placenamesOwenbeg
An Abhainn Bheag
Owenbeg’s school history reaches back to 1837 and includes Patrick Kavanagh’s grandfather among its teachers, alongside more recent encounters with children’s writers.
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
- An Abhainn Bheag · Irish · main form · validated name
- Owenbeg · English · main form
Place & story
A school serving the district
Owenbeg National School traces its establishment to 1837. Its own historical account connects its name with the nearby stream that reaches the sea at Kilbane, west of Easkey village. The parish community’s school account records later renovations that added a hall and classroom. Together these accounts distinguish the long history of the institution from the more recent accommodation used by its pupils, in a rural district where the school remains a central local institution. [2] [3]
Patrick Kevany’s teaching years
Patrick Kevany, the paternal grandfather of poet Patrick Kavanagh, taught at Owenbeg before entering agricultural teacher training in Dublin. Born in nearby Castletown in 1826, he was teaching here in 1848 when land agent Thomas Howley sponsored his studies at Albert College, Glasnevin. Kevany entered that July and qualified in February 1850 as a literary teacher and agriculturalist. He subsequently moved to teach in Inishkeen, linking his Sligo beginnings with the family’s later Monaghan history. [4]
Writers at the school
On 17 April 2024, Owenbeg hosted the Whole Wild World Bus Tour led by Laureate na nÓg Patricia Forde. The school’s newsletter records workshops with Forde, Alan Nolan, Serena Molloy and Sadhbh Devlin, together with illustrator Karen Harte. The tour travelled from Malin Head to Mizen Head, bringing authors and illustrators into schools, libraries and other venues. Owenbeg’s visit also featured in radio coverage, adding a contemporary literary encounter to its older teaching connection. [5]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Owenbeg. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- About Us · Owenbeg National School
- Schools in the parish of Easkey · Easkey community website
- Offaly Great Commemoration for Patrick Kevany, Síocháin Spring2017 pp46–48 · Carthage Minnock, Síocháin
- Summer Newsletter2024: Whole Wild World Bus Tour · Owenbeg National School
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.