Featured themes

Date: 17/08/2026

Continuing on the theme discussed last week, not only do we find the fruit úll “apple” mentioned in townland names, but we also have even more specific references to the etymologically-related abha(i)ll, literally meaning “apple-tree” but often representing “orchard”, especially in the north. Thus there is Avalbane/Abhaill Bhán “the white apple-tree (i.e. orchard)”(logainm.ie #40526 and Avalreagh/Abhaill Riabhach “the grey apple-tree (i.e. orchard)” #40527) in County Monaghan, along with Owlbeg/Abhaill Bheag “little apple-tree”(logainm.ie #3186) in County Carlow. In County Wexford, we find both Shanowle/Seanabhaill “old apple-tree” (logainm.ie #53423 and of course Theoil/An Abhaill “the apple-tree” #52402) at the village of Oilgate/Maolán na nGabhar.
In the aforementioned examples abhaill occurs as the primary generic element, as sometimes happens with other tree-names. However, it is found even more often as a genitive plural qualifier, as in Cloonoul/Cluain Abhall “pasture of (the) apple-trees”(logainm.ie #32032) in County Limerick and Corrowle/Corr Abhall “round hill(?), hollow(?) of (the) apple-tree” (logainm.ie #45839) in County Tipperary. The same Corr Abhall is the forerunner to Corrool (logainm.ie #32586) in County Longford, and in County Mayo it occurs again, this time with the article, in Cornanool/Corr na nAbhall “the round hill of the apple-trees” (logainm.ie #35737). In County Laois we have Coolnanowle/Cúil an nAbhall “the recess of the apple-trees” (logainm.ie #28819), and in County Leitrim, Killasanowl/Coill Lios na nAbhall “the wood of (at) the ring-fort of the apple-trees” (logainm.ie #29251). This last name reminds us of Applefort/Cnoc na nÚll “the hill of the apples” in County Clare (see last week’s theme), insofar as it is another probable instance of the repurposing of an abandoned ring-fort as an enclosed orchard. In the same vein we have Lisheenanoul/Lisín na nAbhall “the (little) fort of the apple-trees”(logainm.ie #29251) in County Tipperary.

In County Mayo we have woods full of apples in Derryool/Doire Abhall (x2), Derrowel Beg and More/Doire Abhall Beag and Mór “wood, (oak-)grove of the apple-trees (Little/Big)”, as well as Inishowel/Inis Abhall “island of the apple-trees” (logainm.ie #36352; #36635; #35511; #36395) . In County Wicklow two seperate examples of the Irish placename Achadh Abhall “field of (the) apple-trees” give name to the subdivided townland Aghowle Lower, ~ Upper in the east of the county (logainm.ie #55317;#55318) and another Aghowle Lower, ~ Upper near County Carlow (logainm.ie #55786; #55787). The second example, also the name of an ancient parish (logainm.ie #2665), was frequently mentioned in early Irish sources. Witness the delight of John O’Donovan of the Ordnance Survey when he heard the local Irish pronunciation in 1839 (‘now pronounced by the old men who speak Irish Ach abhall (Agh-oul)’) and realized he had finally located this famous place: ‘I have been on the look out for this Achadh Abhall these eight years, and had despaired of ever being able to find it’ (Ordnance Survey Letters (Wicklow) 121–132). What a wonderful example of the care taken by the toponomists of the Ordnance Survey in their research of the placenames now found on their maps! Indeed, this very much belies the image of their methods portrayed in Brian Friel’s famous play Translations.
In County Cavan we have fields full of apples in the townland name Gartnanoul/Gort na nAbhall, an open compound meaning “the field of the apple-trees” (logainm.ie #5066) (the English spelling reflecting the common pronunciation of Irish gort in that county: see ‘Gartnenowle’ (1652)). However, by far the most common combination of abhaill “apple-tree” with gort “field” in placenames is abhallort, a close compound of abhaill (var. abhall) + gort “field”, meaning “orchard”. In Modern Irish, the spelling has been standardized úllord outside of placenames. In its more common realization An tAbhallort, it features as the Irish precursor to the most English-looking of placenames Aldworth(logainm.ie #11871) in County Cork, along with the two examples of Oulart in Wexford (logainm.ie #52250; #52975). Other examples in County Wexford are Oulartard/An tAbhallort Ard “the high orchard”, Oulartwick/Abhallort Bhoic “Buck’s orchard”, Oulartleigh/An tAbhallort Liath “the grey orchard”, and Ballinoulart/Baile an Abhalloirt “the town(land) of the orchard” (logainm.ie #52717; #52513; #52190; #52926). Baile an Abhalloirt is also the forerunner to anglicized Ballynahoulort in Kerry (logainm.ie #24791) and Ballinowlart in Offaly (logainm.ie #41621). Knockanoulort/Cnoc an Abhalloirt “the hill of the orchard” is another County Kerry townland name referring to apples (logainm.ie #23201).
The English name Orchard in the parish of Nurney in County Carlow is particularly well-attested, but there is no evidence that this represents original Irish An tAbhallort(logainm.ie #3428). On the other hand, a second example in the same county, Orchard near Clonegal, is beyond a shadow of a doubt a half-translation of An tAbhallort Fiáin “the wild orchard” (logainm.ie #3134): we find that name explicitly described in the rental book of the Earl of Kildare as ‘The wilde orcharde alias the Owllorde fyan’ (1518) and later elsewhere as ‘Owlordfyan’ (1604). Similarly, Orchard Lower and Orchard Upper in County Laois are translations of An tAbhallort (logainm.ie #27986), while Neworchard/An tAbhallort Nua in County Kilkenny was recorded locally as ‘ollúirt’ [representing modern Abhallort] by the Irish scholars of the Ordnance Survey in 1840 (logainm.ie #26923). Longorchard in County Tipperary is also a translation of Irish An tAllortort Fada, as is clear from the anglicized reference ‘Oulortfadda’, recorded in the 1650s (logainm.ie #47269). And finally, although research has not been completed on townland names in the part of County Donegal that lies outside of the Gaeltacht, it appears Avaltygort may represent an exceptional variant of the same compound word, perhaps best represented by An tAbhallghort in Irish (logainm.ie #16387).
There are only a few uncertain examples of placenames which might contain a gaelicized version of the Anglo-Norman surname Orchard (see Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland s.v. [Orchard](There are only a few uncertain examples of placenames which might contain a gaelicized version of the Anglo-Norman surname Orchard (see Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland s.v. Orchard). In County Tipperary, Baile an Abhallortaigh “the town(land) of An tAbhallortach” (logainm.ie #48407) — in which An tAbhallortach means “person surnamed Orchard” — might well be a reinterpretation of earlier Baile na hAbhalloirte “the town(land) of the orchard”, containing the feminine variant of the common noun: cf. ‘Nawelort’ (1384). (Compare also the local pronunciation ‘Baile na habhluirt’ recorded in 1841 for the County Kerry placename Ballynahoulort/Baile an Abhalloirt mentioned above.) And despite the superficial appearance of the English forms of implying ‘[surname] + ’s + town’, it is more likely that the historical placename ‘Orchardiston’ (1518), ‘Orchardston…’ (1575) in County Laois also represents the common noun Eng. orchard rather than the surname Eng. Orchard: see ‘Ballenowlert’ (1569), ‘Orchardston, alias Ballinnoulard’ (1575). The evidence is discussed in the note under the townland name Ballybrittas/Baile Briotáis (#28286).
While research has not been completed on all of the townland names of the State — there are still almost 20,000 left to go —the southern bias of these placenames is unavoidably clear. It would seem that County Armagh’s reputation as ‘The Orchard County’ had no little competition during Ireland’s Gaelic period! Fergus Kelly has noted how common the wild apple is as a native tree in Ireland, remarking that is was available as a food-source since man’s first arrival here (Early Irish Farming, p. 259; see Early Irish Farming). Indeed, early Irish native law upheld strict rules concerning the value of apple-trees and fines for the destruction of the various varieties, even according to the status of the owner. Notably, the aball (Mod.Ir. abhaill) was categorized in the Old Irish law text Bretha Comaithchesa among the ‘Airig Fedo’ (Mod.Ir. Aireacha Feá) “nobles of the wood”, which was the most important category of trees (see Early Irish Farming, pp. 260, 380). Perhaps it was the ubiquity — and the nobility — of the apple-tree which prompted a late 16th century Irish scribe to reinterpret the opaque placename Cúil Mhic Conamhal “the corner, nook of the son of Conamhail” (#28633) in County Laois (which modern research would indicate contains a rare Leinster personal name) as ‘Cuilic an Abhall’ and ‘Culic an Abhaill' (1595, 1608).
Little wonder, then, that úll “apple” and abha(i)ll “apple-tree” should feature in so many townland names down to our own times.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 10/08/2026

