Hierarchy
county
barony
civil parish
electoral division
townland
Hierarchy
county
barony
civil parish
electoral division
Explanatory note
- Gaeilge
the cup-shaped rock-hole; the well
Ar na bríonna éagsúla atá le ballán tá 'cloch a bhfuil poll nádúrtha inti (ar cruth cupa nó babhla)', agus as sin, 'tobar'. Faightear na balláin seo taobh le toibreacha beannaithe (cf. Fardal Seandálaíochta na Gaillimhe I, lgh. 90, 116), ach ar uairibh is cuid den tobar féin iad: féach Ballán Mhaolodhair, bf Cill Mhuirbhigh, agus Ballán an Cheathrair Álainn, bf Eochaill (par. Árainn), ar toibreacha iad; cf. leis Tobar an Bhalláin (‘it consists of a natural oval basin', Fardal Seandálaíochta lch. 118), bf An Cheathrú Rua Theas. Tá tobar ar theorainn thoir an bhaile fearainn idir chamáin anseo darb ainm 'St. Patrick's Well': cf. 'Ballayn Padryg' (tagairt don áit seo in Pontificia Hibernica, bl. 1223). Féach leis, 'b[allán] Barruinde, name of a spring', tagairt do Betha Colaim Chille in A Dictionary of the Irish Language, www.dil.ie, s.v. ballán.
Féach an nóta faoi bf An Ballán, par. Cill Mhaoláin. - English
the cup-shaped rock-hole; the well
Amongst the several meanings of ballán are 'stone with a (cup-shaped) hole', and by extension, 'well'. These 'bullaun' stones are found alongside holy wells (cf. Archaeological Inventory of County Galway I, pp. 90, 116), but they sometimes form part of the well itself: see Ballán Mhaolodhair, townland Cill Mhuirbhigh, and Ballán an Cheathrair Álainn, townland Eochaill (par. Árainn); cf. Tobar an Bhalláin (‘it consists of a natural oval basin', Archaeological Inventory p. 118), townland An Cheathrú Rua Theas. There is a well on the E boundary of the present townland called 'St. Patrick's Well': cf. 'Ballayn Padryg' (a reference to this place in Pontificia Hibernica, anno 1223). See also 'b[allán] Barruinde, name of a spring', a reference to Betha Colaim Chille in A Dictionary of the Irish Language, www.dil.ie, s.v. ballán.
See also the note on An Ballán, par. Cill Mhaoláin.
Centrepoint
Historical references
1223 |
Ballayn Padryg
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Pont. Hib. Leathanach: I.240
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1302-6 |
Ballan
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Pap. Tax. Leathanach: 222
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1570 |
Ballane in Clanricarde
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F Leathanach: 1581
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1585 |
Ballan, vicarie de
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Inq.(Ga) Leathanach: 138
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1585 |
Ballay
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CBC Leathanach: 49
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1585 |
The Bealane
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CBC Leathanach: 32
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1660c |
Knockanewollan
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BSD (Ga) III Leathanach: 316
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1819 |
Bullaun
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1838 |
Cnoc a Bhulláin
"There is a grave yard in the townland of Bullan, but no vestige of a church is observable therein. Near this grave yard there was formerly a fort called Cnoc a Bhulláin, the hill of Bullaun..." [TOC 22/10/1838]
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LSO (Ga) Leathanach: I.498
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1838 |
Bullán, ‘a well’
"This name is applied to a basin like well: it occurs very frequently in the islands of Aran, where such wells are found in the solid rock. The name is applied in ancient MSS. to a tub or basin" [Nóta OD]
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1838 |
Bullán
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1838 |
Bullaun
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1965c |
(ˈbulɑ:n)
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