The Story of the Hacketstown Name

The Irish name Baile Haicéid means “Hacket's Town.” Unlike many Irish place-names whose meanings describe the landscape, Hacketstown preserves the name of a person or family associated with the settlement. Historical research into County Carlow place-names connects the name with the medieval Hacket family, although the precise origins of that connection remain somewhat uncertain.

Hacketstown has much older roots than its present appearance might suggest. An Anglo-Norman castle stood here as early as the thirteenth century, on the site now occupied by St. Brigid's Church. The village that developed around it was later reshaped in the early seventeenth century, when land was leased for a planned settlement of farmers and merchants.

The town occupies an interesting position near the County Wicklow border, and historically the parish itself extended across both counties. The town, however, is firmly associated with County Carlow, and nineteenth-century records describe Hacketstown as chiefly situated in the Carlow portion of the parish.

Hacketstown's most dramatic chapter came during the 1798 Rebellion. The town was attacked twice by insurgent forces. The second battle, on 25 June 1798, was particularly fierce. Several thousand rebels attempted to capture the military barracks, but the garrison held its position throughout the day. Much of the town was burned during the fighting, and hundreds of rebels were killed.

The town also has an intriguing connection to Irish-American history. Local tradition records that William Presley, an ancestor of Elvis Presley, lived in Hacketstown before emigrating to America more than two centuries ago.

But perhaps the most interesting thing about Hacketstown for our project is its name. Historical evidence suggests that the place was known by several forms over the centuries, including Haketston, Hagastún, and Baile Haicéid. The Irish form essentially adapted the older English name into Irish rather than translating it.

That gives us a wonderful glimpse into how Irish and English interacted in the place-names of County Carlow.

Hacketstown is therefore a place where medieval settlement, plantation, rebellion and emigration meet in a name that has itself traveled between two languages.