The present name of this townland, Keenaght, is very likely a reformed analogy of the neighbouring barony of Keenaght, with scribal errors adding a t to the end of anglicisations of its name such as with Tonaght in the neighbouring parish of Ballynascreen, which actually derives from Tonach. It is more reasonably suggested that Keenaght derives from the synonym Coanna with the adjectival suffix -ach added to it. This derivation is supported by the majority of earlier recorded forms.
History
Population
Year
Pop.
1841
122
1851
77
1861
82
1871
83
1881
79
1891
73
1901
65
1911
61
1926
45
Size (acres, roods, poles)
Year
a, r, p
1851
311, 0, 10
1881
310, 2, 18
1901
310, 2, 18
1926
310, 3, 2
Earlier recorded forms
Year
Form
1609 + 1613
Cynagh (E.C.) (Charter)
1613
Keenah
1622
Keenat
1654
Keanaught foord
1654
Keanaugh
1657
Cyneigh, the small proportion of
1661
Keanagh
1767
Keenaght
1813
Keenagh (S.M.)
(E.C.) - Escheated Counties Map 1609 (Charter) - Charter of Londonderry 1613 (S.M.) - Sampson's Map
^Northern Ireland Environment Agency. "NIEA Map Viewer". Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
^ Toner, Gregory: Place-Names of Northern Ireland, page 126-7. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, ISBN0-85389-613-5
^Notes on the Place Names of the Parishes and Townlands of the County of Londonderry, 1925, Alfred Moore Munn, Clerk of the Crown and Peace of the City and County of Londonderry