw great potential for the development of coal mining in the Slievardagh Hills, but it never got developed. The remains of a jail which never held a prisoner can be found. The diary of Vere Hunt gave a vivid account of how Glengoole got the name New Birmingham. It is not the only place in the parish that got its name from another country. In the townslands of New Park and Bawnleigh, there is Palatine Street, named after a region in Germany. In the 18th century, Sir William Barker, the landlord in Kilcooley, offered protection and property to families who left the Palatine. The Griffith Valuations of 1850 has record of a Methodist Chapel and a Baptist Chapel in that area. Descendants of those families still farm those areas and form an important part of the parish and of the Church of Ireland. Not far from Palatine Street is the Wellington Monument, with the inscription
"Erected in August 1817 in the eightieth year of his age by Sir William Barker, in honour of his grace the Duke of Wellington and of his glorious victory over the French at Waterloo on the 15th June 1815."
The parish is on the border between Munster and Leinster, leading from Kilkenny into the plains of Munster, a gap important for control and protection. This may be the reason why the ruins of a constabulary barracks at Longford Pass North or Durrihies. This was likely the site of the ancient Celtic Monastery of Doire Mor, the monastery established by St. Colmán, which continued with the other Celtic Monasteries of Liath Mór, Doire na Flan and Derryvilla. With the decline of the Celtic Monasteries and the arrival of the Cistercians in Ireland in the 12th century, the Cistercian Monastery of Kilcooley was established by the monks from Jerpoint in 1184. The monastery continued to prosper until the disestablishment of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1539. During this time there were also the Church centres of Boulick and Fennor. All the townlands were divided between those three parishes. The stonework at the ruins of Kilcooley Abbey was undertaken mainly by the O’Tunneys, especially the tomb of Pierce Butler of Lismolin and a number of other headstones. The carved slabs of the Crucifixion, the abbot, St. Christopher and the mermaid are examples of their work. The East Window is a reminder of how capable the stonemasons were to be able to design and build what has lasted for so many centuries. The church that was at Ballinalackin in Glengoole was an outchurch from Kilcooley. Fennor, like Kilcooley and Boulick is mentioned in the Papal Taxation lists of 1291. The Church is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When Archbishop James Butler visited the parish in 1752, the church at Fennor does not appear to have been in use. The ruins in Fennor cemetery include the ruins of the Church of Ireland Church and the ruins of the Catholic Church and the residence of the priests together. In Boulick are the remains of a motte, Tower house and church. Boulick was a parish as far back as 1291. The church in Boulick also has a protective tower. When a grave was being dug underneath the tower at the end of the 19th century two bells were found underground. Those bells were given to Archbishop Croke and at the time of the restoration of Holycross Abbey they were hung in the tower of the abbey. During the 18th century the Penal Laws made it difficult for Catholics to practise their religion and priests were scarce throughout Ireland. The outcome was that in 1743 the parishes of Kilcooley, Boulick and Fennor were amalgamated with Urlingford and Graine. The amalgamation continued until Fr. Michael Meighan became P.P. of Gortanhoe and Glengoole in 1805. It was Fr. Michael Meighan who built a new church in Glengoole in 1815. This was replaced on the same site by the present church which was built in 1976. The present church in Gortnahoe was also built by Fr Michael Meighan in 1820. This Church has undergone extensive renovations in 1923, 1974–75 and most recently in 2008. School developments have also been very much part of the history of the parish. At the time of Catholic Emancipation in 1829 the government launched a major enquiry into the provision of education and in that report we find that there were twelve schools in the parish, organised and funded in different ways. Nine of them were Roman Catholic Schools and three were Protestant Schools. It was in 1831 that the Board of National Education was established. Since 1829 there have been many changes and amalgamations, until the present number of schools in the parish is three, Gortnahoe, Ballysloe and Glengoole. Gortnahoe is the birthplace of footballer Shane Long.
