Tá an feachtas toghcháin d’Uachtarán na hÉireann faoi lánseol anois (Deireadh Fómhair 2025) agus na hiomaitheoirí i mbun rásaíochta go dtí an tÁras. Is mithid, más ea, súil a chaitheamh ar ainm na háite sin i mBaile Átha Cliath a bhfuil teach álainn an uachtaráin suite, mar atá, Páirc an Fhionnuisce / Phoenix Park. Dearbhaíodh Páirc an Fhionnuisce mar leagan dlíthiúil Gaeilge san Ordú Logainmneacha (Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath) 2011, a rinne an tAire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta faoi Chuid 5 de Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003. Bhí an t-ordú seo bunaithe ar an taighde a rinne An Brainse Logainmneacha (atá sa Roinn Forbartha Pobail agus Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta anois). Sular shínigh an tAire an dréachtordú, rinne an Coimisiún Logainmneacha dianscrúdú air agus, thairis sin, foilsíodh é le haghaidh tréimhse comhairliúcháin phoiblí ar feadh trí mhí. Moladh an fhoirm Ghaeilge sin go hoifigiúil den chéad uair i 1958, agus gan amhras bhí sé in úsáid i gcomhthéacsanna foirmeálta i bhfad roimhe sin. (Tabhair faoi deara nach raibh aon bhealach ag an Stát chun foirmeacha Gaeilge dá chuid logainmneacha a dheimhniú chun úsáid oifigiúil go dtí gur bunaíodh an Coimisiún Logainmneacha i 1946.)
Ar ndóigh, bíonn fianaise nua ag teacht chun solais de shíor in aon réimse taighde acadúil, agus ní hannamh a thagann athrú ar an tuiscint atá againn fiú amháin ar logainmneacha a bhfuil a bhfoirmeacha oifigiúla seanshocraithe. Sampla maith is ea ainm na páirce seo. Is ón 17ú haois luath a thagann an tagairt is sine anuas chugainn. Bhronn an Choróin tailte fairsinge ar Sir Edward Fisher, fiontraí Sasanach (tuilleadh eolais thíos), sa bhliain 1611. In iarthar Bhaile Átha Cliath a bhí na tailte seo, cuid de dhiméin Phrióireacht Eoin Iarúsailéim: ‘all such crown lands as lie on the N[orth] side of the river Liffey and bridge of Kilmainham, containing 400 a[cres]’ (CPR, lch. 200), agus iad ag síneadh ó Bhaile na Lochlannach i dtuaisceart na cathrach siar go dtí Séipéal Íosóid. Thug Fisher ar ais don Rí iad ar £2,500 i 1618, agus deirtear linn ‘the said lands, with a house thereon newly built by sir Edward [at the site of the now-ruined Magazine Fort], were by his Majesty’s special directions … converted to the use of the chief governor of Ireland’ (CPR, lch. 203; cf. CPR, lch. 341). Sa bhliain dar gcionn a fhaighimid an chéad tagairt don logainm féin: rinneadh deisiúcháin ar ‘His Majesty’s House at Kilmainham called “The Phœnix”’ (Calendar of State Papers ... James I. 1603-1625, lch. xxxi; féach freisin ‘The Phoenix Park, its origin and early history’, C. Litton Falkiner, Journal of the Royal Irish Academy, Iml. 6, lgh. 465–488). Mar sin, sa tagairt is luaithe dá bhfuil againn, tagraíonn ‘The Phœnix’ don teach mór féin seachas don fhearann páirce mórthimpeall air. Ach dhealródh sé go dtuigtí an fearann sin leis an ainm freisin faoi lár an 17ú haois, áfach: cf. ‘at the Phoenix [is] a very stately House now in good repair’ (Civil Survey Vol. VII County Dublin, lch. 292), le tagairtí eile do na tailte amhail ‘the Phenix’ agus ‘the ffenix’ (ibid. lgh. 223; 247; 292). Ar an léarscáil Hiberniæ Delineatio (c 1685) le William Petty, tá ‘Pheenix’ scríofa os cionn léaráid de chnocán a bhfuil cúpla foirgneamh ar a bharr. Más don teach mór a tógadh 1611×1618 a thagair an t-ainm Béarla The Phoenix i dtosach báire, mar sin, is dócha gur leathnaigh a bhrí chun an talamh corrach in aice leis faoi na 1650í. Ag scríobh dó i 1820, ní raibh dabht dá laghad ag Thomas Cromwell maidir le bunús an ainm:
It is somewhat singular that the imaginary bird from which the park is generally supposed to derive its appellation and in allusion to which this column was undoubtedly erected bears no relation to the name of the manor from which it is actually called. This in the Irish tongue was Fionn uisge signifying clear or fair water and which being pronounced Finniské so nearly resembled in the English articulation the word Phœnix that it either obtained that name from the first English settlers or was by them speedily corrupted into it. The ‘fair water’ was a chalybeate spring which still exists in a glen near the grand entrance to the vice regal lodge and has been frequented from time immemorial for its imputed salubrity. It remained however in a rude and exposed state till the year 1800 when in consequence of some supposed cures it had effected it immediately acquired celebrity and was much frequented. About five years after it was enclosed and it is now among the romantic objects of the park.
