Béal na mBuillí/Strokestown

Gaeilge

Tá baile Bhéal na mBuillí suite i bparóistí dlí Bhuimlinne agus Chill Trostáin, Co. Ros Comáin. Tá toghroinn ann den ainm sin chomh maith. Mar leis an ainm Strokestown de, is amhlaidh a leathaistríodh go Béarla ainm Gaeilge bhaile fearainn Bellanamullia – leathaistriúchán míchruinn atá ann ó thaobh na staire de. Tá an baile fearainn deireanach timpeall trí chiliméadar taobh thoir de bhaile Bhéal na mBuillí agus is inmheasta gur thoir ann a bhí láthair an bhaile tráth. Tá ainm bunaidh Gaeilge Bellanamullia luaite in Annála Connacht in iontrálacha bhlianta 1411 agus 1421, Beoil (gineadach Béal) na Muilled. Luaitear caisleán nó dúnfort den ainm Bél na Muilnedh in Annála Locha Cé chomh maith, faoin mbliain 1552 agus b’fhéidir gurb í an áit chéanna í. Is é an chiall atá le Béal na Muilleadh nó Muilneadh ná, ‘the mouth / approach of the mills’. De réir Books of Survey and Distribution, Co. Roscommon, bhí muileann ramhraithe san áit i lár an seachtú haois déag. Ina theannta sin, sa chuntas a scríobh an tUrramach John Keogh sa bhliain 1683 faoi Strokestown – a bhfuil sleachta tugtha as i Litreacha na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis, Co. Ros Comáin (bliain 1837) – thagair sé do: ‘a small stream … serving to turn three or four mills’. Béal Áth’ Maille an fhoirm Ghaeilge a bhreac Micheál Ó Braonáin ó Co. Ros Comáin i ndán fada faoin tSionainn a chum seisean sa bhliain 1794. Ba dhóigh linn gur cuireadh Áth le Béal ar mhúnla a lán logainmneacha eile dar tús Béal Átha; ‘fordmouth’ is brí leis. I measc na samplaí atá curtha le chéile ag an mBrainse Logainmneacha, deonaíodh do Nicholas Mahon aontaí agus margaí a bheith i ‘Ballynemully’ sa bhliain 1671. Ní foláir nó bhí bunús an bhaile ann faoin tráth sin. Tagairt dhéanach í sin mar ba ghairid ina dhiaidh sin gur cuireadh Strokestown i scríbhinn. Is mar seo a thosaigh cuntas réamhráite an Urr. Keogh sa bhliain 1683 (de réir Litreacha na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis): ‘As for Strokestown it is in Irish called Belawhnamully, Béal Áith na mBuille, word for word, “the pass ... of the ford of strokes”, there having been some strokes of battle given heretofore, which gave denomination to the place’. Úsáideadh an focal stroke san aistriúchán Béarla mar gheall air seo. Comhainmneacha is ea (Béal na) mBuille agus Muille / Muilleadh i nGaeilge (.i. míreanna foclóireachta arb ionann fuaimniú dóibh ach nach ionann brí dóibh). Ó tharla go gciallaíonn buille ‘stroke’ nó ‘blow’ i nGaeilge, níor dhóichí rud de ná gur athraigh brí an logainm i measc cainteoirí Gaeilge agus gur as sin a tháinig Strokes-town. Tá fianaise áirithe ann a chuireann leis an teoiric seo. I gceann d’Ainmleabhair Pharóiste na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis, ba é an t-ainm Gaeilge a bhí ag duine de na faisnéiseoirí (John Fallon) ar Strokestown ná Béal na mBuille. Ina dhiaidh sin, scríobh Dubhghlas de hÍde go dtugadh seandaoine Béal Áth na mBuille ar an áit nuair a bhi seisean óg. Is cosúil go bhfuil foirm traslitrithe Béarla an Urr. John Keogh, Belawhnamhully, ar aon dul leis an bhfoirm Ghaeilge dheireanach. Scríobhadh béul-na-mbuilligh i lámhscríbhinn Gaeilge ón ochtú haois déag. Ó thaobh Béal na mBuillí de, leagan oifigiúil Gaeilge an lae inniu, tá Áth(a) fágtha ar lár ann agus tugtar aitheantas don athrú brí atá taobh thiar de Strokes-town; buillí iolra caighdeánach buille.
English

The town of Strokestown is located in the civil parishes of Bumlin and Kiltrustan, Co. Roscommon. It has also given rise to the name of an electoral division. The English name is a part-translation, which happens to be historically incorrect, of the Irish name of Bellanamullia townland. The latter townland is situated about three kilometres east of Strokestown and the town may, in fact, have been located there once. The original Irish name of Bellanamullia is recorded in the Annals of Connacht, in the years 1411 and 1421, as Beoil (genitive of Béal) na Muilled. The castle or fortress of Bél na Muilnedh which is recorded in the Annals of Loch Cé in the year 1552 may refer to the same place. Béal na Muilleadh or Muilneadh means ‘the mouth / approach of the mills’. According to the Books of Survey and Distribution, Co. Roscommon, a tucking mill was located there in the mid-seventeenth century. Furthermore Rev. John Keogh, in a description of Strokestown written by him in the year 1683 – from which passages are quoted in the Ordnance Survey Letters, Co Roscommon (dated 1837) – referred to: ‘a small stream … serving to turn three or four mills’. Béal Áth’ Maille is the Irish form recorded by Micheál Ó Braonáin from Co. Roscommon in a long poem on the River Shannon which he composed in 1794. The addition of Áth to Béal is probably on the analogy of numerous other placenames beginning with Béal Átha, meaning ‘fordmouth’. The records compiled by the Placenames Branch show that as late as 1671 Ballynemully was referred to in a grant to Nicholas Mahon to hold fairs and markets there. The nucleus of the town must already have been in existence by then. Strokestown was recorded in writing shortly afterwards. The afore-mentioned account by Rev. Keogh in 1683 begins thus (according to the Ordnance Survey Letters): ‘As for Strokestown it is in Irish called Belawhnamully, Béal Áith na mBuille, word for word, “the pass ... of the ford of strokes”, there having been some strokes of battle given heretofore, which gave denomination to the place’. The word stroke was used in the English translation of the name for the following reason. In Irish (Béal na) mBuille and Muille / Muilleadh are homonyms (lexical items with the same pronunciation but different meaning). As buille can in fact mean a stroke or a blow in Irish, it seems likely that a change in meaning had arisen amongst Irish speakers, giving rise to Strokes-town. There is a certain amount of evidence to support this theory. In the relevant Ordnance Survey Parish Namebook, one of the informants quoted (namely John Fallon) gave Béal na mBuille as the Irish name of Strokestown. At a later date, Douglas Hyde called to mind that the place was normally called Béal Áth na mBuille by elderly native Irish speakers in his youth. Rev. John Keogh’s English transcription of the name, Belawhnamhully, seems to be in agreement with the last-mentioned Irish form. In an eighteenth century Irish manuscript, the name was transcribed as béul-na-mbuilligh. The modern official Irish form of the name, Béal na mBuillí, dispenses with the unnecessary Áth(a), while recognizing the shift in meaning that gave rise to Strokes-town; buillí is the standard plural form of buille.

Centrepoint

53.7762, -8.10602latitude, longitude

Irish Grid (with letter)

Computing...

Irish Grid (without letter)

Computing...

Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM)

Computing...

Properties

POThere is or was once a post office here

Archival records

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.

Archival and research material provided on this site may be used, subject to acknowledgement. Issues regarding republication or other permissions or copyright should be addressed to logainm@dcu.ie.