Date: 15/08/2024

Even though the main harvest of apples will not reach full swing until the month of September, the early gathering begins in August. For many of us of a certain vintage the apple-harvest dominated the last two weeks of school holidays when we would pay regular visits to the local orchards! The fact that this pastime has largely been replaced by others is perhaps no bad thing, not only for the orchard-owners concerned but also for the eager young scrumpers, as these innocent visits often resulted in severe stomach cramps due to the need to completely destroy any evidence before getting home. ‘Little apples will grow again’, as the old phrase has it — filleann an feall ar an bhfeallaire!
Apples were also clearly an important foodstuff in Gaelic Ireland, and as there are many references to both the fruit and the tree in the townland names of Ireland. For instance, in County Galway we have the anglicized Cappaghnanool/Ceapach na nÚll “the plot of the apples” (logainm.ie #19972) and the directly translated Apple Island/Oileán na nÚll(logainm.ie #19142).In County Cork we have Derrynanool/Doire na nÚll “the wood, grove of the apples”(logainm.ie #12842); Rossnanowl/Ros na nÚll “the wood, elevated ground of the apples” (logainm.ie #26678) in County Kilkenny; and Tomanoole/Tuaim na nÚll “the tumulus, hillock of the apples" (logainm.ie #52375) in County Wexford. Additionally we have Gortnanool/Gort na nÚll “the field of the apples” (logainm.ie #7546) and the half-translation Applefort/Cnoc na nÚll “the hill of the apples” (logainm.ie #7820) in County Clare. The unusual English form references the large ringfort on the boundary with the adjoining townland. Indeed, it is probable that the fort was the location of the apple-trees in question.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

• Gort na nÚll/Gortnanool
• Cnoc na nÚll/Applefort
• Doire na nÚll/Derrynanool
• Oileán na nÚll/Apple Island
• Ceapach na nÚll/Cappaghnanool
• Ros na nÚll/Rossnanowl
• Tuaim na nÚll/Tomanoole

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