Even though the main harvest of apples will not reach full swing until the month of September, the early gathering begins in August. For many of us of a certain vintage the apple-harvest dominated the last two weeks of school holidays when we would pay regular visits to the local orchards! The fact that this pastime has largely been replaced by others is perhaps no bad thing, not only for the orchard-owners concerned but also for the eager young scrumpers, as these innocent visits often resulted in severe stomach cramps due to the need to completely destroy any evidence before getting home. ‘Little apples will grow again’, as the old phrase has it — filleann an feall ar an bhfeallaire!
Apples were also clearly an important foodstuff in Gaelic Ireland, and as there are many references to both the fruit and the tree in the townland names of Ireland. For instance, in County Galway we have the anglicized Cappaghnanool/Ceapach na nÚll “the plot of the apples” (logainm.ie #19972) and the directly translated Apple Island/Oileán na nÚll(logainm.ie #19142).In County Cork we have Derrynanool/Doire na nÚll “the wood, grove of the apples”(logainm.ie #12842); Rossnanowl/Ros na nÚll “the wood, elevated ground of the apples” (logainm.ie #26678) in County Kilkenny; and Tomanoole/Tuaim na nÚll “the tumulus, hillock of the apples" (logainm.ie #52375) in County Wexford. Additionally we have Gortnanool/Gort na nÚll “the field of the apples” (logainm.ie #7546) and the half-translation Applefort/Cnoc na nÚll “the hill of the apples” (logainm.ie #7820) in County Clare. The unusual English form references the large ringfort on the boundary with the adjoining townland. Indeed, it is probable that the fort was the location of the apple-trees in question.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 03/08/2026

With the diminishing hope that the rain might stay away we move grudgingly from the trá “strand, beach” and cladach “shore, rocky foreshore” from recent weeks to look at a couple of other toponymic elements that generally refer to places beside the sea. The Modern Irish word muirbheach means “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore, links” (FGB s.v. muirbheach). Donnchadh Ó Corráin has suggested the etymology muir “sea” + -bach “breaking” (from Old Irish bongaid), meaning “sea-breach” (‘Old Norse place names II: Muirbech, Smjǫrvík’, Peritia 11 (1997)). Along with its variant murbhach (with non-palatal or broad -rbh-) this element occurs in a number of townland names around the country, with an interesting variety of local Irish pronunciations.
It is found as Murroogh/Muirbheach (logainm.ie #18664) near Galway City, as Murvey/Muirbhigh (logainm.ie #18355) in west County Galway and as Murrevagh/Muirbheach (logainm.ie #37483) in County Mayo. Although situated inland, Murragh (logainm.ie #42219) in County Offaly also appears to be from Muirbheach, (cf. ‘Murriogh’ (1828), with the remarkable modern anglicized pronunciation /muˈru:/ (1985) — as if Muroo with stress on the second syllable). Interestingly it was noted during the Ordnance Survey in 1837 that this townland ‘in the neighbourhood of the river [was] subject to floods’, a characteristic which may have been considered similar to a muirbheach “links”.
Muirbheach is also well-attested as murbhach (i.e. a version with a non-palatal (broad) -rbh-), the form that occurs in Murbhach, the origin of the townland names Murvagh Lower(logainm.ie #13908) and Murvagh Upper Glebe (logainm.ie #13909) on the coast south of Donegal Town. In that case, the broad cluster -rbh- was apparently locally pronounced as /-rv-/, but we seem to have examples of the same form in which -rbh- /-rv-/ developed to /-r-/ at an early stage. Take for instance the townland name Murragh (logainm.ie #16751) in north County Dublin, which also appears to derive from Murbhach. That example is situated far inland, however, and although a small stream runs through the townland, it seems to contain no feature which might suggest suggest a links or foreshore-type environment. The same might initially be thought of Ballinamorragh/Baile na Murbhach(logainm.ie #53687) in County Wexford, which lies some distance from the sea. However, Ballinamorragh was in fact situated on the coast until the reclamation of the adjoining slob in the nineteenth century (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann VI: Townland Names of Co. Wexford, p. 176). Therefore the name can readily be translated as “the town(land) of (at) the level stretches of sandy land along the seashore” (ibid.).
One common variant Irish form of muirbheach, namely muiríoch, arose due to the loss of the palatal (slendar) internal -bh-, in many southern dialects (as if via muiribheach with epenthetic vowel). Thus we have Murreagh/An Mhuiríoch “the level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore, links” (logainm.ie #8437) iin County Cork, along with two examples in County Kerry — one near Waterville (logainm.ie #22261 and the other a well-known destination in the Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne #22687).The latter example from Kerry is situated on Cuan Ard na Caithne (from Ard na Caithne “the height of the arbutus, wild strawberry” (#22598)). In fact, it has been suggested that Smerwick Harbour — the name used in English to refer to Cuan Ard na Caithne — is not a Norse coinage containing vík “bay” as might first be presumed, but rather a Norse folk etymology based on the Middle Irish pronunciation of this Muiríoch < Mid. Ir. Muirbech (see Ó Corráin 1997). In Leinster, the area known in English as the Murragh (logainm.ie #1413200) on the coast immediately north of Wicklow Town also seems derives its name from a similar realization of muirbheach in the local dialect (‘the Murrioghe’ (1606), ‘the Morieight’ (1619) → ‘the Murrow’ (1726)).
Another local variant is muiriúch (as if via muireabhach with epenthetic vowel and broad -bh-). A pronunciation similar to this was recorded by Placenames Branch researchers in Murroogh/Muirbheach (logainm.ie #18664) near Galway City (mentioned above), in the 1970s — /(əɴ)ˈmɪrʹuːx/, with stress on the first syllable. The last native Irish speakers of the Burren, County Clare, had another distinctive pronunciation when interviewed in 1985: they pronounced the district name Murroogh/Muiriúch “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore, links” (logainm.ie #1420406) in north County Clare as /(əɴ)mʹəˈrʹuːx/, with stress on the second syllable. This district gave name to the townlands of Murrooghkilly/Muiriúch Cille “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore of (belonging to) the church” (logainm.ie #5776) and Murrooghtoohy/Muiriúch Tuaithe “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore of (belonging to) the laity” (logainm.ie #5778).
It is interesting to see how these various pronunciations of muirbheach correlate to the distribution of the phonetically similar word inbhear “grazing” recorded in the Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects I p. 16. Just as we find with muirbheach, the word inbhear was pronounced in different dialects as if spelled invear, inivear, iníor, iniúr, etc. (The standard Modern Irish spelling is iníor; Pádraig Ó Cearbhaill discusses some finer points on the various pronunciations in ‘Fishery names on the River Shannon’, Éigse 39 (2016).) The broad correlation in distribution might prove useful in placename analysis: for example, because we know that ag inbhear “grazing” was pronounced /ɪgʹˈinʹuːr/ in the dialect of Kilbaha near Loop Head (LASID loc. cit. Point 22), we might give consideration to the possibility that the Irish name of the cliff Aylevaroo/Aill an Mharú (#104013), near Kilrush, originally contained the local dialect form of muirbheach (namely muiriúch, gen. sg. mhuiriúigh).
Finally, we come to the townland and village of Naran/An Fhearthainn(logainm.ie #14607; #1414079) in County Donegal, whose Irish name immediately appears very odd to any Irish speaker — in the modern language, an fhearthainn means simply “the rain” (FGB s.v. fearthainn)! However, given its location at the seashore (it is adjacent to Tramore Strand, another example of Irish An Trá Mhór “the big strand, beach”) it is most likely that the place takes its name from a variant form of feorainn “grassy place; grassy river or shore”, which we have already met as a possible forerunner of Beach/An Trá (logainm.ie #8347) in County Cork — compare the attested variant feorthainn (FGB s.v. feorainn). The word feorainn itself certainly occurs in the townland name Ballyforan/Béal Átha Feorainne “approach to (the) ford of (at) (the) grassy riverside” (logainm.ie #42580) in County Roscommon, which although it is on the brink of the River Suck, is close to the geographical centre of Ireland and very far indeed from the sea! The same element is also found in the names of some minor features on the coastline of County Mayo, e.g. Feorin/An Fheorainn (logainm.ie #1399403; #1399404) and Feorinyeeo Bay/Trá Fheorainn Uí Eo (logainm.ie #114210).

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 01/08/2026

Last month’s Monthly Morsel focused on placename elements and their possible use, along with other tools, in assisting planners to predict sites that may be, or have historically been, liable to flood. As an adjunct to this it is also particularly noteworthy that placenames, when the underlying Irish form has been correctly determined, might sometimes be of enormous value to those engaged in rewetting as a method of nature restoration and/or as flood alleviation.
For example, the townland names Lagore Big (logainm.ie #37986) and Lagore Little (logainm.ie #37987) next to Dunshaughlin in County Meath appear innocuous at first sight, particularly since they appear in Irish as the essentially near meaningless ‘Lagór mór’ and ‘Lagór beag’ in the Ordnance Survey Name Book, which indicates that the last local Irish speakers of the area understood no connection with the word loch “lake” in that placename. However, loch is exactly what is reflected in early anglicised historical forms of the name such as ‘Laghgower’ (1415) and ‘loghgowre’ (1481), a fact confirmed by the many early Irish attestations of this name such as ‘Loch Gabhor’ ‘lake of (the white) horses’ (e.g. Annals of Ulster s.a. 785) or ‘Loch Gabhair’ ‘lake of (the white) horse’ (Annals of the Four Masters, compiled 17th century), or similar — whence today’s standardized Irish form Loch Gabhar, which has been in official use since the 1980s. Notably, the earlier presence of a lake situated both in Lagore Big and Lagore Little is confirmed by soil maps which show a significant area of lacustrine soil (lake-bed) to the east of Dunshaughlin. In addition, a second reasonably large area of lacustrine soil, which must represent the site of a second lake, is found in the southeastern corner of Lagore Big (see soil maps below).

