Date: 01/10/2024

Last week’s contribution noted the interesting development of the English name Blessington, Co. Wicklow. That name arose from a misinterpretation of Baile Coimín, itself a gaelicized form of ‘Comenston’ (1323), deriving from the English surname Comyn borne by early Anglo-Norman colonists in the area.

There was a great deal of Anglo-Norman settlement in both east and west Wicklow, as reflected in English townland names such as Newcastle, Cookstown, Windgates and Oldcourt in the east of the county and Russellstown, Britonstown, Blakestown and Holdenstown in the west. (Note that Newcourt, beside Oldcourt, is a later New English name.) There are many more examples besides. These modern townland names can be somewhat misleading as they might give the impression that English was the vernacular language of these areas since the initial colonization. The truth is more complicated. Townland names such as Ballyhorsey (logainm.ie #55518) in east Wicklow and Ballysize (logainm.ie #54758) in west Wicklow demonstrate that the Irish language experienced such a resurgence as to necessitate the creation of Irish forms of English placenames. The first name represents Baile an Hórsaígh ‘the town(land) of the man called An Hórsaíoch’, where An Horsaíoch is from the AN surname de Horseye attested in the 13th century (see also Liam Price, Placenames of Co. Wicklow, p. 367). The second represents Bealach Saghais ‘the pass of Saghas’, where Saghas is from an AN surname attested in the 16th century as Seix and Seyse, ultimately from the Welsh word Sais ‘English’.
It is very important to note that these gaelicized placenames are not mere exonyms – i.e., names only used by the surrounding Irish speakers to refer to Anglo-Norman settlements – as the Anglo-Normans themselves had embraced the Irish language. But it must also be pointed out that we do not yet fully understand the reason why certain placenames such as Russellstown retained their original form in official documents – there is no trace of Ballyrussell – whereas nearby names such as Boystown became known by an official gaelicized alias Baltyboys. Clearly it is not reasonable to suggest that Russellstown remained simply “ungaelicized” by local Irish speakers – whether Gaelic Irish or gaelicized Anglo-Normans – in total contrast to comparable placenames in the immediate vicinity and throughout the Pale. Rather, such discrepancies must relate to the usual problem of a lack of data faced by all Irish researchers, coupled with the vagaries of usage in official documents and indeed within different families in the management of their own legal deeds. The huge lacuna in the historical record during the 14th and 15th centuries is particularly regrettable in this regard, as this is the very period in which we would expect the evidence to cast further light on these changes. Nevertheless, the mere fact that the Irish versions of Anglo-Norman placenames made their way into official documents at all (albeit in English spelling) speaks volumes about the thorough cultural gaelicization of these Old English families by the 16th century, providing an excellent real-world illustration of the old maxim that the Anglo-Normans became more Irish than the Irish themselves.
Even in their bare English form, Anglo-Norman placenames can be of great use to both genealogists and historians as they often contain a clear reflex of the surname on which they were originally based. But – as ever in Irish toponymy – caution is advised, because at times they can also be quite deceiving! Take for example the seemingly transparent name Holdenstown near Baltinglass. This placename could not be more misleading! It even fooled the great John O’Donovan, who stated with confidence – based on the scant evidence available to him at the time – that the eponym was “Holden … a family name of English origin, called by the Irish Úidhlín … an t-Úidhlíneach, i.e. Mr Holden” [modern standardized spelling Úilín, An tÚilíneach]. O’Donovan was certainly correct about the mode of gaelicization of the name Holden, a variant of Howlin (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names in Co. Wexford, p. 1190 under Knockhowlin/Cnoc Húilín). But the early references show that Holdenstown it does not contain the surname Holden at all. Liam Price suggested an alternative derivation from Halton (op. cit., p. 133), but although that surname is certainly attested among Anglo-Norman colonists (see for example Calendar of memoranda rolls, Edward I) it does not fit the early spellings here either. In fact the earliest historical references ‘Hiltonston’ (1540) and ‘Hyltonston’ (1540) point to the structure AN Hilton (itself a toponymic surname from Hill + -ton/-town) + genitive marker ’s + -ton. Note that a Robert de Hilton was recorded as the constable of Carlow castle in 1366 (see Irish exchequer payments, 1270–1446).
The historical forms ‘Sheletonestone alias Ballyhalton’ (1587) and ‘Sheltonston … called Sheltonsland’ (1588) show a further twist. In the context of what has been said above about the language shift in the Pale, the reference ‘Ballyhalton’ (1587) can clearly be understood to imply that Hiltonstown was gaelicized as Baile Haltúin * /ˌbalʹəˈhaltuːnʹ/ (perhaps via * Baile Healtúin < * Baile Hioltúin). However, evidently owing to the fact that the phoneme /h/ at the start of an Irish word frequently represents a lenited /s/, the initial of the final element Haltúin (gen.) * /ˈhaltuːnʹ/, was reinterpreted as * Shealtúin (gen.) * /ˈhaltuːnʹ/, as if it were the lenited genitive form of * Sealtún (nom.). Indeed, the English back-formation ‘Sheltonston’ (1588) confirms this local reinterpretation (Sheltonston < Baile Shealtúin < Baile Healtúin < Hilton + ’s + -town). ‘Sheltonstowne’ interchanges with ‘Ballihaltowne’ (1640) and ‘Ballyholton’ (1654), after which we find ‘Holtonston’ (1685) developing to ‘Holdingstown’ (1750). From there it was only a short hop to the modern Holdenstown.
Remarkably, we find another example of this very same gaelicization elsewhere in the Pale. In 1836, scholars employed by the Ordnance Survey interviewed native Irish speakers in the townlands of Hilltown Little and Hilltown Great (‘Hyltons’ (c.1540)) in the eastern part of Co. Meath – some 85km away from Holdenstown, Co. Wicklow – and recorded the local Irish forms as ‘Seallton Beag’ and ‘Sealton’ respectively [standardized spelling Sealtún * /ˈʃɛltu(ː)n/] (logainm.ie #38374). Exactly the same process, in which English H- /h/ was reinterpreted as lenited Irish Sh- /h/, had occurred here independently.
Recent research and analysis carried out by An Brainse Logainmneacha/Placenames Branch on the placenames in the east of the country is beginning to show that these types of phonetic gaelicizations of the English (and French) placenames introduced by the Anglo-Normans were far more widespread in the Pale than a superficial examination of the anglicized historical record might imply. Of course this only stands to reason, given the predominance of the Irish language throughout the Pale for hundreds of years.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

• Sealtún Mór/Hilltown Great
• Baile Shealtúin Íochtarach/Holdenstown Lower
• Bealach Saghais Íochtarach/Ballysize Lower
• Baile an Hórsaígh/Ballyhorsey

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