(Excursions Through Ireland: Province of Leinster, lch. 166)
Admhaíonn an Cromalach féin (lch. 47, n.) go bhfuair sé a chuid eolais maidir le ‘antiquities, &c.’ glan amach as The History of the City of Dublin (1818) le James Whitelaw agus Robert Walsh; níl sa sliocht thuas ach a gcuntas siúd i bhfocail eile (Iml. 2, lch. 1306). Ach bhí an fonóta seo a leanas ag Whitelaw agus Walsh freisin: ‘The origin of this name for the Park has puzzled many scholars unacquainted with the Irish language … The appellation occurs in many places in Ireland with the same import. A river called the Phinisk [in Co. Waterford], falls, at the present day, into the Black-water … It was so called because its fair stream is contrasted with the deep hue of the Black-water, with which it mingles’. In ainneoin go bhfuil cuntas an-chuimsitheach ag na húdair seo ar scoláireacht Ghaeilge a linne (Iml. 1, lgh. 926–937), ní luann siad foinse ar bith don ráiteas acu maidir le bunús an logainm seo: ‘The manor was called in the Irish vernacular tongue Fionn-uisge, pronounced finniské’ (Iml. 2, lch. 1306). Is é is dóichí ná gurbh é Robert Walsh féin a chéadcheap é, agus é ag cuimhneamh ar an abhainn i gCúige Mumhan: ba as Port Láirge don Bhreatnach. (Dála an scéil, níl sé deimhnithe in aon chor go dtagann ainm na habhann úd as fionn+uisce, cé gur mar sin a mhínigh Gaeilgeoirí na háite é sa 20ú haois: féach An Fhinisc / Finisk River (#1166126).)
Pé ar domhan de, ghlac scoláire mór le rá eile le fionn+uisce mar bhunús, mar a bhí Seán Ó Donnabháin. Sna blianta beaga dó ag obair sa Rannóg Topagrafaíochta den tSuirbhéireacht Ordanáis, chuir sé gluais eilimintí logainmneacha i dtoll a chéile. Faoin bhfocal uisce luann sé ‘Fionn-uisce’ mar bhunús Gaeilge do ‘Fenix, a River in the County of Cork’, chomh maith leis an Phinisk i gContae Phort Láirge a luaigh an Breatnach thuas, agus thairis sin, ‘Phoenix Park near Dublin has its name from John’s well where the Priory of Knights Templars had stood’ (LS Sheáin Uí Dhonnabháin, s.v. uisce). (Tabhair faoi deara nach bhfuil an Tobar Eoin seo i bPáirc an Fhionnuisce in aon chor, ach ar an taobh theas den abhainn idir Droichead na hInse agus Cill Mhaighneann.) Faoi na 1840í, áfach, bhí athrú intinne tagtha air: ‘Finn-uisce [Fionnuisce], clear water, was applied to the stream near the Zoological gardens’ (Ainmleabhair SO (par. Chaisleán Cnucha)). I meamram i gcartlann na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis, inseann George Petrie (ceannaire na Rannóige Topagrafaíochta) le Thomas Larcom (Stiúrthóir Cúnta na Suirbhéireachta) go raibh bunús an logainm pléite aige leis an Donnabhánach agus go raibh an bheirt acu ar aon tuairim gurbh éard a thug ainm don áit ‘the small stream which is the chief feeder of the ponds’ seachas ‘the chalybeate well near the Zoological gardens’ (Meamraim na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis, Co. BÁC, lgh. 152–154; féach Aguisín). (Fianaise thánaisteach gurbh ainm srutháin a bhí ann ó cheart, a deir Petrie, is ea an t-alt sna tagairtí luatha do ‘The manor of the Phœnix’, srl.: dar leis, ‘the prefix the … is only applied to descriptive names’. Níl an réasúnaíocht seo thar moladh beirte.)
