Now that we find ourselves in October, Deireadh Fómhair in Irish, which literally means ‘end of autumn; end of harvest’, it is a good time to address some of the placenames that allude to post-harvest cereal-processing practices in Gaelic Ireland.
Firstly, the occurrences of Baile an Mhuilinn ‘the town(land) of (at) the mill’ among Irish townland names is so common that they are simply too numerous to outline here. It is sometimes found as anglicized Ballymullen or similar, as in the case of Ballymullen (logainm.ie #42090) in Co. Offaly; Ballinwillin (logainm.ie #10197) in Co. Cork, and Ballinvullin (logainm.ie #31884) in Co. Limerick. However, more often than not such townland names are actually realized as translated Milltown, which completely hides their original Irish origin. For example, Milltown (logainm.ie #3301) near Myshall in Co. Carlow is actually first attested as ‘Ballymollen’ (1552) and later ‘Ballyvullen als. Milltowne’ (1631) which clearly reflects an original Baile an Mhuilinn ‘the town(land) of (at) the mill’. Similarly, Milltown (logainm.ie #21909) near Tuam in Co. Galway (‘Balleyvollen’; 1574); and Milltown (logainm.ie #52208) near Ferns in Co. Wexford (‘Ballynmollin’; 1597), etc. That said, it is quite likely that some of the locations called Milltown were indeed coined in English during the early days of the Anglo-Norman colony, as in the case of Milltown (logainm.ie #25811) near Newbridge in County Kildare, which is first attested as ‘Mylton’ (1329), but later also as ‘Ballemuillyn’ (c.1629), i.e. Baile an Mhuilinn, doubtless due to gaelicization of the English colony. Another probable example is Milltown (logainm.ie #53596) near Ballycullane in Co. Wexford, a possession of the Anglo-Norman abbey of Tintern at Saltmills, which is also attested as ‘ballymolyn’ (1628) and ‘Ballywoollen’ (1654), again pointing to gaelicization of the colony — things are rarely simple when it comes to placenames!
As well as muileann ‘mill’ occurring as a qualifier in placenames, as in Baile an Mhuilinn ‘the town(land) of (at) the mill’, we also have quite a number of townland names in which it is found as the generic (initial) element, as in Mullinavat / Muileann an Bhata ‘the mill of the stick, cudgel’ (the type of stick to which bata refers is unclear) (logainm.ie #1411898) in Co. Kilkenny; Mullandrait / Muileann an Droichid ‘the mill of (at) the bridge’ (logainm.ie #16561) in Co. Donegal; and Mullinaveige / Muileann an Mheidhg ‘the mill of the whey’ (logainm.ie #55717) in Co. Wicklow. There are of course also a number of other placenames containing mill that have been generated in English in the post-1600 period, such as Sinnottsmill / Muileann an tSionóidigh (logainm.ie #53657) in Co. Wexford and Arundelsmills / Muileann Arundel (logainm.ie #9161) in Co. Cork. Just as the milling of grain didn’t stop with the destruction of Gaelic Ireland in the seventeenth century, the coining of new placenames in reference to mills continued.
However, the topic of this month’s theme is not actually mills at all, but largely processes undertaken to separate and dry grain in Gaelic Ireland before it even made it to the mill, along with a brief mention of the outcome after milling. In this regard, Fergus Kelly’s Early Irish Farming informs us that threshing of grain generally occurred in the drying kiln itself, which helps explain the dearth of references to locations for threshing in Irish townland names. (There is a minor name in County Cork that appears to refer to threshers themselves, namely Thrasherstown, evidently a translation of Baile na mBuailteoirí (logainm.ie #1410361).) On the other hand, references to the áith ‘drying-kiln (for grain)’ (see dil.ie s.v. áith) are well represented among townland names of all four provinces. For example, Achadh na hÁithe ‘the field of the kiln’ is forerunner of Aghnahaha (logainm.ie #29747) in Co. Leitrim; Annahaia (logainm.ie #39292; #39716) in Co. Monaghan; and Aughnahoy (logainm.ie #62914) in Co. Antrim. We also have Annahagh / Áth na hÁithe ‘the ford of (at) the kiln’ (logainm.ie #40480) in Co. Monaghan; Carrigeenahaha / Carraigín na hÁithe ‘the (little) rock of (at) the kiln’ (logainm.ie #49837) in Co. Waterford; Gortnahaha / Gort na hÁithe ‘the field of the kiln’ in Cos. Tipperary (logainm.ie #47172) and Clare (logainm.ie #6967); while Cnoc na hÁithe ‘the hill of the kiln’ is the forerunner to Knocknahaha (logainm.ie #24508) in Co. Kerry and Knocknahaw (logainm.ie #18037) in Co. Galway. There are, in fact, like muileann ‘mill’, simply too many examples of townland names containing áith to outline here. However, before proceeding we should probably note that the feminine noun (an) áith ‘(the) kiln’, genitive sg. (na h)áithe, is also attested in the genitive singular as (na h)átha ‘of (the) kiln’, so