placenamesCoan
An Cuan
Coan, locally called Coon, appears in architectural records, a family’s emigration history and memories of the Gaelic revival.
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 Cuan · Irish · main form · validated name
- Coan · English · main form
- Coon · English · main form · local name
Place & story
St Brigid’s Church
St Brigid’s Catholic church in Coan East was built in 1846. The rectangular building has a projecting entrance porch, pointed windows and a limestone bellcote crowned by a cross. Stepped buttresses at its corners rise to slender pinnacles. The architectural inventory records granite window sills and stained glass within the openings, showing how decorative stonework and glazing enriched an otherwise straightforward single-room church plan. [2]
A village name carried to Australia
In his autobiography, education scholar Michael R. Matthews traces his grandfather Patrick Fitzpatrick’s departure from Coon in 1851, aged fifteen. Fitzpatrick went first to New Zealand, then joined the Australian gold rush in 1861. He eventually bought land near Dubbo in New South Wales and named his property Coon Hill after his Irish village. Matthews’s account preserves a specific family connection between this Kilkenny community and nineteenth-century migration across the world. [3]
Remembering an early feis
Garrett Brennan’s statement to the Bureau of Military History recalls a feis organised at Coon by the local curate, Father Delaney, around 1904. Brennan, who grew up in Castlecomer, remembered it as the first such event in the county. His recollection places the village within the early Gaelic revival, alongside efforts in nearby communities to develop Irish-language teaching and cultural gatherings. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Coan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- St Brigid’s Catholic Church, Coan East, NIAH 12401112 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: A Personal Story, draft, p.4 · Michael R. Matthews
- Bureau of Military History witness statement WS1601, opening page · Garrett Brennan; Military Archives
- Saint Brigid’s Church, Coan illustration: based on a Saint Brigid's Church by liam murphy. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.