Other names
Hierarchy
county
barony
civil parish
Explanatory note
- Gaeilge
gap of (the) way of (the) place of willows
I gCo. Chill Mhantáin atá an bearnas ar a dtugtar Sally Gap i mBeárla suite. Tá cúpla tagairt do 'Barneballaghsilurnan' sa chur síos ar theorainneacha na mbarúntachtaí atá sa Civil Survey (1654-6). Idir Mullach Cliabháin agus Dioghais (‘Mollaghclowan … Dweys’, Civil Survey imleabhar X, lch. 5) a bhí an ghné úd le fáil. Ba é Liam Price a thug le fios ina shaothar ar logainmneacha Co. Chill Mhantáin gurbh ionann ‘Barneballaghsilurnan’ agus Sally Gap (The Place-Names of Co. Wicklow, imleabhar VII, 1967, lch. 507). Dealraíonn sé go raibh an ceart aige. Is léir ón ainm féin go raibh bearna san áit agus bealach (.i. slí no bóthar de shaghas éigin). Maidir leis an tríú focal de, is é is dóichí gur sailearnán atá ann (ginideach: sailearnáin). Tá baile fearainn den ainm céanna i gCo. an Chláir ar a dtugtar Sellernaun i mBéarla. Ón mbunfhocal sail, 'willow-tree', a d'eascair sailearnán. Díol comparáide is ea é leis an logainm Beithearnach, ón bhfocal beith 'birch'. Seans gurb é an chiall atá le Sailearnán ná 'a place of willows'. Dá bhrí sin aistriúchán scaoilte ar an mbunainm Gaeilge is ea Sally Gap de réir dealraimh. Sa bhliain 1760 a foilsíodh an sampla is sine den ainm Sally Gap, ar feadh ár n-eolais, ar léarscáil de Co. Chill Mhantáin a rinne Nevill. Níl aon eolas faoin logainm áirithe seo le fáil i gcáipéisí na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis i dtaobh Co. Chill Mhantáin a tiomsaíodh timpeall 1839, sna hAinmleabhair Pharóiste ná i Litreacha na Suirbhéirachta Ordanáis cuir i gcás.
‘Bearnas na Diallaite’ an t-ainm Gaeilge a tugadh ar Sally Gap i roinnt saothar clóite. Níl san ainm sin ach cumadóireacht a cuireadh i gcló i dtosach sa leabhar Log-ainmneacha .i. [A] Dictionary of Irish Placenames le Risteárd Ó Foghludha, nó ‘Fiachra Éilgeach’, sa bhliain 1935 agus ina dhiaidh sin ar léarscáil Ghaeilge d'Éirinn a foilsíodh sa bhliain 1938 (bhí an Foghludhach úd ar dhuine den bheirt scoláirí a sholáthraigh na hainmneacha Gaeilge i gcomhair an mhapa sin). Is ar bhréagshanasaíocht nó ar volksetymologie atá ‘Bearnas na Diallaite’ bunaithe, toisc gur tuairimíodh gur 'saddle', in ionad 'sally', a bhí san ainm Béarla ó cheart. Níl fianaise dá laghad ann gur tugadh *Saddle Gap riamh ar an mbearnas.
- English
gap of (the) way of (the) place of willows
The pass known as Sally Gap in English is situated in Co. Wicklow. There are a couple of references to 'Barneballaghsilurnan' in the description of barony boundaries which were recorded in the Civil Survey (1654-6). This particular feature was located between Mullaghcleevaun and Djouce Mountain (‘Mollaghclowan … Dweys’, Civil Survey volume X, p. 5). Liam Price suggested in his work on the placenames of Co. Wicklow that ‘Barneballaghsilurnan’ and Sally Gap referred to the same place (The Place-Names of Co. Wicklow, volume VII, 1967, p. 507). It appears he was correct. It is evident from the name itself that there was a ‘gap’ (bearna) at this location and a ‘road’ or a ‘way’ of some sort (bealach). The final element of the placename is probably a transliteration of the Irish word sailearnán (genitive: sailearnáin). There is a townland of the same name in Co. Clare which is known as Sellernaun in English. Sailearnán is a derivative of the underlying word sail, a ‘willow-tree’. It is comparable with the placename Beithearnach, from the word beith ‘birch’. Sailearnán possibly means ‘a place of willows’. Therefore Sally Gap seems to be a loose translation of the original Irish name. The oldest example of the name Sally Gap known to us was published in 1760, on Nevill's map of Co. Wicklow. No information about this place is given in the Ordnance Survey Parish Namebooks or Ordnance Survey Letters which were written about 1839.
‘Bearnas na Diallaite’ was given as the Irish name of Sally Gap in a number of printed works. This name is merely an improvised translation, which first appeared in print in the book Log-ainmneacha .i. [A] Dictionary of Irish Placenames by Risteárd Ó Foghludha in 1935 and subsequently on an Irish map of Ireland published in 1938 (Ó Foghludha (or ‘Fiachra Éilgeach’) was one of two scholars who provided the Irish names for that map). ‘Bearnas na Diallaite’ is based on a false (or ‘folk-’)etymology, surmising the original English name to be ‘saddle’ rather than ‘sally'. There is no evidence that the pass was ever called *Saddle Gap.
Centrepoint
Archival records
Historical references
| 1654 |
Barneballaghsilurnan
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| 1654 |
Barneballaghsilurnan
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| 1654 |
Barnaballaghsilurnan ...Barnballaghsilurnan
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| 1760 |
Sally Gap
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| 1821 |
Sally Gap
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| 1822 |
Sallygap
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Please note: Some of the documentation from the archives of the Placenames Branch is available here. It indicates the range of research contributions undertaken by the Branch on this placename over the years. It may not constitute a complete record, and evidence may not be sequenced on the basis of validity. It is on this basis that this material is made available to the public.
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