1) The northern word for church, formerly in general use across the county.
It was a very common place-name element and numerous examples date from before the Norman Conquest: its function as a prefix in place-names such as Kirkheaton and Kirkburton, parishes, formed in the post-Conquest period, reflect its continuing role in the regional vocabulary. That is also apparent in documents: 1456 Thos Wilkynson, Vicar of the Kyrk of Halifax
1491 sall pay ... xx merkes of lawfull monnay ... at Skypton kyrke afore ... x of the cloke, Glusburn
1533 my body to be buried within the kirke of Saint John Baptiste in Wilberfoss. It remained in dialect use and was current in Halifax in the late eighteenth century. Note: 1609 the Kirketowne of Fishlake
1676 ‘the parish of Kirkealmonbury’.