(Subsoil map at Lagore Big and Lagore Little, County Meath. Area of lacustrine soil marked with + https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/)

(Subsoil map at Lagore Big and Lagore Little, County Meath. Second area of lacustrine soil marked with +: https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/)

Both of these zones of lake-bed soil drain into the Broadmeadow River which is particularly notable given the acknowledged danger of flooding from this river downstream in nearby Ratoath (see Meath County Development Plan 2021-2026. (Interestingly, the original Irish name of the Broadmeadow River, may be Abhainn Ghabhra ‘river of (the white) horse’, which, if correct, would be clearly linked to that of Loch Gabhar ‘lake of (the white) horses’, in turn suggesting a symbiotic relationship between both features.) Therefore, given that both of these large areas of lacustrine soil drain into the Broadmeadow River, it seems probable, even to the lay person with no expertise in hydraulic geography or engineering, that flooding caused by the river at Ratoath could be alleviated, should the area of Loch Gabhar, from which the Broadmeadow River flows, be rewetted and used as a retention lake during periods of excessive rainfall. Certainly, both the original Irish name and soil maps of the area suggest the cost-effective appropriateness of such an approach. The only hindrance to this suggestion, should landowners be prepared to sell their holdings or part thereof, is that a small part of the area in question has been encroached on by a recent housing development in Dunshaughlin. In this instance, the planners may not have recognised the red flags raised by both the placename and soil maps, or if so, perhaps they felt that building on lake-bed soil did not pose an insurmountable problem of flooding.

The example of Lagore / Loch Gabhar ‘lake of (the white) horses’ is just one of many that suggest the potential of Irish names of places to be used to earmark areas that might be suitable for rewetting with the least amount of expense to the country’s citizens, i.e. the placename itself combined with information from soil maps could be used to determine earlier wetlands with a potential to be restored without the need for expensive engineering works, given that they were originally wetlands in their natural state. With this in mind, it may be of interest to know that even Irish placenames only found in literary creations may also sometimes highlight areas liable to flooding or suitable for rewetting. For example, in a recent article on the placenames Screggan / An Screagán ‘the rough, rocky, stony ground’ and Lynally / Lainn Eala ‘church of (the) swan’ near Tullamore in County Offaly (see logainm.ie Featured Theme 124), it was noted that the final element of Lainn Eala is from the name of the founding saint of the parish church, namely Colmán Eala. The Life of Colmán Eala tells us that the saint reputedly derived his epithet, Eala, from Loch Eala ‘lake of (the) swan’, supposedly an enchanted lake then situated next to the site of his new foundation at Lynally. It was written that neither man nor animal would dare approach Loch Eala because it was guarded by a wicked beast (pēist urc[h]ōidech), but after Colmán summoned the aid of various famous saints and clerics the beast was decapitated and its remains buried in the newly consecrated graveyard. (For further references to this place in Irish sources see E-Onomasticon s.n. lann elo.) As often happens with early Irish literature, we are left wondering whether Loch Eala was a real place or whether it was merely a literary creation of the type which placename researchers often refer to as a ghost name. (We also use this term to refer to errors and other false names which appear on maps or in other historical sources, much to the confusion of researchers.) With this in mind, a sceptic might surely look at the present-day townland of Lynally Glebe / Lainn Eala (#42263) – where there is no lake – and with some justification consider Loch Eala to indeed be a literary fabrication.

(Subsoil map of Lynally Glebe and surrounding townlands, County Offaly. Extensive area of alluvial soil (floodplain) marked with +: https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/)

However, scientific analysis reflected in the EPA soil map seen above shows that this townland contains an enormous area of alluvial soil stretching far into the surrounding townlands, between the modern courses of the Tullamore River, the Clodiagh River, and beyond. Indeed, the land just north of the ruins in Lynally are described as Flooded Bottoms on the Ordnance Survey 6ʺ map (first edition), while the alluvial soil here also, markedly, extends into part of the townland of Killiskea / Coill Uisce ‘wood of water’ (logainm.ie #42305). This area of alluvial soil, then, quite plausibly corresponds to the site of Loch Eala, but if so, the lake appears to have been gradually drained over many years. Be that as it may, the soil maps certainly confirm that there is an enormous floodplain here, and the placename Loch Eala suggests that the area in question must have remained under water for periods long enough to generate the element loch “lake” in the placename. Therefore, it seems that we can indeed sometimes use placenames only found in literary creations (they are not all ghost-names) in combination with soil maps in the determination of areas liable to flooding and possibly very well-suited to rewetting at the minimum of financial cost.

Overall, examples such as those described above and in last month’s Monthly Morsel suggest that an interdisciplinary approach between toponymists, planners, geographers and engineers may prove particularly useful in any future attempts at using natural features to alleviate flooding possibly be means of rewetting. At least there is surely food for thought in considering such an approach.

(For further reading concerning the use of placenames in the determination of flood histories see: ‘Early Medieval Place-Names and Riverine Flood Histories: A New Approach and New Chronostratigraphic Records for Three English Rivers’, p. 381-405, Pears, B., Brown, A.G., Carroll, J., Toms, Phillip, Wood, J.C. and Jones, R (2020): European Journal of Archaeology.)

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich \& Justin Ó Gliasáin)

Date: 27/07/2026

Last week’s contribution concerning the theme of wells, springs and fountains in Irish placenames focused of the element tobar ‘well, fountain, spring, source’ and its occurrence in placenames that sometimes reflect the reputed curative properties of their waters, all the while barely mentioning other terms that can also refer to a ‘well’, ‘spring’ or ‘fountain’ such as tiobra, or its more commonly occurring variant tiobraid (a fossilised oblique form of tiobra) as in Tipperary / Tiobraid Árann ‘the well, spring, fountain, source of (at the) Ára (possibly an old name of the river flowing through Tipperary town (see Onomasticon DIAS s.n. ára))’, and fuarán as in Carrownaworan / Ceathrú na bhFuarán ‘the quarter (land) of the springs, fountains’ (logainm.ie #45715) in Co. Sligo.

While tiobra / tiobraid ‘well, spring, fountain, source’ cannot be considered at all rare in townland names, it is particularly noticeable that it rarely occurs in conjunction with a personal name, as is the case in Tibberaghny / Tiobra Fhachna ‘the well of Fachna (< Mid.Ir. Fachtna)’ (logainm.ie #26492) in Co. Kilkenny. This contrasts greatly with placenames containing tobar ‘well, fountain, spring, source’ of which there are many more examples with personal names, as in Toberphelim / Tobar Féilim ‘Féilim’s well’ (logainm.ie #32934) in Co. Longford; Toberjarleth / Tobar Iarlatha ‘Iarlaith’s well’ (logainm.ie # 21995) in Co. Galway and Toberrory / Tobar Ruairí ‘Ruairí’s well’ (logainm.ie #43913) in Co. Roscommon. Not to mention the ubiquity of townlands and wells called Toberbride / Tobar Bhríde (sometimes also Tobar Bríde, i.e. with a fossilised form of gen. Bríde without initial lenition) ‘St. Brigid’s well’ or Toberpatrick / Tobar Phádraig (sometimes also Tobar Pádraig) ‘St. Patrick’s well’. This implies that tobar was far more commonly used than tiobra / tiobraid, but it is worth noting that tiobraid was not at all uncommon as a qualifier, as seen in placenames such as Aughatubbrid or Chatsworth/ Achadh Tiobraide “field of (the) well, spring, fountain, source” (logainm.ie #26541) in Co. Kilkenny; Baile na Tiobraide ‘the town(land) of the well, spring’ is the forerunner to Ballintubbert (logainm.ie #28120) and Springhill (earlier ‘Balletibred’) (logainm.ie #28860) in Co. Laois, as well as Ballintubbrid (logainm.ie #31887) in Co. Limerick. We also have Kiltubbrid / Cill Tiobraide ‘church of (the) spring, fountain’ (logainm.ie #40330; #40825) in Co. Monaghan; Clontubbrid / Cluain Tiobraide ‘meadow, pasture of (the) spring, fountain’ in Cos. Mayo (logainm.ie #36824) and Kilkenny (logainm.ie #27473); Ballintubbrid / Baile na dTiobrad ‘the town(land) of the springs, fountains’ (logainm.ie #52227) in Co. Wexford; Lisnatubbrid / Lios na dTiobrad ‘the ringfort of the springs, fountains’ (logainm.ie #48375) in Co. Tipperary; Kiltubbrid/Cill Tiobrad ‘church of springs, fountains’ (logainm.ie #29335) in Co. Leitrim; while Cluain Tiobrad ‘meadow, pasture of springs, fountains’ is the forerunner to Clontibret (logainm.ie #1979) in Co. Monaghan, Cloontubbrid (logainm.ie #30033) in Co. Leitrim and Cloontubbrid in Cos. Mayo (logainm.ie #35972) and Kerry (logainm.ie #23901). The frequency of tiobraid in combination with cluain ‘meadow, pasture’ is particularly striking, and although the specific reason for this is unclear, it may be connected to the fact that while cluain is generally explained as meaning a “meadow, pasture” or similar (see FGB, Dinneen cluain; DIL clúain), Julius Pokorny (Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, I 1959 p. 603) traces the word back to Indo-European *klop-ni-, from the root *klep- meaning ‘feucht’ “damp” (cf. Pádraig Ó Cearbhaill, Logainmneacha na hÉireann III: Cluain i Logainmneacha Co. Thiobraid Árann, p. 19). This suggests that cluain originally referred to ‘wet’ pasture, and this was often likely caused by the present of springs therein, although a riverside location appears to be the most common feature of placenames with cluain.

