placenamesBekan
Béacán
A nineteenth-century description of a thatched chapel contrasts with the concrete church built under Charles White in the 1930s.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Béacán · Irish · main form · validated name
- Bekan · English · main form
- Bekan Cross · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The parish in 1837
Samuel Lewis described Bekan in 1837 as a largely cultivated parish on the road between Claremorris and Frenchpark. The River Robe rose within its boundaries. He recorded a plain thatched Catholic chapel, the ruins of an older church and an adjoining burial ground still in use. Education was dispersed through the parish: a school at Brackloon taught about 110 children, while five private schools together accommodated roughly 400. These figures refer to the wider parish, rather than the village alone. [2]
Charles White’s church
The principal parish church, dedicated to Saint Margaret Mary, stands in Bekan townland. Parish priest Charles White acted as both architect and contractor for its construction in the 1930s. Built in concrete, it has a nave, chancel and side aisles. Thomas McEllin carried out later improvements after his arrival in 1968. During the 1980s Edward McEllin oversaw the landscaping of the grounds and the addition of a shrine to Our Lady of Fatima, extending the church’s setting beyond the building itself. [3]
Willie Kelly’s long service
A 2014 article in the local journal Annagh recalls Willie Kelly’s unusually long association with Bekan Church. He became sacristan in 1904 as a teenager and served for sixty-six years, interrupted by military service during the First World War. He was also the local postman. A photograph records his receipt of the Benemerenti Medal in September 1970, shortly before his death in February 1971. His story gives an individual presence to the daily work behind parish ceremonies and the ringing of the church bell. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Bekan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Becan or Bekan, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland1837 · Samuel Lewis
- Bekan Parish: Saint Margaret Mary’s · Bekan Parish
- Sacristans Mark110 years of Church Service, Annagh2014 p43 · Mike Byrne, Annagh magazine
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.