placenamesMeenacross
Mín na Croise
The Glencolmcille locality is associated with fiddler James Byrne and retains modest examples of twentieth-century rural building and postal provision.
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
- Mín na Croise · Irish · main form · validated name
- Meenacross · English · main form
Place & story
James Byrne and the fiddle tradition
Fiddler James Byrne, known as An Bheirneach, belonged to Mín na Croise. Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí records that he learned from his father John and older local musicians, including John Phadaí Chonchobhair and Paddy Hiúdaí Byrne. He became a teacher himself, passing music to younger players. His recordings include The Road to Glenlough, preserving his playing beyond the local sessions in which he participated. [2]
A building clad in metal
A small building near the road junction shows the use of corrugated metal for both walls and roof. The architectural inventory dates it to about 1925 and records surviving timber sash windows and a central doorway. Although catalogued as a house, its form and position led the surveyors to suggest an earlier use as a shop or garage; that original function remains uncertain. [3]
The roadside post box
A cast-iron post box beside the building provides another record of local services. The architectural inventory dates its erection to about 1935. Raised lettering identifies it as a post-office box, while the foundry mark names the Carron Company of Stirlingshire. The neighbouring building's survey places the box on a timber pole, recording a small piece of manufactured infrastructure in the rural roadscape. [4] [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Banagh
- Civil parish
- Glencolumbkille
- Within
- Kilgoly
- Coordinates
- 54.72028, -8.63633 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1417286 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Meenacross. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- James Byrne (1946–2008) · Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, Donegal Fiddle Music
- Mín na Croise (TC Cill Ghabhlaigh),40908104 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Buildings search, Post box, page30, Meenacross (Kilgoly),40908105 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2014-10-14. How this page was prepared.