Unlike either tobar or tiobraid, which commonly feature in the beginning of placenames (as the generic) and also as a qualifier as seen above, the word fuarán (< Old Irish úarán ‘spring, ‘a well spring or fountain’’) or any variant thereof, appears to occur as the generic element in initial position of placenames in barely any modern townland name. This observation might lead one to suggest that fuarán wasn’t particularly productive as a word in spoken Irish, but it does, in fact, occur relatively frequently as a qualifier in townland names, which largely undermines any presumption that it wasn’t commonly used in Irish. For example, we have Carrownaworan / Ceathrú na bhFuarán “the quarter (land measure) of the springs” (logainm.ie #45715) in Co. Sligo; Aghanoran / Achadh an Fhuaráin ‘the field of the spring’ (logainm.ie #33002) in Co. Longford; Carrickanoran / Carraig an Fhuaráin ‘the rock of the spring’ in Cos. Kilkenny (logainm.ie #27169) and Monaghan (logainm.ie #40895); Knockanoran / Cnoc an Fhuaráin ‘the hill of the spring’ in Cos. Wexford (logainm.ie #54079), Laois (logainm.ie # 27962) and Cork (logainm.ie #8924); along with Coolanoran / Cúil an Fhuaráin ‘the recess of the spring’ (logainm.ie #32158) in Co. Limerick. Additionally, Baile an Fhuaráin ‘the town(land) of the spring’ is the forerunner to Ballynoran, as found in Cos. Tipperary (logainm.ie #47427) and Cork (logainm.ie #12063), as well as Ballinoran (logainm.ie #31077) in Co. Limerick. In regard to the etymology of fuarán which goes back to Old Irish úarán (dil.ie s.v.), it is generally understood by linguists to be connected to the forerunner of Old Irish úar ‘cold’ (see J. Vendryes, Lexique Étymologique de l’Irlandais Ancien; T U, 1978), and this is clearly how it was understood when the placename An Fuarán ‘the spring, ‘a spring well or fountain’’ was translated as ‘Coldewelle’ [Coldwells] in Co. Kildare as early as 1243 (see logainm.ie #25820).

A further derivate of Old Irish úarán ‘spring, ‘a spring well or fountain’ is the variant órán (Ó Dónaill s.v. órán), as found in a small number of placenames in Connaught, where one finds, for example, Oranbeg / Órán Beag ‘spring, small’ (logainm.ie #18799), and the very well-known neighbouring Oranmore / Órán Mór ‘spring, big’ (logainm.ie #18476) in Co. Galway. Notably, while Oranmore / Órán Mór is attested as ‘Uarán Mór’ in written sources, spoken Irish forms of the name recorded in the 1960s clearly reflect an initial long Ó /oː/ as in /oːrɑːn moːr/, a fact to which recognition was given in the official Irish form of the names, Órán Mór and Órán Beag.

As a qualifier we also find órán ‘spring, fountain’ in a handful of townlands in Co. Galway such as Barnanoraun / Barr na nÓrán ‘the (hill-)top of the springs” (logainm.ie #18055). A number of streams are depicted as having their source in this townland on the Ordnance Survey 6″ map — it is, then, certainly true to its name. Two further townlands that contain this element in Co. Galway are Lisheenanoran / Lisín an Óráin ‘the (small) ringfort of the spring’ (logainm.ie #18424) near Corrandulla, and Oranhill / Cnoc Óráin ‘hill of (the) spring’ (logainm.ie #18615) next to Oranmore. It is also possible that órán, when found as the final element in a number of other placenames refers to a ‘spring’, but sometimes this may also be a reflex of the homophonous personal name Órán (< Early Mod. Ir. Odhrán), e.g. Cloonoran / Cluain Óráin ‘meadow, pasture of (the) spring; or Órán’s meadow, pasture’ (logainm.ie #20540) in Co. Galway (see also Castlebellew / Cluain Óráin Íochtarach (logainm.ie #20538) and Cloonoranoughter / Cluain Óráin Uachtarach (logainm.ie #20527); along with two townlands called Gorteenoran (logainm.ie #30371) and Georgia or Gorteenoran (logainm.ie #30390) in Co. Leitrim, which are both from an original Goirtín Óráin ‘(small) field of (the) spring; or ‘Órán’s (small) field’.

In the case of Oran / Órán (logainm.ie # 2114) in Co. Roscommon there can be no doubt about its origin as it is attested a number of times in Irish literary sources, both in the simplex form of ‘Uarán’, and with qualifiers as in ‘Fuaran Mhoighe h-Oi’ ‘Órán of Maigh nAí’ (Maigh nAí is a defunct territorial name) and ‘Uarán nGaraidh’ (et var.) which retain the more conservative spellings (f)uarán ‘spring, fountain’. Anglicised ‘Oraneclabby’ recorded circa 1660 reflects another longer version of this placenames namely Órán Uí Chlabaigh ‘Órán of Ó Clabaigh’ (< Uarán), and this association with the surname Ó Clabaigh is no accident or once-off. In 1558 ‘Giolla Colaim O Clapaicch [Giolla Cholaim Ó Clabaigh]’ was described as the successor of St. Patrick at Oran (ARE V, p. 1542), and 100 years earlier in 1454 ‘Cornelius Oclabaid [Conchúr? Ó Clabaigh]’ was recorded as ‘perpetual vicar’ of this parish, i.e. ‘St. Patrick’s de Fuaian [Fuaran]’ (Calendar of Papal Registers X, pp. 704-714). Ó Clabaigh was accused by ‘Maurice Oclabaid [Muiris? Ó Clabaigh]’of having made a ‘simoniacal agreement’ to divide the ecclesiastical income of Oran with ‘Matthew Oclabaid [Matha Ó Clabaigh] who has also formerly claimed a right to that vicarage’. We have, then, three Ó Clabaighs involved in the dispute concerning the fruits of this parish, which is actually no coincidence. This family’s association with the ecclesiastical foundation at Oran was so profound that P. W. Woulfe specifically referred to the Ó Clabaighs function as ‘erenaghs [airchinnigh ‘stewards’] of the church founded by St. Patrick’s at Oran’ (Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall). In this regard it is important to note that clerical families in the Gaelic Irish church, as in this instance, were not as we would imagine in today’s world — in fact the office of parish vicar or comharba ‘successor (of the founder)’ frequently passed from father to son (both being priests). Indeed, in this instance it is possible that both ‘Matthew’ and ‘Cornelius’ were father and son. There certainly seems to be more than initially meets the eye in the history of the placename Oran and it’s Irish precursors!

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 20/07/2026

We are fortunate enough in Ireland that the worst ‘water shortage’ we suffer is the occasional hosepipe ban in mid-July. Not all countries are so lucky! If we do have a hot summer, we are reminded of the vital importance of a reliable supply of fresh potable water. Local authorities – and nowadays also Uisce Éireann – often turn to boreholes to exploit the abundant natural water reservoirs under our feet, but of course, Mother Nature is also kind enough to bring the water to the surface in the form of natural springs. One way or another, humans have been going to the well for many thousands of years, and it is no surprise that references to these important sources of fresh water are also abundant in Irish townland names.

This week we will introduce the most common terms for wells or springs in placenames, beginning with tiobra ‘well, spring, fountain, source’ (see eDIL s.v. tipra; cf. Carey, Éigse 52 (2002) p. 80). This word often occurs in its fossilized oblique form tiobraid, the most well-known example of which is of course Tipperary / Tiobraid Árann ‘the well of/at the (river) Ára’. (See River Ara / An Ára (#67249); cf. F.J. Byrne, Éigse 9 (1958) p. 25). Another term is fuarán ‘spring, fountain’ (Ó Dónaill s.v. fuarán; var. uarán), as in Carrownaworan / Ceathrú na bhFuarán ‘the quarter(land) of the springs, fountains’ (logainm.ie #45715) in Co. Sligo. Fuarán is a development from the Old Irish úarán ‘spring, well or fountain’ (eDIL s.v.). As we will see next week, this also developed to órán in some dialects, especially in Connaught, e.g. Oran / Órán ‘spring, fountain’ (logainm.ie #2114) in Co. Roscommon.

