O’Donovan is most likely correct in associating this English place-name with the Anglo-Norman surname ‘Ling’ (13). This name is recorded among the Anglo-Norman settlers in Wexford (see Colfer, 2002 p.263), and a ‘John Lyng’ was linked with the townland of ARKLOW (#53583) (par. Clonmines) in the fourteenth century (Hore ii p.227). Trisyllabic ‘Lingistowne’ (3, 7a) shows the genitive marker -əs that was typical of the English formerly spoken in South Wexford and elsewhere in the Pale (see CODDSTOWN (#54405), par. Ballymore).

Ling in place-names is sometimes derived from the Irish surname Ó Floinn, as in Ballyling/Baile Uí Fhloinn (CK) (see logainm.ie), but there are no historical forms here such as *Ballyflynn which would support such a derivation. That said, the surname Ó Floinn is recorded among the native Irish in Wexford (see table below).

The recommended Irish form of the name is a translation.

[It has recently been stated the Lingstown is definitely a Norse place-name ([details to be added]). However, this suggestion is problematic given the nature of the evidence. It is incontrovertible that the surname ‘Lyng’ has been recorded among the Anglo-Normans in Wexford, as mentioned above. That the name can be of Anglo-Norman origin in Ireland is supported by the fact that it is also well-attested in England (see The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, eds. Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, and Peter McClure, 2016). It is undoubtedly the case that most townland names in the baronies of Forth and Bargy are of English origin and the vast majority of these are formations in which the generic element -town is preceded by the eponym’s surname or, less frequently, personal name. Given that the surname Ling/Lyng is attested among the Anglo-Normans in Wexford, the place-name Lingstown is most likely to belong to this category of place-name, i.e., ‘(Anglo-Norman) surname + (-ə)s + -town’.

[An alternative suggestion is that Ling(s)- here represents the English dialect word ling “heather” (see English Dialect Dictionary; http://eddonline-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/index.jsp). However, the genitive marker -s usually indicates that the qualifying element is a personal name or surname (see Townlands Names of Co. Wexford: KNOCKSTOWN (#52388), par. Killegney) and consequently this derivation is less likely to be correct. (Of course there is no early evidence whatsoever to support direct derivation from the related Old Norse word lyng “heather”.)]

[Excerpt from Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of County Wexford, 2016. Additional material in square brackets [ ].]