Featured themes
A selection of common themes in Irish placenames. These short, informative pieces are published on an ongoing basis.
Bodyparts, the belly and Saint Eolang
- Aghabulloge/Achadh Bolg
(see logainm.ie #492)
Date: 04/03/2024
A recurring feature of Irish placenames is the use of terms for parts of the human body in reference to features of a similar shape in in the landscape. Thus we have many examples of Claggan/An Cloigeann “the head, skull” as the names of headlands; Eden/An tÉadan “the forehead” in reference to cliffs or other precipices; Stroove/An tSrúibh (variant of srubh) “the snout” in reference to protruding features; and Aught/An tUcht “chest; breast; bosom” in reference to features similar in shape to a breast or bosom. Indeed, one particularly striking example of the last-mentioned is found at Ballyhought/Baile Uchta “town(land) of, at (the) breast(-like hill)” between Ballycanew and Wexford Town, where the name most likely refers to the distinct shape of the two small hills just over the townland boundary in the neighbouring Mahanagh (#52301). These hills are visible to the east just after the Unyoke Inn when travelling southwards on the R741 (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV; Townland Names of Co. Wexford, p. 343), and the perceived similarity to a female bosom really couldn’t be much more obvious when viewed from the road in question.
In truth there are too many examples among the townland names of Ireland of the use of terms referring to parts of the human body to outline here. (Art Ó Maolfabhail, former Chief Placenames Officer, discussed this topic in two articles in the journal Ainm 1 (1986), 2 (1987).) One of the more common and familiar examples would be the figurative use of béal “mouth” to describe an opening or approach, as seen in so many names in combination with áth “ford”, as in Ballina/Béal an Átha “the mouth of (i.e., approach to) the ford” (#9935). Another particularly common example would be lorga “shin” in reference to a “long low ridge; strip of land” as in Baile na Lorgan “the town(land) of the long low ridge or strip of land”, the original Irish name of Castleblayney (#1167095). (The English name is from the plantation undertaker Edward Blayney who received appropriated lands here in the early seventeenth century.) Indeed, lorga is particularly common in drumlin country around Counties Monaghan and Cavan where there is an abundance of long, low ridges. It frequently occurs in its dative form An Lorgain, as for example in the name of the town in County Armagh anglicized as Lurgan (#1166423; see also placenamesni.org s.n. Lurgan).
The topographical meaning of placename elements originally referring to body parts is usually quite clear — e.g. droim “ridge, long hill (lit. back [of human or animal])”, ceann “head(land)” — but there are some instances where this is not the case. For instance, the word bolg “belly, stomach, abdomen”, quite common in placenames, has a large semantic range including “bag”, “bellows”, “bulge”, “broad part”, “middle” (FGB s.v. bolg). One might imagine that it usually refers to land with a notable rounded protuberance, but this is not always so, given that it has also been explained as meaning a “chasm; gap, cleft” (eDIL s.v. 1 bolg) — although some regard this as an invention on the part of later glossators of medieval manuscripts. To add to the problems, there has been much academic debate about the possibility that bolg as found in placenames may sometimes also refer to an earlier population group (eDIL s.v. Bolg) and not to any feature of the landscape at all! Therefore, for instance, although Clonbulloge/Cluain Bolg in County Offaly is probably best explained as meaning “pasture of, at (the) bumps” (#41652), given that it is located between three round hills all above 70 metres in height one cannot rule out the possibility of “pasture of the gaps” or even “the pasture of the Boilg (population group)”.
Similarly, Aghabulloge/Achadh Bolg (#492) in County Cork (also called Aghabullogue in English) might be translated as “field of (the) bumps” or “the field of the Boilg (population group)”. The former explanation is probably more likely given the presence of a number of hilltops directly surrounding the site of the village. Interestingly, the connection between Aghabulloge/Achadh Bolg and the patron saint of the ecclesiastical site located there, Eolang, was of such significance that it features in the early calendars of Irish saints such as the 9th century Féilire Óengusso:
Eolang, cáid, cáin áge, Achidh Bó [recte Bolg], búaid lére
“Eolang, a beauteous pillar, of Aghabulloge, triumph of piety”
(The Martryology of Oengus the Culdee, p. 192; see also Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames, Fascicle I (Names in A-)).