Of course, the word that most frequently occurs in placenames – so frequently that we could not possibly list all the examples – is tobar ‘a well, fountain, spring, source’ (Ó Dónaill s.v.; eDIL s.v. topar). While the toibreacha, tiobracha, fuaráin and uaráin that gave their names to these places can all be presumed to have been sources of good potable water, other characteristics are sometimes implied in the placename itself. For example, in Co. Wexford we have Toberanierin near Camolin – a location now probably most famous as the site of a United Irishman victory during the 1798 rebellion – for which the linguistic evidence collected by the Placenames Branch clearly suggests derivation from Tobar an Iarainn ‘the well of the iron’ (logainm.ie #52786) (‘Tober in ernig’ 1581). It is salient to note that there is a well in Toberanierin South described on the Ordnance Survey 6″ map (1st edition) as a Spa Well, and on later editions as a Spa Well (Chalybeate). Chalybeate generally refers to mineral waters containing salts of iron, which became fashionable to consume in the 18th century. Unlike many other ‘luxury destination spas’ which have sprung up around the country in recent years – even in locations with no such natural chalybeate feature – the well in Toberanierin does not seem to have been exploited for its medicinal benefits in living memory. Nevertheless, the Irish townland name tells us that its special properties were well-known long before the Spa Well was engraved on the 19th-century maps.

Well-names sometimes refer to more specific cures. (For a thorough discussion of curative and supernatural associations of wells see The holy wells of County Kilkenny (2018) by Dr. Pádraig Ó Dálaigh, former Higher Placenames Officer at the Placenames Branch.) The reason for the naming of Toberanania / Tobar an Fhaithne ‘the well of (the cure for) the wart” (logainm.ie #45003) in Co. Sligo, for example, needs no explanation. (It is interesting that by the mid-19th century local Irish-speakers appear to have reinterpreted faithne as the name of a weed.) An interesting investigation was carried out at Tobernagalt / Tobar na nGealt ‘the well of the mad people’ (logainm.ie #1414570) in the townland of Scrallaghbeg / An Screallach Bheag (#24607) in the well-known valley of Glannagalt / Gleann na nGealt ‘the valley of the mad people’ (logainm.ie #24603), close to the Co. Kerry Gaeltacht. The Ordnance Survey Parish Namebook (1841) described the well as ‘a Spring … visited by the Mad people’ and noted that it was located only a hundred metres or so from ‘Ath na nGelth’ [Áth na nGealt ‘the ford of the mad people’]. When the producers of the TG4 programme Cogar had a sample of water from Tobar na nGealt analysed, it was discovered that it was unusually rich in lithium, a mineral frequently used in the treatment of bipolar disorders and depression (see West Kerry Blog). Whether coincidence or not, it would be interesting to find out if the waters in any of the springs around another Glannagalt / Gleann na nGealt ‘the valley of the mad people’ (logainm.ie #41350) in the parish of Kilbarrymeadan in Co. Waterford have similar qualities! Not only that, it would be very desirable to carry out a similar analysis of the water in all the wells locally reputed to have had traditional curative powers, as recorded in sources such as the Ordnance Survey records or the later Schools’ Folklore Collection. We could be in for some very revealing findings.

Further examples of tobar, tiobra/tiobraid and fuarán, uarán will be discussed next week.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 13/07/2026

This week’s theme continues on the subject of trá “strand, beach” in townland names. Last week we concentrated on those townland names in na trá “of the strand, beach” in which we also find the article an (feminine genitive na) as in Baile na Trá “town(land) of (at) the strand”. However, trá is also found without the article in many other townland names such as Kiltra/Cill Trá “church of (at) the strand” in County Wexford (logainm.ie #53776); Baltray/Baile Trá “town(land) of the strand” in Louth (logainm.ie #34085) and Ballycultra/Baile Chúl Trá “town(land) of (at) the back of the strand” in County Down (logainm.ie #66055; see also placenamesni.org Ballycultra). Fionntrá “white-strand” is the forerunner to Ventry in County Kerry (logainm.ie #1393750) as well as Fintragh in Donegal (logainm.ie #14587). The former is probably the better known of the two, familiar to many of those who would have stayed in the area during a visit to the Kerry Gaeltacht. Interestingly, exactly the same strand referred to in this Fionntrá also gave the village of Ceann Trá “head of (the) strand” its Irish name—— even though in English it took the name of the strand itself, Ventry. This is not the only example of such anomalous renaming in English: take for example the name of the nearby townland Ballydavid, the site of the old Coastguard station which was subsequently transferred to the village of Baile na nGall (#1165468) situated over two miles to the south. However, as these places lie within the Gaeltacht, in these particular cases the inconsistency was corrected under section 33(2) of the Official Languages Act 2003, as the Irish versions are now the sole official names.
It is particularly interesting to note that Fionntrá in Kerry was also the site of a major battle from the Fenian Cycle of tales in early Irish literature, which is referred to as Cath Fionntrá “the battle of Ventry”. In may be simply coincidence but Cath Fionntrá then brings us all the way to another likewise-named (but now-defunct) Fionntrá in Sligo which was also the site of many major battles. The background to that name begins at Beltra/Béal Trá “mouth, approach of/to the strand”, which is situated on the main N59 road some 10km west of Ballysadare in Sligo. Passing through Beltra one could be forgiven for wondering if the people who named it Béal Trá were quite all there, as no such natural feature is to be found in the vicinity. However, Béal Trá did once lie at the end of a once-famous strand called Trá Eothaile, a fact obscured by the building of a dyke across much of Ballysadare Bay in the later 19th century. Prior to the construction of the dyke, the bay contained two major tidal fords, one of which went from Streamstown in the east to Beltra in the west, and was called Fearsaid na Fionntrá “the tidal ford of/at the white strand”. It was doubtless the longest tidal ford in Sligo and possibly Connaught, and the strand here, An Fhionntrá “the white strand”, more commonly called Trá Eothaile, is associated with an unusually high number of historical battles, skirmishes and hostings. Indeed, the fame of Fearsaid na Fionntrá at Trá Eothaile was so great in Gaelic Ireland that it spread from real life into native Irish literature—it features frequently in mythological sagas such as Cath Mhaigh Tuireadh “the battle of Moyturra” and also the Fenian Cycle, as well as in the Triads and genealogies. Its renown also led to the probable literary creation of further aliases such as Ros Airgid “silver promontory” and Trá na Mná Mairbhe “the strand of the dead women”. Such use of real placenames and the invention of aliases as literary constructs in order to produce even more tales was a common feature in native Irish culture of which creative toponymy was a core constituent. (For more details on events at Béal Trá and Trá Eothaile see C. Ó Crualaoich in Sligo Field Club Journal, Vol. 8).
We also have two townlands called Beltra/Béal Trá in County Mayo, the first of which faces out onto Killala Bay (logainm.ie #34575), but the second of which is actually inland (logainm.ie #35804), the trá “strand” in question probably being the shore of Beltra Lough (logainm.ie #114036). However, neither of these shared the fame that once belonged to the area around Beltra/Béal Trá in Sligo, even though the latter no longer lies next to any strand.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 09/07/2026

Given that we are now in the last month of summer, as understood in the traditional Irish calendar, it is probably high time to mention some townland names that contain the word trá “strand, beach” in their underlying Irish name, as many of us will be hoping to spend some time at the seaside over the next while. In townland names where we have the structure na trá “ of the strand, beach” the generic element baile “town(land)” is most common, such as Baile na Trá “the town(land) of (at) the strand” which is the underlying Irish form of the two anglicized names of Ballynatra in County Cork (logainm.ie #8610; #9396). We also have Ballintra East and West/Baile na Trá Thoir/Thiar in County Cork (logainm.ie #12402; #12403), Ballynatray Demesne/Baile na Trá in County Waterford (logainm.ie #50671), and Ballytra/Baile na Trá in County Wexford (logainm.ie #54187). All of the townland names mentioned are situated on the Atlantic coast, except for Ballynatray Demesne in Waterford which is located shore-side near the mouth of the Blackwater River. In any case, should one wish to have a swim in the slightly warmer waters of the Irish sea, we have Ballinatray Lower and Upper/Baile na Trá Íochtarach/Uachtarach near Gorey in County Wexford (logainm.ie #52979; #52752). Due to the vagaries of historical townland subdivision, Ballinatray Upper isn’t actually on the coast, but its sister denomination, Ballinatray Lower, refers to the strand that is now commonly called Courtown Beach. (The village of Courtown is largely in the townland of Ballynatray Lower, while the townland of Courtown is situated slightly to the north).
Furzeditch, just north of well-known destination Brittas Bay in County Wicklow, sounds like a thorny place to lay your beach blanket, but the evidence for that English name demonstrates that the townland was earlier called ‘Ballynetra’ or ‘Ballintra’, forms which reflect derivation from Baile na Trá “town(land)” of the strand” (logainm.ie #55358). (A strand is clearly depicted in Furzeditch East on the Ordnance Survey Discovery Series map.) The English townland name Strandtown in southeast Belfast (County Down) has been translated as Baile na Trá, but it is notable that, like Ballynatray Upper in Wexford, it is no longer contiguous with the coast (logainm.ie #1413299; see also placenamesni.org s.n. Strandtown). Strandfield just outside Wexford Town is also of English origin, and has been translated as Gort na Trá “the field of the strand” (logainm.ie #54519), which is the Irish name from which derives anglicized Gortnatraw North (logainm.ie #15822) in County Donegal. Finally, should you have need for shade from the sun after a hot day on the beach, it certainly would have once been available at Derreenatra/ Doirín na Trá “the (oak-)grove, wood of (at) the strand” east of Skull/An Scoil “the school” in County Cork.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 06/07/2026

Continuing on last week’s theme of the names Eoin, Seán and Seon in townland names, all of which in some way have a loose, though not always direct, connection with the English name John, we can continue our discussion with diminutive forms of that name as they appear in townland names.

