Date: 23/08/2025

Some months ago, the Placenames Branch was contacted by a native speaker of Scottish Gaelic from the Hebridean island of Lewis / Leòdhas enquiring about the Irish equivalent of the Gaelic placename element àirigh, which she explained as meaning “an area or pasture land for … summer milking of cattle”. She kindly followed up with the additional information that àirigh was often found in very remote locations. (For more discussion of Gaelic àirigh, which has a very interesting history in this part of Scotland, see Foster 2017; Fellow-Jensen, Nomina 1980.) In contrast, in Lewis / Leòdhas the word buaile was understood to refer to a cattle fold, enclosure, dairy, milking place, “usually on the periphery of the farmland or townland and used in commonage”. She went on to say, “The word [buaile] was not, as far as I can see, used for the distant grazing pastures for summer milking.”

This information is of particular interest to us, because in Irish placenames – contrary to what is often presumed – the generic element buaile was not restricted to ‘vertical’ transhumance, i.e., from lowlands to higher pastures. In fact, buaile could refer to any location, regardless of altitude, that became suitable for grazing under particular weather conditions, or to any place that had been specifically set aside for grazing at certain times of the year, as in Boleynanollag / Buaile na Nollag ‘the boley of Christmas-time’ (logainm.ie #21027) and Easterfield / Buaile na Cásca ‘the boley of Easter-time’ (logainm.ie #20989) in Co. Galway (‘Baulanacaske’ 1801); and Boolanacausk / Buaile na Cásca ‘the boley of Easter-time’ (logainm.ie #7433) in Co. Clare. (Even so, as we saw last week, care was still to be taken in some of the places chosen, e.g. Bolabradda / An Bhuaile Bhradach ‘the treacherous boley’ (logainm.ie #52877) and Ballybregagh / An Bhuaile Bhréagach ‘the false (deceptive, treacherous) boley’ (logainm.ie #52339) in Co. Wexford.)

In the examples from Lewis / Leòdhas, then, Scottish Gaelic àirigh served a different purpose to buaile, referring to locations further away from the farm. Note that Dwelly (Am Faclair Beag) s.v. àirigh gives ‘hill pasture’ and ‘Summer residence for herdsmen and cattle’. This is in keeping with the attested meanings of the word’s Old Irish forerunner áirge, i.e., ‘summer milking-places in the mountains’, ‘place for milking cows, byre, cowshed’ (it could also refer to the herd of cattle itself; eDIL s.v. áirge). See for example Luid Mael Ruain Tamlachta fechtas dia airge .i. ceppan i Sléib Mairgge “Máel Rúain of Tallaght once went to his summer milking-place, i.e., a clearing in Slievemargie” (quoted in Fergus Kelly, Early Irish Farming p. 44). In any case, this interesting correspondence concerning Hebridean examples of àirigh led us to seek placenames on our own island containing the Modern Irish form of the same word, áirí. (Cf. ‘a herd (of cattle), a pasture, a herdman’s hut’ Dinneen (1927) s.v. airghe; ‘milking-place; herd (of cows)’ Ó Dónaill s.v. áirí. Note the variation of short a- and long á-, which we will see again below.)

The first thing to be noted is that in Irish placenames the sense conveyed by Scottish àirigh – (remote) summer milking-place – is already covered by the predominant Modern Irish element buaile, which could be found on high ground or low, whether near or far from the farm, unlike the restricted distribution of Scottish Gaelic buaile on Leòdhas. Having said that, however, examples of áirí are not unknown in Irish townland names. It is ironic that what is probably the most unambiguous example could not be situated much further away from our correspondent’s home in the Hebrides! The townland of Drominaharee / Drom na hÁirí ‘the ridge of the (summer) milking-place’ (logainm.ie #23392) in Co. Kerry is some 700 km from Lewis, which if nothing else reminds us of the vast contiguous area once covered by the Gaelic-speaking world. Interestingly, the meaning of …na hÁirí in this placename was not understood by the local Irish-speaking community in the mid-19th century. Nor was it clear to the Irish scholar John O’Donovan, who visited the area in 1841 while working on the Ordnance Survey. O’Donovan was a native Irish-speaker and reasonably familiar with Middle Irish literature even at this early stage of his career. He interpreted the name as the ‘ridge of the watching’, confusing the final element with the unconnected word aire (eDIL s.v. 1 aire). Drominaharee / Drom na hÁirí is located in steep, mountainous terrain, very much in keeping with animal-husbandry restricted to the summer months. However, it would seem that by the late 18th/early 19th century, either the practice of bringing cattle to this particular áirí had long ceased, or the word had been completely usurped by buaile in common speech, and the meaning of the placename was forgotten.

Note that the word áiríoch ‘herdsman’ – a derivative of áirí (eDIL s.v. áirgech) – occurs in the name of another mountainous townland in Co. Kerry, Derreenanaryagh / Doirín na nÁiríoch ‘the (little) (oak-)grove of the herdsmen’ (logainm.ie #22330) near Glencar. Strange to say, O’Donovan correctly identified this word (‘shepherds’). So did Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (a.k.a. An Seabhac), another highly regarded native Irish-speaking placenames scholar, in the 20th century.