Saint Eolang’s association with Aghabulloge was so important in the politics of the early Irish church that a large amount of native literature was produced in order to emphasize not only that link, but also his association with Saint Fionnbharr (see Pádraig Ó Riain, ‘To be Named is to Exist: The instructive case of Achadh Bolg’ in P. O’Flanagan & C. Buttimer (eds.), Cork – History and Society (Dublin, 1993), pp. 45‒61; see also Pádraig Ó Riain, A Dictionary of Irish Saints (Dublin, 2012), p. 297). Apparently, Eolang’s activities were not confined to Aghabulloge and County Cork: he may also be the eponym of Timolin/Tuaim Eolaing “hillock of Eolang” (see logainm.ie #41176) in County Offaly and Camolin/Cam Eolaing “(river-)bend of Eolang” (see logainm.ie #53095) in County Wexford (see also Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of Co. Wexford, p. 604). Indeed, it seems that Eolang of Aghabulloge was a well-travelled man, as in Irish hagiographic literature he is also mentioned in the company of Fionnbharr of Cork and Maodhóg of Ferns on a pilgrimage to trip to Rome:
Dochuaidh Bairri iarsin do Roimh, do ghabail gradh nespuicc ar áen ocus Eolang, ocus Maedhócc Ferna
“Bairre went after that to Rome, to take the grade of bishop together with Eolang, and Maodhóg of Ferns”
(Bethada Náem nÉrenn, I p. 17)
Dáibhí/Dáith versus Dáithí Lough Dahybaun/Loch Dháithí Bháin “the lake of white(-haired) Dáithí” (see logainm.ie #114293)
Date: 26/02/2024
As we enter into the month of March it is notable that despite the proximity of Wales to Ireland, the Welsh patron saint Dai/David, whose feast is celebrated on 1st March, is not mentioned in Irish calendars of saints. In fact, the principal saint listed under that date is Seanán of Scattery Island/Inis Cathaigh (#7214) in Clare. The name David itself was brought to Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invasion — the early waves of which largely emanated from Wales — and subsequently gaelicized as Dáibhéad (producing the surname Mac Dháibhéid/(Mc)Davitt/(Mc)Devitt/(Mc)Kevitt). Its diminutive form Davy was realized as Dáibhí, which became the most common version of the name in Irish-speaking areas. This name was popular among families of both gaelicized Anglo-Norman and native Gaelic stock, and therefore it is no surprise to find it in townland names such as Derrydavy/Doire Dháibhí “the (oak )wood, grove of Dáibhí” (#28554) in Laois and Ballydavid/Baile Dáibhí “the town(land) of Dáibhí” (#18435) in Galway. However, in some dialects, the palatal (slender) consonant /v′/ represented by -(i)bh- in Irish orthography was lost in certain positions, and disyllabic Dáibhí became monosyllabic in speech, producing the variant form Dáith. This form can clearly be seen in the historical evidence for a number of anglicized placenames such as Ballyda (#10198) in Cork, Ballydaw (#27719) in Kilkenny, and the Wexford townlands Ballydaw or Davidstown (#52608) and Ballyday (#53315). Hence Baile Dháith “the town(land) of Dáith (David)” as the standard Irish form of these names. There was another completely unrelated and relatively rare native Irish personal name Dá Thí, now written Dáithí, which was a traditional favourite of the Ó Dúda/O’Dowd sept in Sligo but was never in common use amongst the native Irish in other parts of the country. The name may feature in the minor name Tobar Sean-Dáithí “the well of old Dáithí” (#1415832) in Limerick; however, it certainly occurs in the placename Lough Dahybaun/Loch Dháithí Bháin “the lake of Dáithí bán [i.e., white(-haired) Dáithí]” (#114293) in north Mayo, near the barony of Tireragh in Sligo where, saliently, the Ó Dúda/O’Dowd sept had been the principal family. After the decline of the Gaelic order the O’Dowds began to anglicize traditional Dáithí as David, a name with which it has no connection — just as we have already seen with Méabh becoming Madge and Mór becoming Mary. However, an unfortunate misunderstanding has arisen over the course of the last hundred years or so by virtue of this obscure personal name Dáithí having being spuriously adopted as the standard gaelicized form of the name David since the early days of the Gaelic Revival at the turn of the twentieth century. The identification of the two names has become so well established that it is often assumed that placenames such as Davidstown/Baile Dháith (#27543) in Kilkenny and Ballydavid/Baile Dháibhí (#12126) in Cork, etc., should more properly be rendered ** Baile Dháithí in Irish — the historical evidence shows that nothing could be further from the truth! (Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
