The "kil" prefix, from the Irish "cill", denotes a cell or small church, typically associated with the early medieval period when monastic communities and lone clerics alike left their mark on the Irish landscape through simple stone enclosures and oratories. That this one retains its place-name in the townland itself suggests it was once a meaningful local landmark, a focal point for the surrounding community in ways that are now largely unrecoverable.

Beyond what the name implies, the particular history of the Kilvoydan church, its founders, its congregation, the dates of its construction and eventual abandonment, remains to be fully documented in the public record. Ruins of this kind are scattered across Clare, some traceable to the sixth or seventh century, others rebuilt and used well into the post-medieval period before falling out of regular use as parishes were reorganised and populations shifted. Without more detailed records currently available, the church at Kilvoydan stands in a category familiar to anyone who has wandered rural Ireland: a structure whose stones outlasted the people who could explain them.