Níl aon rud a chuirfeadh i gcoinne na forbairte seo ó Fionnuisce na Gaeilge go Phoenix (House/Park) an Bhéarla ó thaobh na teangeolaíochta de. Go deimhin, tá an fhorbairt cheannann chéanna le sonrú ar na tagairtí béarlaithe ón 17ú haois do Fionnuisce / Finisk ‘clear-water’ (logainm.ie #13599) in oirthear Chontae Chorcaí (luaite ag Ó Donnabháin thuas): ó ‘Foniske’ go ‘Finewxes’ [agus dhá fhoroinn den bhaile fearainn i gceist], go ‘ffanix’, ‘The Pheonix’, ‘Phenix’ and ‘Phanix’. Ghlac scoláirí eile le bunús Gaeilge an logainm, freisin, cé nach raibh siad ar aon fhocal maidir le foinse an fhionnuisce féin!
Faoi mar is dual dó, leanann P.W. Joyce an míniú a bhí ag Ó Donnabháin in Irish Names of Places, vol. I:
‘fionn-uisg’ [feenisk], which means clear or limped water. It was originally the name of a beautiful and perfectly transparent spring-well near the Phœnix pillar, situated just outside the wall of the Viceregal grounds, behind the gate lodge, and which is the head of the stream that supplies the ponds near the Zoological Gardens. To complete the illusion, the Earl of Chesterfield, in the year 1745, erected a pillar near the well, with the figure of a phœnix rising from the ashes on top of it, - and most Dublin people now believe that the park received its name from the pillar. The change from fionn-uisg’ to phœnix is not peculiar to Dublin, for the river Finisk, which joins the Blackwater below Cappaquin, is called Phœnix by Smith in his History of Waterford (p. 42).
An míniú seo, nach mór focal ar fhocal, atá ag C.T. M‘Ready ina leabhar fíorúsáideach Dublin Street Names: dated and explained (1892) (lch. 80); glacann an staraí Maurice Craig leis, freisin, gurb é ‘a spring of clear water - Fionn Uisge’ an bunús ceart Dublin: 1660-1860 (lch. 14). Tabhair faoi deara, áfach, na fadhbanna leis an míniú seo a rith le C. L. Falkiner (cé go raibh sé de cháiréis aige a rá nach raibh sé féin cáilithe ‘to meddle in Gaelic etymology’):
[although] most local historians and Dr. Joyce [P. W. Joyce, Irish Names of Places I, p. 42] take the name to be a corruption of the word Fionn (or Phion) uisg’ signifying clear, or limpid water (p. 49) … [it] is not certain that Dr. Joyce is correct in fixing the site of this spring as close to the Phœnix Pillar and the entrance to the Viceregal grounds. The spring at that spot would not have been on the lands original held by Phœnix house. Assuming the suggested etymology is correct, it seems more probable that the name derives from a spring in the vicinity of the Magazine, perhaps the rivulet that runs along the valley on the north side of the Magazine Hill.
(Illustrations of Irish History and Topography (n. 2)).
Ina dhiaidh sin, iompaíonn J. Daly (‘Curative wells in old Dublin’, in Dublin Historical Record 17 (1961) 12–24; féach freisin Fardal Seandálaíochta (DU018-007008)) ar ais chuig an tobar iarnach céanna a bhí luaite ag an gCromalach in 1820, atá suite in imeall thoir na páirce gar don Zú. Deir Daly go dtugtaí ‘Feenisk’ air. Ach ní logainm ceart é sin in aon chor; níl ann ach an treoir foghraíochta ag Joyce (‘[feenisk]’ (Irish Names of Places, iml. I, lch. 42) chun an tuairimíocht fionn-uisg’ a chur i gcosúlacht le Brl. Phoenix! Ní gá a rá freisin go mbeadh an focal fionnuisce an-neamhoiriúnach don saghas uisce a bhíonn le fáil i dtobar iarnach.
Mar sin is uile, cé go mbeadh an fhorbairt seo inmheasta ó thaobh na teangeolaíochta de, níl aon fhianaise ar son logainm Gaeilge Fionnuisce a bheith anseo sular tógadh an teach mór. Díol spéise go bhfuil dhá thagairt againn don pháirc i saothar beirt scríbhneoirí Gaeilge a chónaigh sa chathair sa 17ú agus sa 18ú haois. Rugadh an file Seán Ó Neachtain i gContae Ros Comáin i 1640. Sruthán ná tobar ní luann sé, uisce glan ná iarnach, san imeartas focal a dhéanann sé ar ainm na páirce sa scéal grinn leis Stair Éamuinn Uí Chléire (c. 1700): tarlaíonn don phríomhcharachtar agus a chailín ‘ag déanamh aeir agus aoibhnis go tuluigh árd fhad-amharcaigh dhuillighghéag-ghlais fhéar-uaine dá ngoirthear Nead na nEun Aduadhain agus dá ngoirthear go coitcheann an Phénics’, sula dteitheann siad ón gcathair agus tugann aghaidh siar ar ‘Áth Thús na Seachtmhaine, Baile Átha Luain’! Scríobhadh an scéal seo i bhfad sular tógadh dealbh mór an Fhéinics ar Ascaill Chesterfield sna 1740í. Agus féach thairis sin nach luann Tadhg Ó Neachtain, mac le Seán a rugadh c. 1671, uisce dá laghad nuair a scríobhann sé ‘páirc na bhfhiadha’ i 1728 mar leagan Gaeilge de Brl. The Deer Park, ainm coitianta eile ar an bpáirc seo lena linn (Leabharlann Óstaí an Rí LS 20).
