placenamesKilbrackan
Coill Bhreacán
Kilbrackan's country house and bridge preserve nineteenth-century building history on the Leitrim–Cavan boundary.
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
- Coill Bhreacán · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilbrackan · English · main form
- Kilbracken · English · main form · local name
Place & story
A house above the border
Kilbrackan House stands on an elevated site close to the county boundary. The National Inventory dates it to around 1825 and notes the unusual placement of its principal entrance on a side elevation. A round-headed stair window lights the rear, while a stone coach house forms part of the service yard. The survey records that the slate roof had been reinstated in 2002, a dated stage in the building's restoration. [2]
Armstrong, Hickson and Jones
The University of Galway's Landed Estates research identifies an Armstrong residence at Kilbracken in 1814, before the estimated date of the present house. At Griffith's Valuation, William Murray Hickson leased the property from Elizabeth Armstrong, and the house was valued at twenty pounds. The university also cites a sale poster in Leitrim County Library: by 1905 it belonged to Thomas S Jones and was being offered for sale. [3]
A crossing with more than one building phase
Kilbrackan Bridge spans the watercourse between Glasshouse Lake and Rockfield Lough at the county boundary. A bridge appears on the 1836 Ordnance Survey map, and Cavan's Grand Jury sought money for a road from the crossing to Killeshandra in 1837. The National Inventory considers the present single-arched bridge later in date, possibly rebuilt during drainage works, while suggesting that its approach walls may retain fabric from the earlier crossing. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Leitrim
- Barony
- Carrigallen
- Civil parish
- Carrigallen
- Coordinates
- 53.98456, -7.60362 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414010 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilbrackan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Kilbrackan House, NIAH 30930007 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Kilbracken, property 356 · Landed Estates Database, University of Galway
- Kilbrackan Bridge, Portlongfield, NIAH 40401908 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.