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Surgeons and their estates (continued)
Ballyfaris/Baile Uí Fhearghasa ‘the town(land) of Ó Fearghasa
(see logainm.ie #44742)

Date: 08/02/2025

Last week’s note discussed the medical families Ó Coiliúin (Cullen) and Ó Coileáin (Cullen/Collins) and the difficulties in distinguishing between the two surnames in the historical evidence. Medicine was very much a hereditary profession in Gaelic Ireland, running in a number of well-known families. A short but extremely informative essay by Aoibheann Nic Dhonnchadha entitled ‘Medical writing in Irish, 1400-1700’ gives the following list (to which standardized Modern Irish spellings have been added in square brackets):

Ulster: Mac (or Ó) Duinnshléibhe [Mac/Ó Doinnléibhe] (Donleavy), Ó Caiside (Cassidy), and Ó Siadhail [Ó Siail] (Shields)…

Leinster: Mac Caisín (Cashin), Ó Bolgaidhe [Ó Bolguír] (Bolger), Ó Conchubhair [Ó Conchúir] (O’Connor), and Ó Cuileamhain [Ó Coiliúin] (Culhoun, Cullen);

Munster: Ó Callanáin (Callanan), Ó hÍceadha [Ó hÍcí] (Hickey), Ó Leighin [Ó Laighin] (Lane [Lyon(s)]), Ó Nialláin (Nealon, [Neiland]), and Ó Troighthigh [Ó Troithigh] (Troy);

Connaught: Mac an Leagha (Mac Kinley [Kinlay, McAlea, etc.]), Mac Beatha [Mac an Bheatha] (Mac Veigh), Ó Ceandubháin [Ó Ceannabháin] (Canavan), Ó Cearnaigh (Kearney), Ó Fearghusa [Ó Fearghasa] (Fergus (or Ferguson)), and Ó (or Mac) Maoil Tuile [Ó Maoltuile] (Tully, or Flood).

The majority of the ‘medical’ surnames mentioned above occur in townland names, and it is striking that they are not always confined to their original provinces. In Gaelic Ireland members of the medical profession were highly mobile and often had to travel in pursuit of employment, a situation not without its parallels today.

Thus we find the surname of the ‘Ulster’ medical family of Ó Doinnléibhe (Dunleavy) in Ballydulea (logainm.ie #9393) in Co. Cork, as well as Ballydeenlea (logainm.ie #23433) and Ballydunlea (logainm.ie #24778) in Co. Kerry, all from Baile Uí Dhoinnléibhe ‘the town(land) of Ó Doinnléibhe’. Members of that family were sometimes known as Ultach ‘Ulsterman’ (see Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall; s.n. Ó Duinnshléibhe), and it is possible that the townlands called Ballinulty in Cos. Mayo (logainm.ie #34898), Tipperary (logainm.ie #48704), and Longford (logainm.ie #32891) – all from Baile an Ultaigh ‘the town(land) of the Ulsterman’ – commemorate members of the Ó Doinnléibhe family. We also have Ballynultagh / Baile an Ultaigh ‘the town(land) of the Ulsterman’ (logainm.ie #55923) and Ballynultagh / Buaile an Ultaigh ‘the boley, summer pasture of the Ulsterman’ (logainm.ie #54879) in Co. Wicklow; Knockoulty / Cnoc an Ultaigh ‘the hill of the Ulsterman’ (logainm.ie #13326) in Co. Cork; and Cooloultha / Cúil Ultaigh ‘the corner, recess of the Ulsterman’ (logainm.ie #27440) in County Kilkenny.

Similarly, the Ulster medical surname Ó Siail is found in the Co. Offaly townland name Ballysheil / Baile Uí Shiail (logainm.ie #41341), and we have another Ballysheil (placenamesni.org s.n. Ballysheil) in Co. Down, along with Ballysheil Beg and Ballysheil More (placenamesni.org s.n. Ballysheil More) in Co. Armagh, which all appear to be from Baile Uí Shiail ‘the town(land) of Ó Siail’. In fact, Áine Sheehan in her essay ‘Locating the Gaelic medical families in Elizabethan Ireland’ (Early Modern Ireland and the world of medicine, p.22) suggests the Ó Siail family may have actually been originally a Co. Offaly family that migrated northwards. The last of the ‘Ulster’ medical surnames that appears to occur in a townland name is Ó Caiside (Cassidy), which is found in Ballycassidy / Baile Uí Chaiside (placenamesni.org s.n. Ballycassidy) and Farrancassidy / Fearann Mhuintir Chaiside ‘the land of the Ó Caiside family’ (placenamesni.org s.n. Farrancassidy) in Co. Fermanagh.

