Briocáin · Co. Mayo
A crossroads on the N60, a river, three ringforts, and a church.
Brickens is a crossroads settlement in the parish of Bekan, on the N60 between Claremorris and Ballyhaunis in south Mayo. The Irish name, Briocáin, comes from broc - the badger - in diminutive form. What remains in the village: a church, a community centre, the Eastern Gaels GAA grounds, the Gilmore Enterprise Centre, and the River Robe running through on its way to Lough Mask.
The largest single chapter in the village's documented history is the Cromwellian one. The Crean family, transplanted from County Galway around 1653 under Cromwellian settlement policy, established Ballinvilla Demesne 375 metres southeast of the church. By 1876 they held 731 acres across five townlands in Bekan parish. In 1916 they sold 571 acres to the Congested Districts Board, which redistributed the land. The house was demolished in later decades. The Crean family graveyard survives. The land went back to farming.
In 1984, parents from Bekan, Logboy, and Brickens met in the Community Centre and founded the Eastern Gaels GAA football club. Royal blue and gold. The grounds are on the northern outskirts toward Keebagh. The club now plays in the East Division of Mayo GAA and competes in the Mayo Junior A Championship - forty-odd years from one meeting in a community centre to a functioning club at county junior level.