One such diminutive is Johnin, which is found in the English name of the townland Johninstown (logainm.ie #25464) in Co. Kildare. (We will come to the Irish name of the townland presently.) Johnin was generally gaelicized as Seoinín but unlike Seán, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, neither Seoinín nor indeed Seon itself appear to have become popular among the Gaelic Irish. On the other hand, the gaelicized Anglo-Normans (or ‘Old English’) continued to use both Seon and Seoinín in Irish, as is clear, for example, from Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh’s 17th-century compilation of Irish genealogies (see Ó Muraíle (ed.) Leabhar Mór na nGenealach vol. 5, index). Thus, evidence for Seon and its diminutive Seoinín in townland names is generally found in areas where there was substantial Anglo-Norman settlement followed by gaelicization when the descendants of the settlers adopted the Irish language: examples include Ruthstown / Baile Sheoin Rua ‘the townland of Seon Rua’ (logainm.ie #26975) in Co. Kilkenny (in which Rua is the local Irish form of the Anglo-Norman surname Ruth: cf. ‘Johnroothston’ 1613); and Farranshone / Fearann Seoin ‘the land of Seon’ (logainm.ie #30471; #30587) in Co. Limerick. Johnstown in Co. Louth (logainm.ie #33579) was recorded locally as ‘Baile seón’ [Baile Sheoin] during the course of the Ordnance Survey, and the historical evidence for Johnstown (#52633) near Bunclody in Co. Wexford also reflects derivation from Baile Sheoin (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV, p. 1078).

Further examples of the diminutive Seoinín (< Eng. Johnin) include Baile Mhic Sheoinín ‘the town(land) of the son of Seoinín’ anglicized as Ballymacshoneen in Cos. Wexford (logainm.ie #54110) and Cork (logainm.ie #8939), while Baile Sheoinín ‘the town(land) of Seoinín’ is the forerunner to Ballyshoneen in Cos. Cork (logainm.ie #9206; #9436), Limerick (logainm.ie #32413) and Waterford (logainm.ie #50402), as well as Ballyjennings in Co. Mayo (logainm.ie #35038). Seoinín is also found in Clonmacshane / Cloch Mhic Sheoinín ‘the stone (structure) of the son of Seoinín’ (logainm.ie #3534) in Co. Carlow; Graigueshoneen / Gráig Sheoinín ‘the hamlet of Seoinín’ (logainm.ie #49783) and Farranshoneen / Fearann tSeoinín ‘the land of Seoinín’ (logainm.ie #50301) in Co. Waterford; along with Lackenshoneen / Leacain tSeoinín ‘the hillside of Seoinín’ (logainm.ie #9357) in Co. Cork.

It is interesting to note that the name Seoinín later became a derogatory term both in Irish and in Hiberno-English (Shoneen) for a person who tended to mimic English culture (“a shoneen, a jackeen or johnnie, an aper of foreign ways…” Dinneen s.v. Seoinín). This pejorative usage is further evidence that Seoinín, unlike the name Seán, never actually became popular among the Gaelic Irish of native descent.

A different diminutive of John is found in the underlying form of the English townland name Jonastown (logainm.ie #54013) in south Co. Wexford, earlier attested as ‘Ionokeston’ (1540–1), ‘Jonickstown’ (1577), ‘Johnnockstown’ (1622), and so on. These earlier forms of the name clearly reflect an underlying Johnock+’s+town. In fact the name Johnock seems to have been very common in Ireland and its gaelicized forms Seonac or Seonag are found in quite a few placenames: see for example Ballyshonickbane / Baile Sheoinic Bháin ‘the town(land) of white(-haired) Seonac’ (logainm.ie #32243) in Co. Limerick; Farran / Fearann Mhic Sheoinic ‘the land of the son of Seoineac’ (logainm.ie #8891) in Co. Cork (in which Seoineac is a variant of Seonac with palatalized/slender -n-); Sapperton / Baile Mhic Sheonaic ‘the town(land) of the son of Seonac’ (logainm.ie #50160) in Co. Waterford (‘Sappertown alias BallimcShonick’ (1735)); Ballyshonock / Baile Sheonaic ‘the town(land) of Seonac’ (logainm.ie #49829; #52627) in Cos. Waterford and Wexford. The Irish forerunner to Ballyshonock (logainm.ie #12793) and Ballyhonock (logainm.ie #13666) in Co. Cork appears to be Baile Sheonac, with an uninflected genitive Sheonac.

The townland name Johnstown (logainm.ie #55501) near Arklow, Co. Wicklow, also turns out to derive not from *Baile Sheáin or *Baile Sheoin, but from Baile Sheonac. The earliest historical evidence, e.g. ‘Bally[s]onicke’ (1620) and ‘Ballyshanoge’ (1715), indicate that the qualifying personal name was still understood in the English tradition to have been connected with John (‘Johnstown’ 1668, 1724, etc.).

Townland names containing the name Seonac also seem confined to areas colonized by the Anglo-Normans and then later gaelicized, which might on the face of it imply that the name never became very popular among those of native Gaelic Irish stock. However, some examples of the name do occur among that group in Irish genealogical tracts, and it would appear, therefore, that unlike Seoinín the name Seonac was not solely confined to the gaelicized Anglo-Normans or ‘Old English’.

Hopefully the above information has gone some way to explaining why, in Irish placenames, the English name John is equated not only with Eoin but also with the separate but not entirely unrelated names Seán, Seon, Seoinín and Seonac. We can now to turn our sights on another curious subset of placenames which contain John(’s)- in their English forms but have no connection to any of the aforementioned Irish personal names: these are Johnstown in the civil parish of Kilmichael in Co. Cork, Saint Johnstown in Co. Tipperary and Johnstown near Kells in Co. Meath.

In Co. Cork, the English name Johnstown (logainm.ie #9793) appears to have arisen as a result of the misinterpretation of the Irish name of the place, Cill Sheanaigh (earlier Cill tSeanaigh) ‘the church of Seanach’. The eponym was Seanach, whose name – borne by numerous clerics in the Irish church – seems to have been interpreted as being in some way related to English John. In Co. Tipperary, Baile an tSeánaigh (‘Ballentane’ 1601, ‘Baile an t-seána’ 1840), the somewhat unusual Irish name for the townland called Saint Johnstown (logainm.ie #47647) in English, does not contain a personal name at all. Baile an tSeánaigh means ‘the town(land) of An Seánach’, in which An Seánach signifies ‘the person surnamed Saint John’. That surname is attested in connection with the townland in early references, e.g. ‘John de Sancto Johanne of Scadaneston’ (*Scaddanstown being a historical alias of the place).

There is a Johnstown (#38191) near Kells in Co. Meath which the local Irish speakers called ‘Baile sheonoid’ [Baile Sheonóid] (1836). The personal name Seonó(i)d is a gaelicized form of the Middle English name Jonot — yet another diminutive of John! — now more commonly found in English as the surname and feminine personal name Janet (see P. Hanks, R. Coates, P. McClure: Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland). Again, however, it appears that to English-speakers, the underlying relationship with the name John was clearly understood — the English name of this townland is realized as Johnstown, et var., throughout the historical record. Indeed, the only evidence for the original underlying form *Jonotstown is provided by the local Irish version recorded in 1836. It is worth pointing out that this is in direct contrast to the evidence for Johninstown (logainm.ie #25464) in Co. Kildare, mentioned above. In that case, the overwhelming majority of the historical forms, as well as the modern form of the placename in English, reflect the name Johnin. Only the earliest surviving reference to the English name, ‘Johnston’ (1540), points to John. It is noteworthy, therefore, that although Johninstown had been firmly established in the English-language tradition since the beginning of the seventeenth century (‘Jeninstown’ 1621), a local Irish speaker consulted in 1837 called the place ‘baile sheoin’ [Baile Sheoin] rather than the anticipated *Baile Sheoinín. Remarkably, this seemingly anomalous form is in fact supported by the solitary surviving transliterated reference to the Irish name in the historical record, ‘Ballyshean’ 1563.)

