placenamesHackballs Cross
Crois an Mhaoir
A locally born veterinary officer cared for wounded soldiers during the opening weeks of the First World War.
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
- Crois an Mhaoir · Irish · main form · validated name
- Hackballs Cross · English · main form
Place & story
From Carrickastuck to veterinary work
Dr Paul Watkins’s biographical study identifies Vincent Richard James Fox as born at Hackballscross, Carrickastuck, on 9 December 1889. He qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in Ireland in 1911, worked in Dundalk and then Calcutta, and returned to Ireland in 1914. [2]
Treating the wounded
Commissioned into the Army Veterinary Corps in July 1914, Fox accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France. At Audencourt during the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August, he treated wounded soldiers in a church when no medical officers were available. He died when the building was shelled. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Louth
- Barony
- Dundalk Upper
- Civil parish
- Barronstown
- Coordinates
- 54.03001, -6.51953 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 132321 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Hackballs Cross. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- A Time for Reflection — An Cosantóir, February 2015, pages 26–27 · Dr Paul Watkins
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.