- Inis Cathaigh/Scattery Island
- Baile Dháith/Ballyda
- Baile Dháibhí/Ballydavid
- Baile Dháibhí Láir/Ballydavid Middle
- Baile Dháith/Davidstown
- Baile Dháith/Ballydaw
- Doire Dháibhí/Derrydavy
- Baile Dháith/Ballydaw or Davidstown
- Baile Dháith/Ballyday
- Loch Dháithí Bháin/Lough Dahybaun
- Tobar Sean-Dáithí/Tobershandahy
Fishing season
Middleton/Mainistir na Corann “the abbey of the weir”
(see logainm.ie #658)
Date: 19/02/2024
Although some inland fisheries re-open at the beginning of January, many only resume at the beginning of March or ever later. This onset of the angling season brings to mind the bradán feasa “salmon of knowledge” of Irish mythology. Salmon fishing was an important part of life during the Gaelic Irish era, a fact which is not immediately apparent from townland names, which contain few unambiguous references to the king of fish. We have Loughnambraddan/Loch na mBradán “the lake of the salmon” (#14637) in Donegal along with Maine/Maighean an Bhradáin “the eminent place of the salmon” (#33505) in Louth. However, as often happens with placename elements, Bradán can also occur as a personal name: Tullybradan/Tulaigh Bhradáin “mound of Bradán” (#30342) in Leitrim and Meenybraddan/Mín Uí Bhradáin “Ó Bradáin’s tract of grassland” (#13955) in Donegal refer to the personal name and its associated surname, respectively.
However, probably the best-known placename in Ireland referring to salmon — Leixlip (#893), the name of a town and parish on the Kildare–Dublin border — is not of Irish origin at all. The name means “salmon-leap” (it is found in early documents in the latinized form Saltus Salmonum) but whether it originated in Old Norse (from the Vikings) or Middle English (from the Anglo-Normans) is a matter of debate. If it is derived from Old Norse Lax-hløypa it would be by far the furthest inland of the 30 or so verifiably Scandinavian placenames that survive in Ireland. Anglo-Norman origin has been suggested to be more likely, from the Middle English elements lax + hlēap (as found in non-Scandinavian placenames in England such as Lexmere “salmon-pool”, Ruislip “rush-leap”, etc.). The modern Irish form Léim an Bhradáin is a translation, but there is good evidence that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Irish speakers knew the town by the gaelicized name *Leaspaic — phonetic adaptation working in the opposite direction to usual in the Irish context.
Far more numerous — too numerous to list in full here — are the townland names which contain an indirect reference to fishing in the form of the element cora “weir”. Examples include Baile na Cora “the town(land) of the weir” in Cork, Limerick, Mayo, Waterford, Armagh, Galway, and Sligo (see logainm.ie); Barr na Cora “top, hilltop of the weir” in Cork, Galway and Longford (see logainm.ie); Béal Átha na Cora “approach to the ford of the weir” in Donegal, Mayo, Armagh and Limerick (see logainm.ie). The most widely known placename containing a reference to a cora “weir” is Midleton, the name of a town and civil parish in Cork, whose Irish name is Mainistir na Corann “the monastery of (the river of) the weir” (#658). Corann is a variant genitive singular form of cora, referring to the name of the river on which the monastery was founded, Owennacurra/Abhainn na Cora “the river of the weir” (#116509). The same river — the scene of such devastating flooding in October 2023 — also gave its name to the village of Ballinacurra/Baile na Cora “the town of (the river of) the weir” (#12283) just 2km south of Midleton.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
Lambing season*
Knockaunnanoon*/Cnocán na nUan “the hillock of the lambs”
(see logainm.ie #24215)
Date: 12/02/2024
As we approach the middle of February a major topic in the countryside is the business of lambing. Direct references to lambs are not common in townland names, but there is certainly no shortage of examples that feature sheep, even though they were not nearly as important as cattle in native Irish culture.