As we won’t be widening our net to include placenames containing any of the more distant cousins of John (Jack, Jackett, Jackson, Jackman…) this just leaves us with Saint Johnstown / Baile Suingean (logainm.ie #1416625) in Co. Donegal — but the explanation of that one will have to wait for another day.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 01/07/2026

Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge in DCU will hold an interesting workshop on Thursday July 23, entitled ‘Placenames and Ecology in the European Context’, to coincide with Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1 to December 31, 2026. Discussion will include placenames referring to extinct or altered ecosystems – woodlands, bogs, etc; the role of language and placename heritage in the light of climate change; evidence in placenames for climate change or changes in usage; evidence for historical distribution of animals and plants; references to soil formations / geology and use of this evidence in contemporary contexts, such as ecology education, species restoration, rewilding, flood protection and rewetting, etc.

In regard to the final two themes mentioned above, i.e. ‘flood protection’ and ‘rewetting’, placenames doubtless often provide us with a lead as to an area’s suitability for rewetting or its inclination to flood. This is true throughout Europe, particularly where the same language has been spoken over many centuries, i.e. older placenames can often straightforwardly reflect topography prior to eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and even twentieth-century drainage. Thus, most speakers of southern German dialects will readily understand why places such as Murnau, Landau and Mainau often feature in news reports as having suffered floods during times of heavy rain ─ the final element in those placenames, namely Au, signifies a “floodplain” and “meadow” in southern dialects. Floodplains, despite their inherent fertility, are often problematic for tillage due to their tendency to be overwhelmed during heavy rains, whence their frequent sole use as meadows or pasture in the early period. Only last August (2025) Reichenau in Lake Constance, the probable location for the composition of the famous 9th-century Irish poem Mise agus Pangur Bán, suffered considerable flooding after extensive rain (see: thw.de BW). This should not be unexpected given the meaning of that placename (‘Richen Owe’ 1270; see: Reichenau: Ortslexicon), i.e. “(the) noble (rich) flood plain”. Similarly, English speakers should not be surprised to hear of flooding in Titchmarsh in England in January 2024, given that marsh is still used and understood as an area of wetland in that language (see: Titchmarsh flooding). Thus, for planners in primarily Anglophone countries it is patently obvious that one should take great care in assessing applications for development in areas that contain marsh in their name. It is for that reason that one should not be surprised to hear of severe flooding in housing estates at Marshes Lower (logainm.ie #33954) and Marsh South (logainm.ie #33953) in Dundalk in 2026 (see: dundalkleader.com). In fact most of the buildings in these particular townlands appear to be built on marine deposits, either estuarine sediments or marine sands and gravels (see: EPAMaps). Notably, the local Irish name ‘méirsi’ [méirsí], doubtless borrowed from Middle English mersche “marsh” (see: A Concise Dictionary of Middle English), as found in a reference to neighbouring Marsh North / An Méirse Thuaidh (see logainm.ie #33952), was explained in 1836 by John O’Donovan as ‘méirsi, a name given to pasture land on which the tide comes in’ (Ordnance Survey Parish Name Book). Subsequent events have proved O’Donovan’s explanation of the name only too accurate.

As we know, however, languages change over time. Even in countries such as England, where a relatively stable linguistic situation has prevailed over the last thousand years (excluding Cornwall, of course), many of the words in placenames referring to wetlands and flood plains are no longer understood in the vernacular. Therefore the meaning of the placenames in which they occur can often only be elucidated through research. Moreover, in countries where there has been a major language shift in more recent times the information provided by placenames can be even more difficult to obtain. This is true, not only in many European countries where there were huge population movements with resultant language shifts, particularly after WWII, but in particular in all countries with indigenous Celtic languages, where there has been an almost total replacement of these languages by English – or, in the case of Brittany, French – in the last two centuries. It is for that reason that the majority of townland names (c. 60,000) in Ireland are utterly meaningless in their English form, as most are, in fact, no more than anglicized phonetic approximations of Irish placenames. For example, Clonderalaw (logainm.ie #6909) in County Clare is utterly meaningless in its anglicized form, but the underlying Irish name, Cluain idir Dhá Lá, brings its meaning to full light, i.e. “the pasture, (wet) meadow between two marshes” (lá < Middle Irish loth (var. lath), see dil.ie s.v. loth “mud, mire: quagmire, marsh”). The marshes in question, no doubt, are the two areas of marine sediment that bound this townland east and west. Notably, these are marked as Liable to Floods on the Ordnance Survey (OS) 6ʺ map (first edition). This same pattern, in which the meaning of a townland name only comes to light through determination of the underlying Irish name is repeated tens of thousands of times in Ireland.

The situation outlined above clearly demonstrates a necessity for the study of townland and other placenames of Irish origin, not only in a broader historical, genealogical, cultural and linguistic context, but also in an ecological context. The last theme is particularly relevant given that Ireland’s traditional pattern of dispersed settlement has resulted in the names of an extraordinary number of townlands (Ireland’s smallest administrative unit) referring, not specifically to human settlements (villages, towns) as would be the case in much of Europe, but to topographic features within the townland itself.
Significantly, many of these feature references to wetlands of different types, e.g.

boglach / bogach ‘a place abounding in soft boggy ground’; bogán ‘soft ground’
caochán ‘marsh rill; boghole’; caorán ‘moor’; caoth ‘boghole, swamp-hole’; corcach ‘marsh’; criathrach ‘(pitted) bog’; curchas ‘reedy marsh; riverside meadow’; currach ‘wet bog, marsh’
eanach ‘marsh, swamp, fen’
feadán ‘watercourse; gully’; féith ‘swamp, marsh’’
gaoth ‘stream; estuary’; gaothlach ‘marsh, swamp’; greallach ‘mire, puddly ground’
inis (var. inse) ‘island; holm, water-meadow’
lá ‘quagmire, marsh’; léana ‘low-lying grassy place, water-meadow’; loch ‘lake, sea-inlet’; luachair ‘rushes; rushland, rushy place’
móin ‘peat bog, bogland (not always peat bog)’; moing ‘over-grown swamp, mossy fen’; mongán ‘overgrown swamp, overgrown stream’
portach ‘peat-bog (literally: ‘place of embankments’)’
riasc ‘marsh, bogland, moor’
seascann ‘sedgy bog, marsh’; slapa (slaba) ‘slob, mud, ooze’; slaprach ‘wet, soggy, land’
tonnach ‘quaking bog, quagmire’; and turlach ‘winter lake; mere; marsh’

Moreover, some of these terms are exceedingly common in Irish townland names, e.g. móin ‘peat bog; bogland (not always peat bog)’, even in what might now be considered prime agricultural areas where the placename elements in question must reflect an earlier landscape prior to widespread drainage and land ‘improvements’; they are fossils of times past. Additionally, we also have a number of placename elements that are not understood to refer directly to wet land in Irish, but there is an indirect implication of wet land in their use. For example, imleach (see dil.ie s.v. imlech) , a reasonably common element in placenames, doesn’t itself refer to wetland but to ‘land bordering on a lake or marsh’. Similarly, the exceedingly common element buaile ‘boley, seasonal pasture; milking-place in summer pasturage; yard, enclosure’ (see dil.ie s.v. búaile; FGB s.v. buaile), does not in itself mean ‘wet land’ but the meaning ‘seasonal pasture’ clearly implies land only suitable for cattle (husbandry) at certain times of year. The nature of boolying was the movement of cattle onto land near one’s home when it became suitable – that is to say, dry enough – for grazing. Thus, we can see why placenames such as Ballinaboola / Baile na Buaile ‘the town(land) of the boley, summer pasture’ (logainm.ie #53514) in Co. Wexford and Ballynaboola / Baile na Buaile (logainm.ie #50334) in Co. Waterford might have received their names: both of these townlands are, to this very day, prone to extreme and long-lasting floods, and the reason can be seen clearly by reference to soil maps. Ballinaboola / Baile na Buaile in Co. Wexford, between New Ross and Wexford town, contains large areas of alluvial soil (i.e. flood-plain) as well as an area of lacustrine soil (i.e. a lake-bed) south of the N25 road, exactly where flood waters can remain for months after heavy rains, as occurred during the winter/spring of 2025/2026. It is clear that such land would only support grazing after an extended dry period.

(Subsoil map at Ballinaboola, County Wexford. Lacustrine soil marked with +: https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/)

In the case of Ballynabola / Baile na Buaile in Co. Waterford, between Waterford city and Passage East, no lacustrine (lake-bed) soil is recorded, but there is a large area of alluvial soil (flood-plain), and this is found exactly where inundations occur on a yearly basis to this very day. It is of course true that many of the townlands containing buaile in their name may only feature small areas that are liable to flooding or remaining wet over long periods of time, but examples such as these clearly demonstrate that these townlands deserve extra attention when it comes to planning applications.

