Brickens is a village and townland on the N60 road between Ballyhaunis and Claremorris in southeast County Mayo in Ireland. The River Robe flows through the village which is 65 metres above sea level,Brickeens: Historic 25" map (surveyed between 1898–1913), Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. and old ordnance survey maps show the townland with an area of 368 acres and 23 perches – equivalent to nearly 150 hectares.Brickeens, Historic 6" map (surveyed between 1838–1845), Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.
It is in the civil parish and Catholic parish of Bekan and in the former barony of Costello. The area surrounding the village is devoted to agriculture. Brickens is a 30-kilometre drive from Ireland West Airport.Ireland West Airport Knock–Brickens Google Maps. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.
Etymology of "Brickens" The official name of the village is Brickeens but it is known locally as Brickens. The name derives from the Irish word , meaning badger warrens. The Irish word means badger and is related to the English word brock, also meaning badger. The Placenames Database of Ireland records that the English place name Brocklin was in use here in 1591. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. Brock is one of a handful of ancient words that survive from the Celtic-speaking era in Britain, and which are still in use in English today.Celtic words in English today From Old English to Standard English By Dennis Freeborn. University of Ottawa Press, 1992. The Irish word is also a diminutive form of (thus, another meaning of broicíní is "little badgers"), and means a short thick-set person, a sturdy little fellow, or a dirty-faced or grizzled, grey-haired person.Part 4 of Letter B Daltaí na Gaeilge. 2007-02-17.Is Iomaí Duine ag Dia University of the Highlands and Islands. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.
History Evidence of an ancient human presence in the district exists in the form of three ringforts east of the village Community Centre, at LiscolmanLiscolman ringfort Google Maps. Retrieved: 2013-06-30. (officially called Liscluman), and at Lurgan,Lurgan ringfort site 1 Google Maps. Retrieved: 2013-06-30.Lurgan ringfort site 2 Google Maps. Retrieved: 2013-06-30. and there are many others in the surrounding region. The prefix "lis-" ( in Irish) in the name Liscolman means "fort". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.
In more recent, historical times, the local big house was at Ballinvilla Demesne, southeast of Brickens church at the former home of the Crean family, who were transplanted from County Galway to County Mayo under the Cromwellian settlement of 1652.Estate: Crean Landed Estates Database. Retrieved: 2025-06-25.
The Creans settled at first in Brickens and by the mid-nineteenth century they held five townlands in the parish of Bekan and were residing at Ballinvilla. In 1876, they had an estate of , but by 1916 they accepted an offer from the Congested Districts Board for the purchase of of the estate.Griffiths Valuation of Ireland - Bekan, County Mayo Retrieved: 2012-04-18. Ballinvilla House is now demolished and a large modern home has been constructed nearby within the former demesne,Ballinvilla Demesne, satellite view Google Maps. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. but a small Crean family graveyard still exists there.Ballinvilla Demesne Landed Estates Database. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.Ballinvilla Demesne: Historic 25" map (surveyed between 1898–1913), Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.Ballinvilla Graveyard Cemetery Records Online, 2001-07-27.
The N60 national secondary road that passes through Brickens was formerly a sand road that was tarred in 1940.Obituaries: Mary Kelly The Mayo News, 2009-10-28.
Community
Social life in the village takes place at Brickens Community Centre,Bekan Parish Archdiocese of Tuam, 2009-12-10. owned by the Diocese of Tuam,Community Facilities (Excel file) Mayo County Development Board. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. with activities ranging from adult education classes to bingo, My Local News, 2011-10-01. and at the village public house and restaurant. The church of St. Therese of the Little Flower, built in 1927–8,Parish of Bekan Parish of Bekan. Retrieved: 2013-09-02.Catholic Church of Saint Theresa of the Little Flower, TREANREVAGH National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved: 2022-05-02. is on the east of the village, one of the three Catholic churches in the parish of Bekan. The local cemetery for Brickens is four kilometres to the southeast in Kildarra, beside Tulrahan.Brickens–Kildarra Google Maps. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. The village had a sub-post office in the pastOral Answer – County Mayo Telephone Service Dáil debate, Houses of the Oireachtas, 1951-11-22. but this was closed on 23 June 2005.Written Answers - Post Office Network Dáil debate, Houses of the Oireachtas, 2006-02-21.Written Answers - Post Office Network Dáil debate, Houses of the Oireachtas, 2006-04-06.
The Lohan Park Group Home and Retirement Village was opened by the Minister of State for Health and Children in July 2005 at the modern Lohan Park development on the southeast of the village.Community Services Programme: Case Studies on Social Enterprise providing Services to Older People, An Roinn Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe, agus Gaeltachta, January, 2009. It was described during an Oireachtas joint committee debate on community development in 2009 as providing "residential care and community services to older people in the local community, including meals on wheels, day care and laundry services." The facility was singled out during the Oireachtas debate for commendation as a successful example of how "community development is able to lay the foundation for local groups to develop into fully fledged community enterprises."Sustaining Community Development: Discussion Oireachtas Joint Committee Debate, 2009-12-02.
The community of Brickens participates in such organizations as the Irish Countrywomen's Association and the Brickens Foróige Club, part of a national youth organization with branches throughout Ireland.What We Do and Why Foróige. Retrieved: 2013-03-29. is a contraction of the Irish phrase , meaning "development of youth".About Us - Our History Foróige. Retrieved: 2013-03-29.
The village also has a local Enterprise Centre operating under the aegis of the Irish state economic development agency, Enterprise Ireland.Planning Application: 002123 Mayo County Council. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.County Enterprise Centres Directory Enterprise Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. The facility, called the Gilmore Enterprise Centre, contains resources for local entrepreneurs planning to start small local businesses. It was opened officially by the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council in October 2010.Opening of Gilmore Enterprise Centre, Mayo Advertiser, 2010-10-01.Brickens centre offers new hope, The Western People, 2010-10-27.
Education A Montessori pre-school called Little Acorns Children's Centre was opened in Brickens by the minister of state for labour affairs, Dara Calleary, in April 2010. It was erected on land donated by Brickens Integrated Resource Development Company and catered for 53 children when it began.
There was a two-roomed national school in the village in generations past called Ballinvilla School, where the sexes were segregated. The school was beside the church but, today, primary and secondary school children are taken by bus to schools beyond the townland, such as Bekan National School. The old Ballinvilla school building was renovated and extended during the early 1980s for use as a community centre, as part of an AnCO Community Youth Training Project.Written Answers. - Youth Training Projects Dáil debate, Houses of the Oireachtas, 1983-07-07.Ballinvilla School: Historic 25" map (surveyed between 1898–1913), Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-18.Written Answers – Claremorris (Mayo) School Transport Dáil debate, Houses of the Oireachtas, 1988-05-31.
Sport
The local GAA football club is the Eastern Gaels, founded in 1984.Eastern Gaels GAA Facebook, 2011-02-04. The team colours are blue and yellow,East Clubs Mayo GAA. Retrieved: 2012-04-18. and there is a playing pitch on the northern outskirts of Brickens, in the direction of Keebagh.Eastern Gaels website Retrieved: 2016-12-27.
Notable residents Michael Cleary, bishop of Banjul in Gambia (retired 2006).
See also List of towns and villages in Ireland
Notes
References
External links
Photographs of Brickens Scanned census forms for Brickens, handwritten in 1901 and in 1911