that in placenames which do not contain the definite article, it can be sometimes confused with the genitive singular of the masculine (an t-)áth ‘(the) ford’, namely (an) átha ‘of (the) ford’. That said, the difference in gender between áth ‘ford’ (a masculine noun) and áith (a feminine noun), at least, allows us to be sure of the meaning of the following examples: Coolnaha / Cúil na hÁtha ‘the nook, recess of (at) the kiln’ (logainm.ie #1373986) in Co. Mayo versus Coole (earlier ‘Coulinaghsalligh’) / Cúil an Átha Salaigh ‘the recess, corner of (at) the dirty ford’ (logainm.ie #52571; in Co. Wexford); or Drumnaha / Droim na hÁtha ‘the ridge of (at) the kiln’ (logainm.ie #14703) versus Druminaw / Droim an Átha ‘the ridge of (at) the ford’ (logainm.ie #16218), both in Co. Donegal.
Another process highlighted in Early Irish Farming (EIF) that could contribute to the drying or partial drying of grain was the practice of separating the ear from the stem by a method called ‘loiscreán (loistreán) in later Irish’. As stated by Kelly: ‘this involves the careful burning of each ear of corn so that the glumes and chaff are burnt away, leaving the grains. This method is particularly suitable for small-scale cereal-growing, and has the advantage that the grains are partially dried by the flames’ (EIF p. 240). Notably, this practice was clearly still observed in the seventeenth century, as it was forbidden by statute under the new post-1601 English regime in Ireland in 1634 (EIF p. 23). Given that the singeing of grain could doubtless alter the flavour, aroma and texture of flour produced from it, we can be sure that forbidding loiscreán resulted in the loss to general Irish cuisine of a host of unique flavours and aromas associated with it.
Be that as it may, the word loiscreán is explained in Ó Dónaill’s Irish-English dictionary as meaning ‘fire for singeing’ and ‘singed corn’, and he provides arán loiscreáin ‘bread made from singed and ground oats’ (FGB s.vv. loiscreán, loistreán), as an example, which hints at continuation of the practice into more recent times, in some areas at least. In the Dictionary of the Irish Language, which is dedicated to the early language, the word is explained as ‘singed grain’ (dil.ie s.v. loiscreán), while in the 1927 edition of Dinneen’s Foclóir Gaedhilge is Béarla it is explained among other things as ‘corn burnt off the ear instead of being threshed’ and ‘a prepared cooking-place or fire for drying corn’. Thus it seems that where we find the word loiscreán or its variant loistreán in placenames we can generally understand it to be associated with the location of a ‘fire for singeing’, i.e. removing the ear of corn, or a ‘fire for drying corn’ in which case one can justifiably use the loose translation ‘the place for corn-singeing, corn drying’. For example, we might translate Carrowlustraun / Ceathrú an Loistreáin (logainm.ie #18861) in Co. Galway as ‘the quarter of the (place for) corn-singeing, corn drying’. That said, Dinneen’s Irish-English Dictionary also includes ‘burning, destruction’ among his explanations of the word (s.v. loiscreán), so we can never rule these out from such explanations here.
Although townland names containing loiscreán ‘(place for) corn-singeing, corn drying’ are not particularly common, there are certainly enough to indicate that the practice was once geographically widespread. In Co. Clare both Knockaluskraun (logainm.ie #6467) and Knockloskeraun (logainm.ie #6836) are from Cnoc an Loiscreáin ‘the hill of the (place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; the hill of the burning’. Ballystrane (logainm.ie #16968) in Co. Dublin is evidently from Baile Loistreáin ‘town(land) of (the place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; town(land) of (the) burning’. Lugalustran (logainm.ie #29982) in Co. Leitrim is from Log an Loistreáin ‘the hollow of the (place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; the hollow of the burning’, while in neighbouring Co. Sligo we have Toorlestraun / Tuar Loistreáin (logainm.ie #45567) ‘lea-(field); bleaching-green of (the place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; lea-(field); bleaching-green of burning’. Lackalustraun (logainm.ie #34404) in Co. Mayo is from Leac an Loistreáin ‘the flat stone, flagstone of the (place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; the flat stone, flagstone of the burning’, while the well-known village of Caherlistrane (logainm.ie #1413456) in Co. Galway derives its name from the nearby townland of Caherlustraun / Cathair Loistreáin (logainm.ie #21711) ‘circular stone fort of (the place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; circular stone fort of (the) burning’. The location of the cathair ‘circular stone fort’ in question is, however, unclear.
