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)