Ní haon iontas, mar sin, an t-amhras ar Fhiachra Éilgeach (Risteard Ó Foghludha) ar scrúdú na fianaise dó sa 20ú haois: ‘Páirc an Fhionnuisce, accepted Irish form [of the name of the park] does not appear to be at all justified. Derived from a former Phoenix Lodge, remote from the reputed clear stream near Zoological Gardens’ (Log-Ainmneacha, 1935). Bunús maith leis an amhras seo, cinnte, ach mar sin féin tá glactha leis an bhfoirm sin go hoifigiúil agus go dlíthiúil le fada an lá.
Mar fhocal scoir, feachaimis ar an bhfear a thóg an teach mór seo ‘The Phœnix’ i dtús an 17ú haois. Chnuasaigh Sir Edward Fisher (†1631) fortún ollmhór dó féin agus é in Éirinn (cf. CPR, lgh. 92, 212, 218, 220, 221, 358); rinneadh ridire de i 1603, rinneadh feisire de (ar son Inis Córthaidh) i 1613, agus ar deireadh rinneadh sirriam ar Loch Garman de i 1624. Bronnadh pinsean ocht scillinge in aghaidh an lae air i mí Feabhra 1605 (siardhátaithe go Deireadh Fómhair 1603), agus rinneadh saor de chuid Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath de i 1617 (de dheasca a bhean chéile Alice Edwardes a bheith ina saorbhean í féin). Bhí a iníonacha pósta le Sir Walsingham Cooke agus Edward Chichester, beirt a bhí gníomhach i bplandáil Loch Garman. I 1612 fuair sé seilbh trí ghliceas dlí ar 1,500 acra ó mhuintir pharóiste Chill tSinill lastoir de Ghuaire i gContae Loch Garman: lena rá níos simplí, rinne sé é a ghoid. Dá bharr sin rinne díshealbhú iomlán ar Chlann Dáibhí Mhóir sa cheantar. B’éigean do Mhac Dáibhí Mhóir agus a theaghlach bogadh amach as a bpríomhdhún Muine Alastram. (Ghlacadar an sloinne Béarla Redmond chucu féin go gairid ina dhiaidh sin.) Meirleach mímhacánta den sórt is measa ab ea Fisher, de réir gach blúire eolais dá bhfuil againn maidir lena shaol in Éirinn. Toisc é a bheith chomh mór sin le Chichester, an Fear Ionaid, d’éirigh lena chuid scéiméireachta chun teacht i dtír ar an díshealbhú córasach a rinneadh ar Ghaeil Loch Garman in ainneoin a gcuid tailte a bheith faoi bharántas ag dlí Shasana (féach C. Ó Crualaoich & K. Whelan, Gaelic Wexford: 1400 - 1650, le teacht). Ní fionnuisce ná fíoruisce ba cheart a bheith luaite leis an bhfear a thóg teach mór an Fhéinics, mar sin, ach an t-uisce faoi thalamh aige a dhíbir na Gaeil as a dtailte.
Aguisín:
Meamraim na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis (Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath) 27/5/1844, lgh. 152–154.
Phœnix Park (origin of name)
My dear Larcom
... Respecting the origin of the {153} name of the Phœnix Park it appears certain to me, and O’Donovan also, that the name is derived from the small stream which is the chief feeder of the ponds, and not from the chalybeate well near the Zoological gardens. From documents of the middle of the 17th century, it appears that this Park was formed of two manors, “The manor of the Phœnix” and “the manor of Newtownland” which I think very clearly shows that the name was derived from a stream, as the prefix the {154}to Phœnix, is only applied to descriptive names.The original Irish would be, Fionn-uisge, according to the modern orthography, and Finn-uisce, according to the ancient: and the corruption of uisce to ix, is a common one both in England and Ireland, as Llwyd shows in his comparative Etymological dictionary of the Irish, Welsh and Cornish. Fionn-uisge, anglicised Finisk, is the name of several streams in the south of Ireland. If we can make out anything curious about the origin of the name you shall hear it.
Ever yours,
George Petrie
27th May 44.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)