The Story of the Bailieborough Name

The Irish name Coill an Chollaigh means “Wood of the Boar.” Coill means “wood” or “forest,” while collach refers to a boar. The name preserves the memory of a wooded landscape associated with wild boar, long before the present town was established.

The English name, Bailieborough, tells a very different story. It comes from William Bailie, a Scottish planter who received approximately 1,000 acres in the area from King James I in 1610, during the Plantation of Ulster. As part of his grant, Bailie was required to build a fortified house, establish a settlement and bring settlers to his lands.

Bailie built his castle around 1613, and a small settlement developed nearby. The earliest settlement was known as Kilcollie, a name connected with the older Irish Coill an Chollaigh. Eventually the settlement moved to its present location and took the name Bailieborough, or essentially “Bailie's borough.”

The town that emerged was very much a Plantation-era settlement. Scottish settlers were brought into the area, and the town gradually developed around the estate. In the early nineteenth century, William Young, who acquired the estate in 1814, laid out much of the town's present Main Street, giving Bailieborough the orderly appearance of a planned market town.

The town became an important agricultural and commercial center for eastern County Cavan. A courthouse was built in 1817, followed by the market house in 1818 and the bridewell in 1833. The historic courthouse and bridewell have since been restored as a cultural and heritage center, helping preserve the story of the town's Plantation origins.

Bailieborough also has a connection with the turbulent history of 1798. The surrounding estate was used by rebels for military training, and the nearby hill became known as Rebel Hill. The landscape therefore preserves memories of both the Plantation settlement and the later struggle against British rule.

What makes Bailieborough particularly wonderful for our project is the contrast between its two names.

Coill an Chollaigh remembers the ancient landscape: the wood of the boar.

Bailieborough remembers the man who arrived during the Plantation and established a new town on that landscape.

Two names. Two eras. One place.

Bailieborough is a perfect example of how Irish place-names can preserve the layers of Ireland's history—an older Gaelic landscape beneath a later town created during one of the most transformative periods in Irish history.