placenamesBalsoon
Baile Easúin
The novelist recalled working at Balsoon House after returning to Ireland in 1969.
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
- Baile Easúin · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Balsoon · English · main form
Place & story
Writing above the Boyne
In a 2006 interview, J. P. Donleavy recalled buying Balsoon House when he returned from England in 1969. He used a corner bedroom as his writing room and said he finished The Onion Eaters there. His daily routine combined morning writing with painting and sketching, sometimes inspired by the gardens. Donleavy remembered the house overlooking the Boyne and Bective Abbey, and said he stayed for about three years. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Meath
- Barony
- Deece Lower
- Coordinates
- 53.57837, -6.68107
- Mapped area
- 5.16 km²
- Logainm ID
- 1834 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Balsoon. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Time & Place: The donkey hitched a lift,14May2006, reproduced on Balsoon page · Alanna Gallagher, The Sunday Times; reproduced by Navan & District Historical Society
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-10-29. How this page was prepared.