placenamesHeadfort
Lios na gCeann
Headfort, also locally called Headford, became a railway junction and a focus of military activity during 1921.
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
- Lios na gCeann · Irish · main form · validated name
- Headford · Irish · main form · local name
- Headfort · English · main form
Place & story
The Kenmare connection
Headford was the junction for the Kenmare branch, which operated from 1893 to 1960. The railway societies’ contemporary itinerary for their June 1961 Irish tour noted that the closed branch was then being lifted, recording the physical removal of this former connection. [2]
Stores taken from a train
In his military witness statement, Jeremiah Kennedy recalled bringing four men to Headford station after receiving a dispatch on 3 May 1921. They held up the train due with the mails at four the next morning. Kennedy described finding military stores, including boots, shirts, blankets and tinned food, and unloading the wagon into horse carts. This was a separate incident from the Headford Junction ambush recorded by the Military Archives on 21 March 1921. [3] [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Headfort. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Joint Irish Tour, 3–10 June 1961: itinerary, page 3 · Irish Railway Record Society, Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, and Stephenson Locomotive Society
- Bureau of Military History witness statement 1192 · Jeremiah Kennedy
- 2 Kerry Brigade: brigade activity reports · Military Archives
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.