placenamesBaurscoob
Barr Scuab
A small Dunnamaggan West locality with a documented nineteenth-century school and an ornamental crossroads water pump.
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
- Barr Scuab · Irish · main form · validated name
- Baurscoob · English · main form
Place & story
A school built by local subscription
Baurscoob School opened in August 1853 through the efforts of parish priest Patrick Fogarty and received national-school recognition that December. Its history preserves correspondence describing a locally funded, stone-built room with a slate roof, eight desks and space for about sixty children. Fees ranged from one to three shillings a quarter, while one-third of the pupils were admitted without payment. [2]
Inspection and changing premises
The school’s early approval did not end arguments about its accommodation. In 1858, inspectors called for separate playgrounds, a dividing wall between the outdoor toilets and better drainage. By 1874, the roof needed replacement. Classes eventually moved to a new school in Dunnamaggin village, opened on 1 February 1930; the later St Leonard’s school opened at Raheen in October 1996. [2]
Water at the crossroads
A cast-iron pump survives at Baurscoob Crossroads. The architectural inventory dates it to about 1875 and recorded it as disused in 2004. Its curved handle, fluted head and decorative cap show how a practical public water supply could also be carefully ornamented. It is a tangible reminder of the period when local households collected water at a shared roadside source. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Kilkenny
- Barony
- Kells
- Civil parish
- Dunnamaggan
- Within
- Dunnamaggan West
- Coordinates
- 52.49508, -7.31012 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 108559 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Baurscoob. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The History of St Leonard’s: Baurscoob School, published 2005 · Michael O’Dwyer and St Leonard’s National School Board of Management
- Baurscoob Crossroads water pump: NIAH 12403118 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-09-19. How this page was prepared.