placenamesJonesborough
Baile an Chláir
A nineteenth-century village account, Moyry Castle and Kilnasaggart’s inscribed pillar record different uses of this important passage through south Armagh.
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 Chláir · Irish · main form · validated name
- Jonesborough · English · main form
Place & story
Fair days in the mountain pass
Samuel Lewis described Jonesborough in 1837 as a village of thirty-five houses and 174 inhabitants, with substantial traffic linking it to Newry and Dundalk. It had an inn, a dispensary and four annual cattle fairs, held in June, August, October and December. He also recorded that the village had been burned in 1798. Nearby former infantry barracks had become a private residence by his time. His figures distinguish the small village from the much larger population of the surrounding parish. [2]
Moyry Castle and the northern campaign
South of the village, Moyry Castle occupies a rocky height above the strategically important Moyry Pass, also called the Gap of the North. It was built in 1601 to secure the route during Lord Mountjoy’s northern campaign. The three-storey tower has rounded corners, numerous openings for firearms and a projecting defence above its doorway. Fireplaces and windows served its upper rooms, but this was a compact military post with limited comforts. Only fragments of the surrounding defensive wall remain, and the castle’s active military life was short. [3]
A dedication carved in granite
The Kilnasaggart pillar nearby marks an early Christian cemetery on the Slige Midlúachra route. Its Irish inscription records a dedication by Ternohc, son of Ceran Bic, under the patronage of Peter the Apostle. Annalistic dates for Ternohc’s death, in 714 or 716, help place the stone at about AD 700. Crosses decorate both principal faces. Excavations in 1966 and 1968 revealed stone-lined and dug graves aligned east to west; the Department for Communities specifically corrects an older claim that they radiated around the pillar. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Armagh
- Barony
- Orior Upper
- Civil parish
- Jonesborough
- Coordinates
- 54.09091, -6.36451 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1411646 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Jonesborough. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Jonesborough, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis
- Moyry Castle · Department for Communities
- Kilnasaggart Pillar Stone · Department for Communities
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-09-19. How this page was prepared.