placenamesLenankeel
An Líonán Caol
Lenankeel’s small buildings preserve contrasting histories of traditional settlement, conservation and the Second World War.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Líonán Caol · Irish · main form
- Lenankeel · English · main form
Place & story
Repairing a thatched cottage
A Lenankeel cottage formed part of a traditional clachan, a cluster of houses. The Irish Georgian Society’s 2018 seminar account describes it as the group’s last thatched house. A conservation survey in 2016 guided repairs to the roof by a local builder and thatcher. The rehabilitation was completed in January 2018, preserving a three-room dwelling that had been deteriorating rapidly. [2]
The forge and the bomber crew
The architectural inventory dates Lenankeel’s small forge to about 1840. A plaque commemorates the crew of Wellington bomber W5653 of No. 221 Squadron, RAF, killed in a crash on Urris on 11 April 1941. It records that their bodies were brought to this forge before transfer to Dunree and burial in Britain. The survey recorded the forge as disused in September 2008. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Lenankeel. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Taken for Granted: spending to save Ireland’s architectural heritage, 22 November 2018: Lenankeel case study · Irish Georgian Society; Duncan McLaren, Dedalus Architecture
- Lenankeel forge, Lenan, NIAH 40900915 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-05-23. How this page was prepared.