As research now stands, there happens to be a clear south-western bias in the distribution of townland names referring to lambs: we have the townlands of Knockaunnanoon/Cnocán na nUan “the hillock of the lambs” (#24215) and Glashananoon/Glaise na nUan “the stream of the lambs” (#24046) in Kerry, along with Gortnanoon/Gort na nUan “the field of the lambs” (#11187) and Inchnanoon/Inse na nUan “the holm of the lambs” (#13235) in Cork. Whether this apparent pattern holds any significance is unclear. Minor names (essentially placenames other than townland names) containing uan “lamb” are found all the way up the west coast from Kerry to Donegal. (Potential examples of luán, another word for lamb, are all found in the west. The common noun is impossible to disentangle from the personal name Luán in Cloonlooaun/Cluain Luáin “pasture of (the) lamb?” or “the pasture of Luán” (#18323) in Galway and Drumlowan/Droim Luáin “ridge of (the) lamb?” or “the ridge of Luán” (#30057) in Leitrim, but the presence of the article in Drumalooaun/Droim an Luáin “the ridge of the lamb” (#36831) in Mayo would point to the common noun luán “lamb”.)
Even when the broader term caora (genitive caorach) “sheep” is included this general western bias in townland distribution remains. However, there are still examples to be found elsewhere, such as Rathnageeragh/Ráth na gCaorach “the ringfort of the sheep” in Wexford (#53506) and Carlow (#3303), names which point to the later repurposing of the ruins of ringforts as animal enclosures. One probable example of a minor name from the east of the country is ‘Clogh a Da ooin’, shown on a map of 1752 as a boundary marker in Glenasmole in south Dublin, then a strongly Gaeltacht area — it appears to represent Cloch an Dá Uan “the stone of the two lambs”.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
The name Bríd/Brigit and the surname Mac Giolla Bhríde/McBride
Farranmacbride/Fearann Mhic Giolla Bhríde “the land of Mac Giolla Bhríde/McBride”
(see logainm.ie #14820)
Date: 05/02/2024
It is probably a little-known fact that that saints’ names, as found in the placename Kilbride/Cill Bhríde “the church of Bríd/Saint Brigit” discussed last week, were largely avoided as secular personal names in medieval Gaelic Ireland. Bríd as a personal name would therefore have been exceedingly uncommon among those of Gaelic Irish descent during the medieval period. The same is true in the case of Muire, the Irish name of the Virgin Mary of Catholic tradition borrowed directly from Latin Maria. (The common personal name Máire is a much later borrowing from Anglo-Norman Marie.) Although it might sound surprising from a modern viewpoint, the initial popularity of the name Mary in Ireland had nothing to do with Catholicism but rather stems from its use as an English form of the very prevalent but unrelated Gaelic female personal name Mór. The name Mór was so common, in fact, that it is employed in the sense “any typical human being” in the Irish proverb Is leor do Mhór a dícheall (“One can only do one’s best”).
