placenamesFontstown
Baile an Fhóntaigh
Lewis’s 1837 account separates the school’s construction fund from its intended annual support.
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
- Baile an Fhóntaigh · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Fontstown · English · main form
Place & story
A school built with Chancery assistance
Samuel Lewis recorded a newly erected schoolhouse at Fontstown costing £376. Of that sum, £160 came through a Court of Chancery grant from the Marquess of Drogheda’s estate. His 1837 account described its intended support as a £30 yearly allowance from the same estate, a small grant of land and £20 annually from the rector. These were arrangements for supporting the school, rather than a record of payments already made over subsequent years. A separate private school taught about ten boys and twenty girls. [2]
Church and glebe house
Lewis dated the tower-and-spire church to 1823, recording a total expense of £1,400, including a £1,200 Board of First Fruits gift. The glebe house was a separate project: it had received a £100 gift and a £400 loan in 1810, with later additions costing £600. The grants for the house should therefore be distinguished from the church’s building fund. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Kildare
- Barony
- Offaly West
- Barony
- Narragh and Reban East
- Coordinates
- 53.06483, -6.88461
- Mapped area
- 21.42 km²
- Logainm ID
- 1173 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Fontstown. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Fontstown — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-07-23. How this page was prepared.