Mountbell (logainm.ie #13661) in Co. Cork would seem to have little to do with the Gaelic Irish practice of loiscreán at first sight, but the original name of this townland is evidently Cnoc an Loiscreáin ‘the hill of the (place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; the hill of the burning’. The English name Mountbell is a much later addition to that area’s toponomy, a reference to the Big House that sits in this townland. The same is true for Tottenhamgreen (logainm.ie #53425) in Co. Wexford, which contains the surname Tottenham. This townland came into that family’s possession after its initial grant to the Cromwellian ‘Charles Collins’ [recte Collis], subsequent to dispossession of the family of ‘James ffurlong, Ir. Papist’ who held it in 1641 (Civil Survey IX: Wexford, p. 87). In fact, it seems to have been in the Furlongs’ possession for generations (cf. 1573, ‘Mathew ffurlonge of Ballelostram [Tottenhamgreen]’, History of the Town and County of Wexford VI, p. 386). Be that as it may, the original Irish name of this location also undoubtedly contained another reference to loiscreán, namely Baile an Loiscreáin ‘the town(land) of (the place for) corn-singeing, corn drying; the town(land) of the burning’ (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of Co. Wexford).
Although probably unrealistic, it would be attractive to imagine that grain processed at Baile an Loiscreáin (now Tottenhamgreen) might have been brought to nearby Foulkesmill / Muileann Fúca ‘the mill of Foulk (an Anglo-Norman personal name)’ (logainm.ie #131844) for milling, where ‘Brannah mc James of Pucksmill … miller’ was recorded in 1642 (1641 Depositions: MS 818, fol. 101v). Somewhat intriguingly, Foulksmill / Muileann Fúca is not too far from ‘Ballinvacus’ (Civil Survey IX, p. 90; also attested as ‘Ballinbakehouse orse. Ballenbackhouse’ CGn. 405.338.266143), i.e. Baile an Bhácúis ‘the town(land) of the bakehouse, bakery’, a now-defunct townland in neighbouring Clongeen parish. This example of Baile an Bhácúis ‘the town(land) of the bakehouse, bakery’ is particularly interesting, as bácús ‘bakehouse’ is a borrowing into Irish from Anglo-Norman English – essentially it probably represents the introduction of new processes into the Gaelic Irish bread-making world, whence the borrowing of ‘bakehouse’ as bácús in Irish. In any case, this bácús is also found in Coolavacoose / Cúil an Bhácúis ‘the recess, nook of the bakehouse, bakery’ (logainm.ie #25504) in Co. Kildare; Gortavacoosh / Gort an Bhácúis ‘the field of the bakehouse, bakery’ (logainm.ie #31135) in Co. Limerick and Tinvaucoosh / Tigh an Bhácúis ‘the house of (at) the bakehouse, bakery’ (logainm.ie #27562) in Co. Kilkenny. The anglicized form of all of these names is quite close in shape to their original Irish precursors, unlike our last example, namely Mountoven (logainm.ie #24606) in Corca Dhuibhne, Co. Kerry. The underlying Irish name is doubtless Cnocán an Bhácúis, but Dinneen’s dictionary actually translates bácús as both ‘a bakery’ (Dinneen s.v.) and an ‘oven’, while Ó Dónaill gives the translation ‘bakehouse; pot-oven’ (Ó Dónaill s.v.), so while we might translate it as ‘the hillock of the bakehouse, bakery’ here, Mountoven really isn’t too far off the mark!
Finally, we hope that this month’s ‘morsel’ provides a sufficient taster to awaken interest among food archaeologists to perhaps experiment with the Gaelic Irish process of loiscreán in order to rediscover some of the long lost flavours that our ancestors doubtless enjoyed in their breads.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich, Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill & Justin Ó Gliasáin)