Instead of using these names directly, the Gaelic Irish found another way of commemorating notable ecclesiastics in their personal nomenclature. In almost every case they prefixed the saint’s name with the element maol “devotee, servant (lit. tonsure)” (see eDIL s.v. 3 Mael) or giolla “servant” (eDIL s.v. gilla (e)), as in Maolphádraig, Giolla Phádraig; Maolbhríde, Giolla Bhríde; Maolmhuire, Giolla Mhuire; Maoileachlainn (< Maol Sheachlainn < Maol Sheachnaill); etc. These were all used as male personal names, even those commemorating female saints. In typical Irish fashion, surnames were then regularly formed by the addition of Ó “descendant of” or Mac “son of”, whence Mac Giolla Mhuire/Gilmore, Mac Giolla Bhríde/McBride, etc. (Note that after anglicization, the surname Ó Maoileachlainn became almost universally conflated with the unrelated Mac Lochlainn/McLoughlin.)
On the subject of surnames beginning with Mac, however, it should be noted that Gaelic society was highly patronymic, that is to say, the lineage of an individual or a certain branch of an extended family grouping was typically identified — even in English government documents — using the father’s (and often grandfather’s) name. (See for example ‘Surrender by Cormac Carty fitz Derby alias Cormac m‘Diermod m‘Teig M‘Carty, of the Blarny, co. Cork…’ [Cormac mac Diarmada mhic Thaidhg Mac Cárthaigh (“Cormac — son of Diarmaid son of Tadhg — Mac Cárthaigh/McCarthy”] in a Fiant dated 1589.) Therefore, when we are confronted by a placename such a Farranmacbride/Fearann Mhic Giolla Bhríde (#14820) it can be difficult to determine whether it signifies “the land of the son of Giolla Bhríde (a patronymic used to specify lineage)” or “the land of Mac Giolla Bhríde/McBride (the name of a family)”. This is a common problem in Irish placename studies which normally can only be solved by further complementary research. In the case of Farranmacbride, it is very important to note that a family called Mac Giolla Bhríde/McBride had a clerical pedigree in the diocese of Raphoe and the wider northwest; we know from recent research that such status greatly increases the likelihood of a family’s surname occurring among local townland names. Thus we can understand Mac Giolla Bhríde as found in Farranmcbride/Fearann Mhic Giolla Bhríde to be the surname of a family with clerical associations in the general area, particularly given the fact that the generic element fearann “land” itself most likely refers to former church lands here.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
The festival of Iombolg and Saint Brigit’s Day
Kilbride/Cill Bhríde “the church of Bríd/Brigit”
(see logainm.ie #2554)
Date: 29/01/2024
In recent years much media attention has been given to the ancient Irish festival Iombolg (< Old Irish Imbolc), formerly celebrated on the first day of spring (see eDIL s.v. imbolc, óimelc). Before this latter-day renaissance, however, the word Iombolg had practically disappeared from the spoken language: it is not very well attested even in earlier sources and it is hardly found at all in later texts. The probable reason for this is that the pagan Iombolg had been comprehensively replaced at an early date by the new Christian festival devoted to Bríd (< Early Modern Irish Brighid < Old Irish Brigit), still celebrated as Lá Fhéile Bríde/Saint Brigit’s Day.
