placenamesBrickeens
Na Broicíní
Brickeens’ river bridge, twentieth-century church and former estate connections trace different phases in the growth of this Mayo village.
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
- Na Broicíní · Irish · main form · validated name
- Brickeens · English · main form
- Brickens · English · main form · local name
Place & story
Crossing the Robe
Brickeens Bridge was under construction in 1841. Its three segmental arches span the River Robe, supported by limestone piers with pointed cutwaters. Carefully tooled stone dressings and rounded parapet coping distinguish the structure’s workmanship. The NIAH compares its composition with Alexander Nimmo’s Annies Bridge at Rinaneel, while identifying Brickeens as an important example of mid-nineteenth-century civil engineering in south Mayo. The comparison concerns design character and does not establish Nimmo as its architect. [2]
Saint Theresa’s church
The Church of Saint Theresa of the Little Flower was built in 1927–28 and dedicated in 1928. Its design is attributed to the parish priest, Charles J. White. A half-octagonal entrance porch leads into a long nave beneath an exposed timber roof, with pointed arches, stained glass and a three-part east window defining the sanctuary. The NIAH records repairs in 1960 and later changes to the sanctuary. The church belongs to the early twentieth-century expansion of parish buildings in the Bekan district. [3]
The Crean estate
The Crean family settled first at Brickens after being transplanted from Galway to Mayo under the Cromwellian settlement. University of Galway research records their ownership of five townlands in Bekan parish by the mid-nineteenth century, when they lived at nearby Ballinvilla. Arthur Lynch Crean’s estate comprised 731 acres in 1876. By March 1916 Austin F. Crean had accepted the Congested Districts Board’s offer to buy 571 acres, connecting the local estate with the wider redistribution of western landholdings. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Brickeens. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Brickeens Bridge, NIAH 31310205 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Church of Saint Theresa of the Little Flower, NIAH 31310206 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Crean estate, record 119 · University of Galway, Landed Estates
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.