The Irish for Templeglantine is "Teampall an Ghleanntáin", which means "the church of the little glen". Templeglantine is locally called "Inchebaun", which, when translated, means 'the White River meadow'.

Templeglantine is a chapel village, having grown up around the church, which was built in 1829. A community centre was officially opened in 1977 by Bishop Jeremiah Newman. In the same year, the village received the Glór na nGael trophy from the then President of Ireland, Patrick Hillary. This is an award for the place in Ireland that does the most to promote the use of the Irish language throughout the previous year.

The O'Macasa family ruled the area until the twelfth century when the Norman invasion brought the Fitzgerald family to rule over the area. The Fitzgeralds held the more auspicious title of 'The Earls of Desmond'.

After the defeat of the Desmonds in 1583, the area came under the control of Sir William Courtenay who planted most of West Limerick. The de Lacy family were also landlords in the area.

In 1985 a cist grave was discovered on the lands of James Leahy in the townland of Rathcahill West. These graves are box-like slab structures, which are just below ground level. They are believed to date from between 2,000 BC to 500 BC.