To complicate matters, however, Bríd (OIr. Brigit) was also the name of a goddess in pre-Christian Irish culture. It is likely, therefore, that many of the sites apparently named after Saint Brigit were originally dedicated to her pagan predecessor. The extent to which any direct replacement occurred is difficult to quantify at this remove, but it is notable that examples of Kilbride/Cill Bhríde “the church of Bríd/Brigit” as a townland or parish name commemorating Bríd (see logainm.ie) are almost twice as common as examples of Kilpatrick/Cill Phádraig “the church of Pádraig/Patrick” commemorating Ireland’s patron saint Pádraig/Patrick (see logainm.ie). It seems likely that the preponderance of dedications to Bríd might be due at least in part to the new Christian sect’s appropriation of pre-existing holy sites.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
Spring
Bolinarra/Buaile an Earraigh “the boley, cattle-fold of spring”
(see logainm.ie #50846)
Date: 22/01/2024
The end of January sees us move toward spring, according to the Irish calendar, and so we can take a look at some townland names which refer to the season known in Irish as earrach. Examples include Bolinarra/Buaile an Earraigh “the boley, cattle-fold of spring” (#50846) in Westmeath, and Cnoc an Earraigh “the hill of spring” which is the forerunner to both Knockanarrig in Cork (#13621) and Knockanarra in Mayo (#36039). As seen last week with regard to Irish placenames containing …an tSneachta “of the snow”, the anglicized forms of placenames often reveal interesting information about the local Irish dialect. For instance, in Cork, as well as Knockanarrig/Cnoc an Earraigh we also find Glananarig/Gleann an Earraigh “the valley of spring” (#11325). Both of these anglicized forms reflect the general realization of final palatal (‘slender’) -(a)igh/-(a)idh as /gʹ/ in the spoken Irish of much of Munster. This pronunciation often — though not always — comes through in the local forms of placenames. In contrast, Srahanarry/Sraith an Earraigh “the river-meadow, holm of spring” (#35336) in Mayo, like the abovementioned Knockanarra in the same county and Bolinarra in Westmeath, contains no reflex of the final consonant in ‑(a)igh. (These Mayo names are discussed in detail in the late Dr. Fiachra Mac Gabhann’s essential ten-volume work Logainmneacha Mhaigh Eo.)
Cnoc an Earraigh “the hill of spring” may have been named because of a tendency for spring growth to be unusually advanced at that location. Alternatively, the hill may have been the place where a certain assembly was held at springtime. (There will be more said on the Irish tradition of assemblies in the forthcoming note on Easter.) However, there can be no doubt about the meaning of Buaile an Earraigh “the boley, cattle-fold of spring”: it clearly refers to a location where the land usually became suitable for cattle-grazing in spring. The cow was, of course, the most important animal in native Irish culture, as evidenced by the frequency with which references to cattle and cattle husbandry occur in Irish townland names.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
Winter snow and signs of dialect
Altaraght/Ailt na tSneachta “the ravine of the snow”
(see logainm.ie #16148)
Date: 15/01/2024
The fast-approaching end of January marks the end of winter in the Irish cultural calendar, but many will doubtless insist that Ireland’s meteorological winter is still in full swing and therefore that the possibility of snow remains. Although snow is relatively uncommon as a placename element, it occurs in townland names in every province. There is Altatraght/Ailt an tSneachta “the ravine of the snow” (#16148) in Donegal, Tullintrat/Tulaigh an tSneachta “the mound of the snow” (#39886) in Monaghan, Coolasnaghta/Cúil an tSneachta “the recess of the snow” (#3298) in Carlow and Cloonsnaghta/Cluain Sneachta “pasture of (the) snow” in both Mayo (#34456) and Clare (#6959). We also have Legatraghta in Cavan (#5489) and Lugasnaghta (#29846) in Leitrim, both of whose names derive from Log an tSneachta “the hollow of the snow” and refer to places which do indeed feature hollows where snow would remain after the thaw in surrounding areas. Most of the other townlands mentioned also have at least a partial northerly aspect, where the melt would take longer than in locations with southern exposure. However, as this is not the case for Altatraght/Ailt an tSneachta “the ravine of the snow” in Donegal, it can be presumed that it was only in the ravine itself that the snow tended to remain.
