placenames.ie
Townland

Burren

Boirinn

A national award recognised the McGovern family’s contribution to the wider Burren sporting community.

Watercolour and fine ink view of St Mary's Chapel at Burren, with a small open bellcote, pale lancet trim, iron graveyard railing and stone retaining wall.
Illustration, St Mary's Chapel, Burren, County Down
Recorded locationBurren54.13112° N · 6.26802° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

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

  • Boirinn · Irish · main form
  • Burren · English · main form

Place & story

People & connections

Twelve siblings and a local club

The GAA’s February 2020 newsletter profiled the McGovern family from Burren: twelve children of Eileen and Jimmy, born between 1942 and 1960. All nine sons played for St Mary’s Burren, and five represented Down at senior level. The account also recognised the commitment of their sisters Susan, Marie and Bríd, and the sporting contributions of later generations. This was an association with the Burren community, rather than identification of a particular birthplace within the historical townland. [2]

Recognition at Croke Park

The same newsletter records the family receiving the Dermot Earley Family Award at the GAA President’s Awards at Croke Park. Its account includes club and county participation across generations, placing the family’s local contribution within the association’s national recognition of service. [2]

Geographic information

Place type
Townland
County
Down
Civil parish
Clonallan
Coordinates
54.13112, -6.26802
Mapped area
2.91 km²
Logainm ID
66641 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

1911 census

No verified place match is available for this year. This does not indicate a population of zero.

1926 census

This year is outside the available dataset’s coverage. This does not indicate a population of zero.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Burren. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. GAA Nuachtlitir, February2020: McGovern family award, PDFpp29–30 · Gaelic Athletic Association
  3. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
  4. Saint Marys Chapel at Burren, County Down illustration: based on a St Mary's Chapel, Burren by David Crozier. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-06-27. How this page was prepared.