placenamesKilcarn
Cill an Chairn
The old stone bridge preserves evidence of repeated changes to an important Boyne crossing.
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
- Cill an Chairn · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilcarn · English · main form
Place & story
A bridge built in stages
Kilcarn Bridge crosses the Boyne with stone arches, triangular cutwaters and pedestrian refuges. Its northern face retains early masonry, while the bridge was later widened upstream. A replacement crossing opened nearby in 1977, allowing the older structure to survive as part of the local historic landscape. [2]
Reading the masonry
Niall Roycroft’s interim account of archaeological work in 2016 interpreted the smaller rounded arches as probably sixteenth-century construction. Marks left by wickerwork used to support arch-building remain visible. The report suggests that four larger central arches replaced six smaller ones, and links a later widening to the early eighteenth century. These are archaeological interpretations of successive building phases. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilcarn. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Kilcarn Bridge — NIAH 14402511 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- 2016:860 — NAVAN: Old Kilcarn Bridge, Meath · Niall Roycroft, Meath County Council; works monitored by ADCO Ltd.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.