In the case of the ‘Leinster’ medical surnames mentioned above we find Ó Caisín (a variant of Mac Caisín) in Ballycashin (logainm.ie #50391) in Co. Waterford and Ballycasheen (logainm.ie #23777) even further afield in Co. Kerry, both of which represent Irish Baile Uí Chaisín ‘the town(land) of Ó Caisín’. The Leinster families are also attested in their native Southeast, of course, for example in the townland name Ballycullen / Baile Uí Choileáin (logainm.ie #55319) in Co. Wicklow. (As noted last week, this may be a development from *Baile Uí Choiliúin ‘the town(land) of Ó Coiliúin’; both families were traditionally of high status.) The historical placename recorded as Bally Culloone and Ballyculloone in Saint Margaret’s parish near Carne in south Co. Wexford also suggest an underlying Baile Uí Choiliúin (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of Co. Wexford, p.353). Staying in the Model County, Ballywalter More / Baile Ualtair Mór (logainm.ie #52776) was named after Ualtar Ó Bolguír, whose family was firmly established in the area and unquestionably had a medical background (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of Co. Wexford, pp.495-497; see also C. Ó Crualaoich and K. Whelan, Gaelic County Wexford 1550-1650: a story never told, forthcoming). The surname Ó Conchúir features in the townland name Ballyconor More, ~Beg) / Baile Uí Chonchúir Mór, ~Beag) ‘the town(land) of Ó Conchúir (O’Connor)’ (logainm.ie #54368) in Co. Wexford, and it is not inconceivable that it originally referred to the medical family of that name. Certainly the O’Connors were of high status during the Gaelic heyday of Co. Wexford (see C. Ó Crualaoich & K. Whelan).

Of the ‘Munster’ medical surnames Ó Laighin (Lyons or Lane) is found in the underlying Irish form of the townland names Ballylin (logainm.ie #41321) in Co. Offaly, Ballylion (logainm.ie #42372) in Co. Roscommon and the likewise-named Ballylion in Co. Wicklow (logainm.ie #54676), all of which are from Baile Uí Laighin ‘the town(land) of Ó Laighin’. Tawnalion in Co. Sligo is apparently from Tamhnaigh Uí Laighin ‘the green field of Ó Laighin’ (logainm.ie #44664), which contains another probable example of the surname. Back in Munster the surname is found in the underlying Irish form of Meenyline, namely Mín Uí Laighin ‘the smooth grassy patch of Ó Laighin’ (logainm.ie #31934) in Co. Limerick, and also in the original Irish name of Farthingville in Co. Cork, which was Cúil Uí Laighin ‘the recess, nook of Ó Laighin’ (logainm.ie #10602). The well-known town, parish and townland name Carrigaline is from Irish Carraig Uí Leighin ‘the rock of Ó Leighin’ (logainm.ie #531), containing a variant form of Ó Laighin with palatalized initial L- (see SGG s.n. Ó Laighin). The famous medical family of Ó hÍcí ‘descendant of Ící (healer)’ gave name to Ballyhickey in Cos. Clare and Tipperary, both from Baile Uí Ící ‘the town(land) of Ó hÍcí (Hickey)’ (logainm.ie #7807; #48064), long before the establishment of the modern-day chain of pharmacies. Interestingly, a surgeon named Cormac ô Hicky [Cormac Ó hÍcí] was recorded at Bunratty as late as 1643, only 20km from Ballyhickey in Co. Clare (Depositions 1641: MS 829, fols 080r-085v).

Another Munster ‘medical’ surname, Ó Nialláin (Neillan(d) or Nealon), features in the Co. Clare townland name Ballyneillan / Baile Uí Nialláin (logainm.ie #6263), and is also found in Leinster in the townland name Cournellan / Cuar Uí Nialláin ‘the curve of Ó Nialláin’ (logainm.ie #3593), located on a bend of the River Barrow in Co. Carlow. Another ‘Munster’ medical surname, Ó Troithigh (Troy), gave name to the Co. Tipperary townland Ballytrehy / Baile Uí Throithigh ‘the town(land) of Ó Troithigh’ (logainm.ie #48210). This last Gaelic surname is problematic, however, as its usual anglicized form Troy can be difficult to distinguish from the Anglo-Norman surname Troy, found in Castletroy / Caladh an Treoigh (logainm.ie #31226) in Co. Limerick, Troyswood / Coill an Treoigh (logainm.ie #27075) in Co. Kilkenny, and most likely also Troystown, a defunct townland name near Navan in Co. Meath (see historical records under Baile Ghib, logainm.ie #38644).

Of the ‘Connaught’ medical families, the surname Ó Ceannabháin is found in the townland name Ballycanvan / Baile Uí Cheannabháin ‘the town(land) of Ó Ceannabháin’ (logainm.ie #50333) in Co. Waterford. A family of the same name settled in the environs of Enniscorthy, where they were included among the “gentlemen” of Co. Wexford in a source dating from 1608. Their surname occurs in a least three defunct townland names in Co. Wexford (see C. Ó Crualaoich and K. Whelan, op. cit.). At the other end of the country, the townland name Killycanavan (placenamesni.org s.n. Killycanavan Lower) in Co. Tyrone appears to be an anglicization of Coill Uí Cheannabháin ‘the wood of Ó Ceannabháin’. Of the families attested in placenames within Connaught itself we find Ó Fearghasa (Ferris, also anglicized Ferguson) in Ballyfaris / Baile Uí Fhearghasa ‘the town(land) of Ó Fearghasa’ (logainm.ie #44742) in Co. Sligo. It is interesting to note that Ó Fearghasa is not specifically associated with this part of Connaught in the native genealogies relating to the Uí Fhiachrach tribe and so we seem to have yet another case of mobility: the naming of the townland is surely linked to the status of Ó Fearghasa as one of the foremost medical (and ecclesiastical) families of West Connaught (SGG s.nn Ó Fearghuis, Ó Fearghusa).

These placenames tell the story of the inward migration of hereditary medical practitioners, the more successful of whom appear to have been rewarded with a grant of title as a kind of retainer for their services in the area.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

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