placenamesKillyneill
Coill Uí Néill
A bridge fragment, an aqueduct and a bypassed crossing preserve different parts of the canal’s engineering at Killyneill.
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 Uí Néill · Irish · main form · validated name
- Killyneill · English · main form
- Silverstream · English · main form
Place & story
The incomplete crossing
The Ulster Canal Company’s line through Killyneill opened in 1838. Surveying Killyneill Bridge in November 2007, industrial archaeologist Fred Hamond found two stone walls flanking the canal bed. He could not establish whether the original span had disappeared or had never been completed. A later crossing of metal beams and timber sleepers provided access to fields. [2]
Water carried above water
Another structure in Killyneill carried the canal over a small tributary of the Cor River. Its shallow stone arch survives with angled retaining walls at either end. Hamond noted that its underside lacked the downward slope found on other Ulster Canal aqueducts. The structure illustrates the engineering needed to carry a navigable channel across an existing watercourse. [2]
Leitrim Bridge within Killyneill
The survey also places Leitrim Bridge in Killyneill townland, despite its name. Its semicircular masonry arch retained a towpath and ramped road approaches. By 2007, however, the northern approach had been removed and the crossing bypassed over an infilled stretch of canal. The surviving bridge therefore records both the original route and the changes following its abandonment. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Killyneill. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ulster Canal industrial heritage inventory, sites1004–1006, surveyed13November2007 · Fred Hamond, industrial heritage survey
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2013-11-05. How this page was prepared.