Hierarchy
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Hierarchy
county
barony
civil parish
electoral division
Explanatory note
- Gaeilge
the cup-shaped rock-hole; the well
Ar na bríonna éagsúla atá le ballán tá 'cloch a bhfuil poll nádúrtha inti (ar cruth cupa nó babhla)', agus as sin, 'tobar'. Faightear na balláin seo taobh le toibreacha beannaithe (cf. Fardal Seandálaíochta na Gaillimhe I, 90, 116), ach ar uairibh is cuid den tobar féin iad: féach Ballán Mhaolodhair, bf Cill Mhuirbhigh, agus Ballán an Cheathrair Álainn, bf Eochaill (par. Árainn), ar toibreacha iad; cf. leis Tobar an Bhalláin (‘it consists of a natural oval basin', Fardal), bf An Cheathrú Rua Theas. Tá tobar i lár an bhaile fearainn idir chamáin anseo (‘Tober Patrick' ar léarscáil na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis), agus féach 'St. Patrick's Well' i mbaile fearainn eile darb ainm An Ballán (par. An Ballán, bar. Baile Locha Riach) = 'Ballayn Padryg' (Pontificia Hibernica, bl. 1223). Féach leis, 'b[allán] Barruinde, name of a spring', tagairt do Betha Colaim Chille in A Dictionary of the Irish Language, www.dil.ie, s.v. ballán - English
the cup-shaped rock-hole; the well
Amongst the several meanings of ballán are 'stone with a (cup-shaped) hole', and by extension, 'well'. These ‘bullaun’ stones are found alongside holy wells (cf. Archaeological Inventory of County Galway I, pp. 90, 116), but they sometimes form part of the well itself: see the wells Ballán Mhaolodhair, townland Cill Mhuirbhigh, and Ballán an Cheathrair Álainn, townland Eochaill (par. Árainn); and cf. Tobar an Bhalláin (‘it consists of a natural oval basin', Archaeological Inventory p. 118), townland An Cheathrú Rua Theas. There is a well in the centre of the present townland (‘Tober Patrick' on Ordnance Survey maps), and see 'St. Patrick's Well' in another townland named An Ballán (par. An Ballán, bar. Baile Locha Riach) = 'Ballayn Padryg' (Pontificia Hibernica, anno 1223). See also 'b[allán] Barruinde, name of a spring', a reference to Betha Colaim Chille in A Dictionary of the Irish Language, www.dil.ie, s.v. ballán.
Centrepoint
Historical references
1618 |
Ballaan
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CPR Leathanach: 372
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1660c |
Bullan
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BSD (Ga) III Leathanach: 91
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1678 |
Ballane
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ASE Leathanach: 247
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1685 |
Ballan
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1838 |
Ballán, pron. bullán, ‘round well in a rock’
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1838 |
Bullane
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1838 |
Bullaun
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1838 |
Bullaun
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1965 |
əN ˈbulɑ:N
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