Other upland examples in the southern half of Ireland include Glenary / Gleann Áirí ‘valley of (the) (summer) milking-place’ (logainm.ie #49236) in the Comeragh Mountains, Co. Waterford, and Killary / Coill Áirí ‘wood of (the) (summer) milking-place’ (logainm.ie #46377) near Ballina in Co. Tipperary. The same name appears as Killaree / Coill Áirí ‘wood of (the) (summer) milking-place’ (logainm.ie #26989) in Co. Kilkenny. Although this last example is not located in a mountainous area, the local topography is dominated by steep hills to the south and east of the Black Castle, mostly under tree cover, with large amounts of surface bedrock (see epa). Like the townlands already mentioned, this terrain would almost certainly have been suitable for grazing only in summer months. (Note again that the local Irish-speakers did not understand the word áirí in the 19th century: they told Eoghan Ó Comhraí / Eugene O’Curry, ‘there are three of the Kings of Ireland buried in [the large rath in Killaree townland], whence the name Kileree or the Cell of the King’ LSO I 203 (1839), as if *cill an rí!)

Still in the south, we find Arywee / Airí Bhuí ‘yellow (summer) milking-place’ (logainm.ie #31155) in Co. Limerick. (Airí is a local variant of áirí with short initial /a/.) This townland is located on relatively low land, however, and airí in question may have been near the peat bog in the west. Arrybreaga / Airí Bhréige ‘false (summer) milking-place’ (logainm.ie #32471) is another low-lying townland in the same county, mostly containing free-draining soil which would have been suitable for grazing all year round. In parts of the townland, however, grazing would have been restricted to fine weather, namely the surface bedrock extending up to the hilltop to the neighbouring Longstone to the east, and the area of peat fen to the west. As we saw last week, bréige, the genitive form of the noun bréag ‘falsehood, lie’ is used in Irish as an adjective meaning ‘false, deceptive’: the ‘false airí’ may have referred to one of these areas of marginal land which was not, despite first appearances, suitable for grazing.

So we come full circle and finish with a some more placenames containing the elements bréige (gen.) or bréagach (adj.) ‘lying, false; (dangerously) deceptive, treacherous’:

• Ard Mhacha Bréige ‘the false Ard Mhacha’, the forerunner to Ardmaghbreague (logainm.ie #38187) and Armaghbrague (logainm.ie #56378; placenamesni) in Cos. Meath and Armagh, respectively, in contrast to the ‘real’ Ard Mhacha / Armagh (#1411561);
• Knockbreaga / Cnoc Bréige ‘false, (dangerously) deceptive(?) hill’ (logainm.ie #37474) in Co. Mayo;
• Boughilbreaga / An Buachaill Bréige ‘the false boy, cowherd’ (logainm.ie #1413201) in Co. Limerick (‘there is an old stone on top of it’ *c.*1973);
• Shauneenabreaga / Seáinín na Bréige ‘the false Seáinín’ (logainm.ie #1421372) in Co. Waterford (a mountain-top cairn, WA002-080).
• Foylenabreaga / Faill na Bréige ‘the false cliff’ (#1415485) beside the Aherlow River in Co. Limerick;
• Trawbreaga Bay / Trá Bhréige ‘treacherous strand’ (logainm.ie #111463) in Co. Donegal (where the Ordnance Survey Letters record people being swept away by sudden tides);
• Carnanbregagh / An Carnán Bréagach ‘the false/deceptive (little) cairn, heap of stones’ (logainm.ie #33822) in Co. Louth.

Last week we noted John O’Donovan’s personal description of the river Breagagh / An Bhréagach ‘the treacherous (river)’ in his native Co. Kilkenny, which got its name because it would often break its banks, sometimes with tragic consequences. When he was in West Kerry in 1841 the locals pointed out the dangerous rock near the mouth of Cuan Fionntrá (Ventry Harbour) with several smaller rocks between it and the mainland. These rocks, they said, “deceive the boatmen” (ÓD:AL); the Irish name of this treacherous feature is An Bréagaire ‘the liar’ (logainm.ie #1393949).

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

• Buaile na Cásca/Boolanacausk
• Buaile na Cásca/Easterfield
• Buaile na Nollag/Boleynanollag
• Doirín na nÁiríoch/Derreenanaryagh
• Drom na hÁirí/Drominaharee
• Coill Áirí/Killaree
• Airí Bhuí/Arywee
• Airí Bhréige/Arrybreaga
• An Carnán Bréagach/Carnanbregagh
• Cnoc Bréige/Knockbreaga
• Ard Mhacha Bréige/Ardmaghbreague
• Coill Áirí/Killary
• Gleann Áirí/Glenary
• An Bhuaile Bhréagach/Ballybregagh
• An Bhuaile Bhradach/Bolabradda
• Ard Mhacha Bréige/Armaghbrague
• Trá Bhréige/Trawbreaga Bay
• Ard Mhacha/Armagh
• An Buachaill Bréige/Boughilbreaga
• Droichead Fhaill na Bréige/Foylenabreaga Bridge
• Seáinín na Bréige/Shauneenabreaga

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