placenamesDernacrieve
Doire na Criadh
Also recorded as Derrynacreeve, this Templeport settlement has a history preserved in surveys and a teacher’s recollections.
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
- Doire na Criadh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Dernacrieve · English · main form · local name
- Derrynacreeve · English · main form
Place & story
A landscape recorded in the namebooks
The official placenames record identifies Dernacrieve as a local form of Derrynacreeve, in Templeport parish. Its archival references preserve the Ordnance Survey’s 1836 description of clay soil and a river along the northern boundary. The database gives the full Irish name, Doire na Criadh, the meaning of an oak-wood associated with clay. These records connect the inherited name with the physical landscape described by nineteenth-century surveyors. [2]
The townland in land records
The Commonwealth Survey entry transcribed by Cavan Townlands records the townland as Dirrenacrew in 1652, with Lieutenant-Colonel Tristram Beresford as proprietor. Its transcription of the 1826 tithe books lists the names of local occupiers, including Elliott, Lee, Maguire and Reilly. Different spellings of the place recur in these records, but the townland’s Templeport setting links them to the same local landscape. [3]
A new teacher in 1937
T. C. Maguire recalled cycling from Bawnboy to Tomena National School, Derrynacreeve, on 1 September 1937 to begin teaching after the summer holidays. His appointment had taken place in July, marked by introductions, a concert and a party before the break. In reminiscences published by Cavan County Library in 1994, he described arriving with little knowledge of the district and learning alongside pupils who questioned older relatives about local life. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Cavan
- Barony
- Tullyhaw
- Civil parish
- Templeport
- Coordinates
- 54.16460, -7.72439 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412192 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Dernacrieve. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Doire na Criadh / Derrynacreeve, archival references · Placenames Database of Ireland
- Derrynacreeve Townland: Commonwealth Survey and tithe records · Cavan Townlands
- The Folklore of Derrynacreeve, pp.11–12, in An Introduction to the Schools Manuscripts Collection (1994) · T. C. Maguire / Cavan County Library
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.