Kennoway is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, near the larger population centres in the area of Leven and Methil

Methil

Methil is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was part of the former Burgh of Buckhaven and Methil. It lies within a continuous urban area described as Levenmouth.Methil lies geographically between Largo bay to the east and Wemyss Bay to the west....

. It is about three miles inland from the Firth of Forth, north of Leven. This position gave it importance in the old days while travelling by coach, for the stage road ran through Kennoway from the ferry at Pettycur, through Ceres, and on to St. Andrews.

Place-name meaning

Kennoway derives from Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

 ceann-achadh "field on a headland", ceann "headland" and achadh "field

Field (agriculture)

In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...

". Records of the name as Cenachedne in 1148 prove this. The suggestion that the final element "-way" derives from Old English

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 weg "way, path

Path

Path, pathway or PATH may refer to:-Path:* Course , the intended path of a vehicle over the surface of the Earth* Trail, hiking trail, footpath, or bridle path...

" is wrong. Another possibility is that the name is derived from St. Kenneth (Cainnech). The earliest Culdee church was erected to his memory in Kennoway and is associated with many of the legends about St. Kenneth. He is believed to have spent many years spreading the Christian faith in Scotland during the 6th century. There have been many spellings of the name Kennoway, including Kennachin, Kennauchyn, Kennaukin, Kennochi and Kennochy.
The surrounding towns of Methil, Lower Methil, Buckhaven and Leven along with Kennoway are the main constituents of the area known as Levenmouth. This term is used in socio-economic academics and is regarded as an area that is under "regeneration". It is an area that is economically depressed and receives special funding to invite new industry into the area.

Notable people

• Allan Brown - former professional football
  Football (soccer)
  Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
  
   player and manager
• George Lillie Craik
  George Lillie Craik
  George Lillie Craik was a Scottish writer and literary critic.Born at Kennoway, Fife, he was educated at the University of St. Andrews, and went to London in 1824, where he wrote largely for the"Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge."...
  
   - writer and literary critic
• Henry McLeish
  Henry McLeish
  Henry Baird McLeish is a Scottish Labour Party politician, author and academic. Formerly a professional association football player, McLeish was the Member of Parliament for Central Fife from 1987 to 2001 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Fife from 1999 to 2003, during which...
  
   - former Scottish First Minister
  First Minister
  A First Minister is the leader of a government cabinet.-Canada:In Canada, "First Ministers" is a collective term that refers to all Canadian first ministers of the Crown, otherwise known as heads of government, including the Prime Minister of Canada and the provincial and territorial premiers...
  
  

External links

• Kennoway on FifeDirect