placenamesWilkinstown
The merger of two national schools in 1971 gave Wilkinstown both a new school and the beginnings of its community centre.
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
- Wilkinstown · English · main form
Place & story
Two schools become one
Scoil Naomh Barra opened on 20 September 1971, bringing together the former national schools of Wilkinstown and Kilberry. The new school took its name from Barra, whom its history associates with an early church in Kilberry. Tom Sherlock became its first principal, working with Marie Duffy and Antoinette Stack. His successor, Michael Forry, remained principal for twenty-nine years, providing continuity after the reorganisation of local schooling. [2]
The old school becomes a hall
After the new school opened, residents considered converting the vacated building into a community hall. The first committee included chairman Tom Lynn and secretary Maureen Fay. Its two rooms initially lacked running water and toilets; removing the dividing wall was among the early alterations. The building accommodated a varied programme, including youth activities, Macra na Feirme, Irish dancing, drama, badminton and adult education. [3]
Building a replacement centre
By 1987 the hall could no longer meet local needs, prompting a fundraising campaign for a new multipurpose centre. Planning permission followed by 1990. The old school was demolished in 1992, leaving a four-year interval before the replacement hall opened in 1996. A 2022 community celebration honoured Seamus Glennon, Breege Wall, Vincent Shivnan and Liam Caffrey for their long service to the centre and its activities. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Meath
- Barony
- Morgallion
- Civil parish
- Kilshine
- Civil parish
- Clongill
- Coordinates
- 53.73491, -6.71151 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 38640 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Wilkinstown. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- School History · Scoil Naomh Barra,Wilkinstown
- Special night for the fab four driving force behind Wilkinstown Community Centre,7 March2022 · Noelle Finegan,Meath Chronicle
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-10-17. How this page was prepared.