Anglicized placenames are often justifiably referred to as corruptions of the original Irish name, but it is also true that they can sometimes provide important information about the local Irish dialect which would rarely be apparent from a standard written Irish form. Thus in the case of Altatraght in Donegal, Tullintrat in Monaghan, as well as Legatraghta in Cavan, the anglicized spellings all reflect the fact that the consonant cluster -tsn- /-tn-/ as found in …an tSneachta “of the snow” was pronounced as /-tr-/, a typical feature of northern dialects (compare mná /mr-/, cnoc /kr-/, etc.). Using the anglicized forms of placenames even for this relatively basic dialectological analysis is fraught with pitfalls, however. The long-established official forms only provide a snapshot of evidence and, of course, they were subject to systematic standardization during the first Ordnance Survey in the mid-nineteenth century. So for instance, while the standard modern spelling of Lugasnaghta in Leitrim might be understood to indicate a different pronunciation from the relatively nearby examples just mentioned, earlier historical forms such as ‘Lugatraghta’ and ‘Leggatrachta’ in fact reflect an underlying /-tr-/ in that case too (see #29846). As we will see in future notes, it is always necessary first to carry out thorough research on each placename and then to analyse the verified evidence in its totality misleading conclusions are otherwise almost inevitable.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
Queen Méabh, the cairn, ‘Madge’s butter’
*Meskan Meva/*Meascán Mhéabha “the lump (of rock) of Méabh”
(see logainm.ie #1396738)
Date: 08/01/2024
Although women are mentioned reasonably frequently in Irish townland names, female figures from native Irish mythology rarely feature. The Cailleach Bhéarra “the hag of Beara”, as has been noted, features in the historical version of the townland name Downs/An Dún “the fort” (#55524) in Wicklow, namely Dún Chaillí Béarra “fort of the Hag of Beara”. The mythological female character most commonly featuring in placenames is Méabh, Queen of Connaught, opponent of Cú Chulainn and King Conchúr Mac Neasa in the Ulster Cycle of early Irish tales. Méabh gave her name to the parish and townland of Bovevagh/Boith Mhéabha “the (religious) hut of Méabh” (#1413310) in Derry, but otherwise she tends to be evoked in reference to geographical or manmade features such as mounds, forts and cairns. These features range in scale from Cnocán Mhéabha “Méabh’s hillock”, a small natural mound which formerly stood on the county border between Glenasmole in Dublin and Glencree in Wicklow, to the breathtaking Miosgan Meva/Meascán Mhéabha “Méabh’s lump (of rock)” (#112076) on the summit of Knocknarea in Sligo, a massive monument of stones now more commonly known as Queen Maeve’s Cairn in English.
Exactly the same name, Meascán Mhéabha, is behind the anglicized names of the cairns Meskanmave in Donegal (#1396738) and Misgaun Meve in Roscommon (#1410345). (There are two further examples in Donegal: see logainm.ie). The fact that mountain-top cairns in three different counties in the northwest should share the same name is striking. The precise reason for this phenomenon is now obscure, other than the fact that it clearly highlights Méabh’s importance in native Irish culture. In 1835, during the course of the first Ordnance Survey, a local tale with a wonderfully odd twist was noted in the Parish Namebook which purported to explain the name Meascán Mhéabha (#1396738) on Muckish Mountain in Donegal:
Maskon Mave is a large mound of stones. The English of it is Madge’s butter [meascán ime = a lump of butter]. A woman of the name of Madge was ordered as a punishment to carry these stones to the top of Muckish and there to build them in a heap together and after this exploit was performed she was to go to Connaught and there she was to get a lump of butter (or a Maskon) as large as her mound of stones. So the mound of stones is called Mascon Mave or Madge’s butter.
Descr.Rem.:AL
While it might appear on the face of it that this story merely shows once-sublime mythology reduced over centuries of retelling to a mundane folk-tale, it’s important to note that it preserves the fundamental Connaught element of the early sagas in which Méabh features. It also provides a good example of how even such a celebrated Gaelic personal name as Méabh could be discarded during the traumatic language shift, in this case having being spuriously identified with an entirely unrelated English name. (Madge is a diminutive of Margaret.) As regards the figurative correlation of a massive stone cairn with a lump of butter, a meascán (ime) would have been very familiar in the sense “a lump or pat (of butter)” in Gaelic Ireland (see eDIL s.v. mescán).
