[1] John O'Hanlon (1821–1905) states that the name is due to the church lying beside the sea.

[2] The church gives its name to the parish of Killemlagh in the Barony of Iveragh, County Kerry.

[4] The church is on the Skellig Ring drive between Portmagee and Ballinskelligs, looking over St. Finian's Bay.

The megalithic stone structure called the "Pagan's Grave" is nearby.

A heap of human bones, coffin boards and earth, dug up to cover graves, raised the ground surface, on the interior, to level with this window, in 1841.

[2] At a distance of two feet, six inches, from the east gable, there stood a window, in the south side wall.

On the south side wall, about thirteen feet, eight inches from the west gable, there is a circular doorway, the interior sides of which are built with green cut-stone, as is, also, a part of its arch, the top of which has been constructed with rude and thin stones.

Although the style was generally typical of a church of the 12th century, the shallower pitch of the roof led him to think it might be of later construction.