I'm sure it was an actual POUND ,probably run by a man called Cain/Kane etc. It may not have been a townland at all- just a way of referring to a specific location-"..it's near Kane's pound.." and it stuck. (I'm working on somewhere called Glen Cross(Down) and I'm sure it was simply a crossroads with maybe a pub or shop or blacksmiths etc.- not a listed townland) The Townland index we use (seanruad) was based on the 1851 census. In an effort to standardise spellings and locations once and for all, and to accompany the publication of Griffiths Valuation ,some names in common usage at the time were dropped in favour of a local alternative. I've looked through the parish in Griffiths but haven't been able to locate a pound anywhere- yet. There was a pound in Gort- I have it on the 6" OS map. It's SE of the town,on the southern side of the river,near a place marked New Bridewell.At the time of mapping(1840s/50s?) this was well outside the town of Gort. Whether it would be in Kilbeacanty parish,I can't say. Just in case anyone is interested: There are many old names no longer printed on maps or listed as townlands. The townland is based on a mediaeval system,and was divided into CARROWS (ceathru) or quarters. Each carrow contained 4 CARTRONS (cartur) ,each of which contained 4 CROGGERIES(cnagaire) A croggery was about 16 acres,so a cartron was 64 acres,a carrow 256 acres and a townland should be 1024 acres. However, in some places there were more than 4 quarters in a townland, and the Irish acre was one and two thirds the size of a statute acre,so it's a little confusing! The main point is that many of these sub-divisions were named,and it is these old names that were used in the parish records.Unfortunately ,most have passed out of common usage and that's why we are struggling to locate them today. Perhaps an e-mail to the GORT library might help? Cathy