The placename Killokennedy derives from the Irish, most likely meaning the church or graveyard of the Ó Cinnéide family, the sept from which the broader Kennedy clan descends. That connection alone gives the site an unusual resonance, pointing toward medieval ecclesiastical origins and the territorial reach of a dynasty whose name became, centuries later, one of the most recognised Irish surnames in the world.

Burial grounds of this type, associated with early church sites in rural Clare, frequently developed around the remains of a small medieval chapel or an even earlier Christian enclosure. The Killokennedy name suggests a foundation with genuine antiquity, possibly predating the Anglo-Norman reorganisation of the Irish church in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In such places it is common to find grave markers spanning several centuries side by side, from roughly cut limestone slabs with no inscription to later carved headstones bearing the names of local families. The surrounding parish landscape in east Clare is one of drumlin topography and scattered townlands, where small burial grounds like this one served communities that had no grand parish church nearby.