Dwarf-elders, translations and Edgeworthstown.
Ballytramon/Baile an Tromáin “town(land) of (at) the dwarf-elder”
(see logainm.ie #53644)
Date: 08/07/2024
Continuing of last week’s theme of reference to the trom “elder-tree”, it is notable that we also have the very occasional reference to the dwarf-elder (tromán) in Irish townland names. The most transparent of these is Ballytramon/Baile an Tromáin “town(land) of (at) the dwarf-elder” at Castlebridge in County Wexford (logainm.ie #53644). Even though bad luck is often associated with the elder-tree, as already mentioned, at least its flower and fruit are edible — this is not the case with the dwarf-elder.
But the word tromán can have another derivation, namely from trom “elder-tree” plus the locative suffix -án, giving tromán “place abounding in elder-trees”.
Research has not been completed on Tromman in Meath (logainm.ie #39161) and Tromaun in Roscommon (logainm.ie #44252), but the current evidence reflects derivation of both from An Tromán which could possibly be translated as “dwarf-elder”. However, John O’Donovan, toponymist with the original Ordnance Survey, may have been correct in explaining ‘Tromán’ in Meath as “a place abounding in elder trees”, and in Roscommon as “a place where the elder or bore tree grows”, which is possibly correct, in which case these refer not to the dwarf-elder but to the elder-tree.
Curiously, hidden in the English name Alderborough in Offaly, we also have a reference to the elder-tree, as the standardized version of that name appears to be a corruption for earlier-attested Elderborough (logainm.ie #42045). It was therefore translated as Baile an Troim “town of the elder-tree” which is now its official Irish name (logainm.ie #42045). (The Irish word baile is used to translate Eng. -borough in fancy names such as these.).
At first sight, the name Edgeworthstown in Longford would seem to have little to do with elder-trees, as it derives from a family name. In 1622 Daniel Gookin was granted appropriated lands just north of present-day Edgeworthstown (Calendar of Patent Rolls, p. 511). (Most of the lands in this area were originally owned by the Ó Fearaíl/O’Farrell sept until their gradual dispossession in the area.) However, it was Francis Edgeworth who was recorded as the proprietor of these lands granted on his death in 1627, when his son John was named heir (Inq.CI 4; see Inquisitions Leinster). As Capt. John Edgeworth, John subsequently features as the ‘Titulado’ of surrounding lands in the so-called ‘Census’ of 1659. However, it seems that Edward Nugent had still been the proprietor of the site of Edgeworthstown until 1650s (logainm.ie #1412094; #32971), when Mostrim, the anglicized name of the site of Edgeworthstown, among lands seized during the Cromwellian period and granted to ‘Sir James Shaen knt., Major Rob. Edgwoorth, and Wm. Hoey esq.' (Acts of Settlement and Explanation, p. 179). It is unclear whether 'Major Rob. Edgwoorth' was any relation to Capt. John Edgeworth, but in any case soon after, in 1682, we have our first example of ‘Edgeworth Town’ as the English name of the town. Interestingly, the earlier anglicized name of this area, Mostrim, was made the official name of the town in the early 20th century; despite the old name Edgeworthstown being officially brought back in 1974 (S.I. 166/1974), Mostrim is still used in certain contexts to this day, such as in the name of the local GAA club. The Irish forerunner of anglicized Mostrim, namely Meathas Troim, once again brings us back the elder-tree. (Note that the official ‘English’ name of the electoral division here is still ‘Meathas Truim’ (#1373858)!) The initial element meathas is quite rare and poorly understood: according to the Dictionary of the Irish Language ‘it is a legal term of doubtful meaning; a frontier, march, ‘space of unappropriated ground between two territories’ (eDIL s.v. methas). Meathas Troim can perhaps be translated as “frontier of/at the elder-tree”.
However, the generic element tromán found in a number of minor placenames in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains refers neither to the elder nor dwarf elder-trees, but to streams in the blanket bog that covers those granite mountains. Further interdisciplinary research is needed to confirm the exact meaning of tromán in these instances, as noted in the latest account of minor placenames in this area (Mionlogainmneacha de bhunús Gaeilge i ngleannta Chontae Bhaile Átha Cliath (2024)).
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)