placenames.ie
Population centre

Lacken

An Leacain

Earthworks and a worn cross base preserve traces of older Lacken west of Kilkenny city.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of A country lane near Lacken, County Kilkenny, as photographed in 2008.
Illustration, A country lane near Lacken, County Kilkenny, as photographed in 2008
Recorded locationLacken52.66239° N · 7.33484° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ie

The name

leacahillside

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

  • An Leacain · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Lacken · English · main form

Place & story

The castle remains

The Archaeological Survey records the castle site in Lacken as a raised, uneven rectangle covered with turf. Its surveyors measured an area about twenty-four metres by twenty-two, with limestone rubble and mortar displaced towards the eastern corner of the surrounding enclosure. [2]

The enclosing bawn

The surrounding bawn measures approximately fifty-two metres by forty-five. The survey describes an earthen bank, a partly filled ditch and watercourses around it. Two stone causeways provide entrances; their surviving forms have been altered, and the survey leaves their original date uncertain. [3]

The cross beside the road

Grace’s Cross stands beside an entrance on the Tullaroan–Kilkenny road. The surviving limestone base retains part of the socket that once held the cross. The 2020 archaeological record describes substantial damage and reports that no inscription or decoration remained visible. [4]

Geographic information

Place type
Population centre
County
Kilkenny
Barony
Crannagh
Civil parish
Saint Canice
Within
Lacken
Coordinates
52.66239, -7.33484 (approximate)
Logainm ID
1412358 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Lacken. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Sites and Monuments Record KK019-001001: Lacken castle site · Jean Farrelly and Mary Tunney; Archaeological Survey of Ireland, 2020
  3. Sites and Monuments Record KK019-001002: Lacken bawn · Jean Farrelly and Mary Tunney; Archaeological Survey of Ireland, 2020
  4. Sites and Monuments Record KK019-002: Grace’s Cross · Jean Farrelly and Mary Tunney; Archaeological Survey of Ireland, 2020
  5. A country lane near Lacken, County Kilkenny, as photographed in 2008 illustration: based on a Country Lane by kevin higgins. 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 2011-11-24. How this page was prepared.