The fact that this story was noted in the Ordnance Survey Parish Namebook raises an important final point. If we were to rely on the gross distortion of the methodology of the Ordnance Survey presented in the famous play Translations, we would presume that in this case the clumsy local anglicization ‘Madge’s Butter’ would have been engraved on the official maps without question. But in truth, the Irish scholars employed in the Topographical Department of the Survey were steeped in native literature and culture and they operated with a remarkable level of support from the enlightened English officer who supervised the enterprise. As almost always happened, they ensured that the traditional Irish name of this feature was recorded on the Ordnance map for posterity — albeit in a spelling derived from English orthography — as Meskanmave.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)
Nollaig na mBan “women’s Christmas”: Women, nuns, hags, the O’Byrnes and inaugurations
Downs/An Dún “the fort”
Dún Chaillí Béarra “the fort of the Hag of Beara”
(see logainm.ie #55524)
Date: 01/01/2024
The period between 25th December and 6th January is known in Irish as Idir an dá Nollaig “between the two Christmases”. The latter date — the Catholic feast of the Epiphany — is sometimes called Nollaig Bheag “little Christmas”, but is probably best known as Nollaig na mBan “women’s Christmas”. While we know of no direct mention of Nollaig na mBan in townland names, references to women occur frequently. Examples are very often found in respect of land held by religious orders, as in the case of Ballynagalliagh/Baile na gCailleach “the (town)land of the nuns” (#45165) in Sligo and Kilnagalliagh/Cill na gCailleach “the church of the nuns” (#7286) in Clare. It is important to note that in placenames cailleach (gen. sg. caillí) generally has the sense “nun”, which was formerly the primary meaning of the word — the now more commonly understood sense “hag, witch”, although it was used in the old sagas, is far less common in placenames (cf. eDIL s.v. caillech). However, in some cases verifiable examples of cailleach meaning “hag” can be found hidden in the historical evidence. One such example is the name of a place which will have been encountered during the week of Nollaig na mBan “women’s Christmas” by the tens of thousands who have resumed their daily commute to Dublin, namely Downs/An Dún “the fort” (#55524). The well-known Glen of the Downs in Wicklow is called Gleann Dá Ghrua “glen of the two hill-brows” (#113096) in Irish, but its English appellation actually derives from two neighbouring townland names: Downs/An Dún “the fort” (#55524) and Downshill/Cnoc an Dúin “the hill of the fort” (#55515), just west of the glen. The dún “fort” in question, which sits on a hilltop in Downshill, is usually referred to in historical sources as ‘the Downe’ or later ‘Downs’, which both clearly reflect the underlying Irish name. However, in 1547 we find it called ‘Down calybere’ in a pardon to ‘Caloaghe M‘Edo … O’Byrne’ [Calbhach mac Aodha Ó Broin (Calbhach the son of Aodh O’Byrne)], a form which suggests an underlying Dún Chaillí Béarra “fort of the Cailleach Bhéarra”. The Cailleach Bhéarra was the mythological goddess figure of native Irish culture generally called the Hag of Beara in English. The Irish form of the placename implied by the anglicized spelling ‘Down calybere’ happens to be confirmed in an account of the traditional inauguration sites of Ireland given in Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (FFÉ) (*c.*1630) by Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating):
Ar Dhún Caillighe Béirre do gairthí Ó Brain, agus Mac Eochadha do ghaireadh é.
“Ó Broin/O’Byrne [i.e., the Chief of the Uí Bhroin/O’Byrnes] used be declared at Dún Chaillí Béarra, and it was Mac Eochaidh/Kehoe (Keogh) who declared him”.
FFÉ iii, p. 14
Interestingly, Céitinn also record that it was the same learned family of Mac Eochaidh/Kehoe who inaugurated the Chief of the Cinnsealach/Kinsella sept of north Wexford, at a place called Leac Mhic Eochaidh “the flagstone of Mac Eochaidh/Kehoe”:
Ar Leic mic Eochadha do gairthí tighearna Cinnsiolach; agus Mac Eochadha do ghaireadh é.
“Cinnsealach/Kinsella [i.e., the Chief of the Cinnsealach/Kinsella sept] used be declared at Leac Mhic Eochaidh, and it was Mac Eochaidh who declared him”.
ibid.
The site of Leac Mhic Eochaidh lies 15km northwest of Gorey on the Wicklow border (in the townland of Loggan/An Logán (#53297). The last recorded assembly at Leac Mhic Eochaidh was in 1592, and neither this name nor Dún Chaillí Béarra are now well-known.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)