placenamesPontoon
Pontún
At Knockaglana, a former police building and a nearby sports enclosure add another strand to the district’s lakeside history.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Pontún · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Pontoon · English · main form
Place & story
A barrack already standing in 1838
The former constabulary barrack at Knockaglana was already standing in 1838. The architectural inventory traces changes in its use: occupied in 1901, vacant in 1908 and occupied again in 1911. Renovation in 2001 supported continued occasional use. These recorded changes place the building's history alongside the better-known visitor accommodation at the crossing. [2]
The stone building survives
The barrack has two storeys and a symmetrical three-bay front. Rubble limestone walls, cut-stone corner detailing and a hipped slate roof give it a more substantial character than a simple cottage. The inventory also records its distinctive buttressed chimney stack, retaining a visible feature of the building's original design. [2]
An uncertain police association
The disused handball alley nearby retains rubble-stone boundary walls and patches of render. The inventory tentatively dates its presence to 1908 and reports an alleged connection with recreation for constabulary officers. That association is qualified rather than established, but the enclosure itself remains evidence of an earlier sporting facility beside the barrack. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Pontoon. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Pontoon Constabulary Barrack, NIAH31306003 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Knockaglana handball alley, NIAH31306004 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.