(Subsoil map of Ballynabola, County Waterford. Alluvial soil marked with +: https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/)

An even more common element in Irish placenames that may often indirectly refer to wet land or land prone to flooding is cluain. This element features in over 1,500 townland names, and while it is generally translated as ‘pasture, meadow; glade’, Julius Pokorny traces the word back to Indo-European *klop-ni- (Indogermanisches etymologisches Woerterbuch, p.603), from the root *klep- meaning ‘feucht’, i.e., ‘damp’. Dr Pádraig Ó Cearbhaill, former Chief Placenames Officer at An Brainse Logainmneacha / the Placenames Branch, noted that the majority of townlands with cluain in their name in Co. Tipperary lie next to rivers and streams, while over half contain peat bog or wet land, and many others are situated next to bogs (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann III: Cluain i logainmneacha Co. Thiobraid Árann, pp. 17–19). In fact, only a tiny handful reflect none of these features (ibid.), which itself indicates that the word cluain may have over time developed the meaning of ‘meadow’ as secondary to an original ‘wet meadow’. Others have described cluain as a name ‘associated with those parts of Ireland where patches of dry ground alternate with bogs’, or meaning ‘a fertile clearing surrounded by an expanse of bog’ or ‘a fertile piece of land, or a green arable spot, surrounded or nearly surrounded by bog or marsh on one side, and water on the other’ (see ibid., 17). In any case, given the very fact that cluain is generally found next to a watercourse or bogland it should come as no surprise that many areas so named are liable to floods. Thus we see that two separate parts of the abovementioned Clonerdalaw / Cluain idir Dhá Lá ‘(the) pasture, (wet) meadow between two marshes’ in Co. Clare are marked Liable to Floods on the OS 6ʺ map. Similarly, a large portion of famous Clonmacnoise / Cluain Mhic Nóis (< Cluain Maccu Nóis ‘(the) pasture, (wet) meadow of (the tribe, kindred of Maccu Nóis’) in Co. Offaly is also marked as ‘Liable to Floods’ in winter months on the OS 25ʺ map. The town of Clonmel / Cluain Meala ‘(the) pasture (wet) meadow, of honey’ (logainm.ie # 67189) in Co. Tipperary is, of course, well-known for flooding events, but it is particularly notable that the likewise-named Clonmel / Cluain Meala (logainm.ie #41657) in Co. Offaly also lies next to a large area of land marked as Liable to Floods on the OS 25ʺ map, in neighbouring Ballygarrett / Baile Ghearóid ‘the town(land) of Gearóid’ (logainm.ie #41648). Another neighbouring townland, Clonbolloge / Cluain Bolg ‘(the) pasture, (wet) meadow of the Boilg; (the) pasture, (wet) meadow of gaps, of bumps’, not only bounds on the same area marked as liable to flooding, but a review of soil maps (see: EPAMaps) demonstrates that this area consists of alluvial soil (flood-plain) which extends into both Clonmel and Clonbulloge townlands (see below).

(Subsoil map of Clonmel, Ballygarrett and Clonbolloge, County Offaly Alluvial soil marked with +: https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/)

Ominously, a housing estate, Figile Manor, has recently been built on this floodplain (c. 2005), but it is at least reassuring that the risk of flooding here has evidently been recognized, and according to a recent risk assessment flooding may be largely restricted to green areas of the estate (Strategic Flood Risk Assessment: Co. Offaly); time will tell! Be that as it may, neither the placenames Cluain Bolg or Cluain Meala, nor the location of Figile Manor, appear to have raised any red flag for planners just over 20 years ago, which resulted in the regrettable situation that most of this estate is built on a flood plain which, unfortunately for its residents, is almost guaranteed to flood to some extent in the future. Notably, a brief internet search turned up scores of reports of flooding events in townlands where a number of the placename elements mentioned above are found, indicating that planners may be missing a trick by not systematically using such placename elements in their deliberations on the suitability of certain sites for development. Take for example:

Annagh / An tEanach “the marsh” (Co. Mayo) 2021 ‘Flooding at Annagh, Castlebar’ (The Connaught Telegraph)
Ballyboggan / Baile Bogáin “town(land) of (the) boggy ground” (Co. Dublin)
2025 ‘A number of three recent past flood events occurred within or around the Masterplan boundary’ (Baile Bogáin Masterplan Strategic Flood Risk Assessment)
Cork / Corcaigh “marsh” (Co. Cork)
2026 ‘There were some 292 floods reported over the period 1841-1988’ (AI)
Corkagh / Corcach “marsh” (Co. Dublin)
(2020) Council Minutes: ‘To ask the Chief Executive if the cause of the flooding that occurred near the Duck Ponds in Corkagh Park two weeks ago not dissipating quickly has been established and might same happen again?’ (Meetings: Southdublin.ie)
Clonlara / Cluain Lára “(the) pasture, (wet) meadow of (the) mare” (Co. Clare)
(2020) ‘Residents of Springfield, Clonlara … were moved from their homes and around 7,000 sandbags and pumping stations were delivered to ten houses in the village.’ (Irish Times)
Curragh / An Currach “the wet bog, marsh” (Co. Kildare)
(2018) ‘Roads through parts of the Curragh are also under water. ’ (kildarenow.com)
Grallagh / An Ghreallach “the mire; puddly ground” (Co. Wexford)
(2015) ‘Beef farmer … who lives in Grallagh, Co Wexford, said: ‘The farm and the roads around it are completely flooded.’ (Irish Farmers Journal)
Seskin / An Seisceann ‘the sedgy bog, marsh, swamp’ (Co. Kilkenny)
(2012) ‘Money for flood relief … at the Seskin Bridge in Lisdowney is included in the latest round of funding ...’ (kilkennypeople.ie)
Turlough / An Turlach “the winter lake” (Co. Mayo)
‘The extensive, recurring groundwater floods that originate at turloughs also represent the primary form of groundwater flooding found in Ireland (Journal of Hydrology, November, 2012; see sciencedirect.com)

It seems, then, that the correlation between placenames containing elements of the type mentioned above and flooding events should make such Irish placename elements an exceedingly useful tool for planners and developers alike.
(To be continued next month.)

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Justin Ó Gliasáin)

Featured themes

More orchards, more apple-trees and native folk etymologies.
Avalbane/Abhaill Bhán “the white apple-tree (i.e. orchard)”
(see logainm.ie #40526)

Apple-trees and orchards, and youthful deeds
Applefort/Cnoc na nÚll “the hill of the apples”
(see logainm.ie #7820)

Links, linguistics and a fearthainn with no rain
Murroogh/Muirbheach “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore, links”
(see logainm.ie #18664)

Placenames and floods: a red flag for planners, a boon for rewetting! (Part II)
Lagore / Loch Gabhar (“lake of (the white) horses”)
(logainm.ie #37986)

Cold water and wells: tiobra, tiobraid, uarán, fuarán, órán
Oran/Órán ‘spring, fountain’
(see logainm.ie #2114)

Fresh water and wells
Tobar na nGealt ‘the well of the mad people’
(see logainm.ie #1414570)

More strands, approaches to strands, and once-famous battles
Beltra/Béal Trá “mouth, approach of (to) the strand”
(see logainm.ie #134412)

Strands, furze, and translations.
Ballytra/Baile na Trá “town(land) of (at) the strand”
(see logainm.ie #54187)

Confusion reigns! (Part II)
The strange derivation of English Johnstown from Baile Eoin, Baile Sheáin, Baile Sheoin, Baile Sheonac, Baile Sheonóid and Baile an tSeánaigh!

Placenames and floods: a red flag for planners, a boon for rewetting! (Part I)
Clonederalaw / Cluain idir Dhá Lá
(“the pasture, (wet) meadow between two marshes”)
logainm.ie #6909

Featured themes

More orchards, more apple-trees and native folk etymologies. Avalbane/Abhaill Bhán “the white apple-tree (i.e. orchard)” (see logainm.ie #40526)

Apple-trees and orchards, and youthful deeds Applefort/Cnoc na nÚll “the hill of the apples” (see logainm.ie #7820)

Links, linguistics and a fearthainn with no rain Murroogh/Muirbheach “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore, links” (see logainm.ie #18664)

Placenames and floods: a red flag for planners, a boon for rewetting! (Part II) Lagore / Loch Gabhar (“lake of (the white) horses”) (logainm.ie #37986)

Cold water and wells: tiobra, tiobraid, uarán, fuarán, órán Oran/Órán ‘spring, fountain’ (see logainm.ie #2114)

Fresh water and wells Tobar na nGealt ‘the well of the mad people’ (see logainm.ie #1414570)

More strands, approaches to strands, and once-famous battles Beltra/Béal Trá “mouth, approach of (to) the strand” (see logainm.ie #134412)

Strands, furze, and translations. Ballytra/Baile na Trá “town(land) of (at) the strand” (see logainm.ie #54187)

Confusion reigns! (Part II) The strange derivation of English Johnstown from Baile Eoin, Baile Sheáin, Baile Sheoin, Baile Sheonac, Baile Sheonóid and Baile an tSeánaigh!

Placenames and floods: a red flag for planners, a boon for rewetting! (Part I) Clonederalaw / Cluain idir Dhá Lá (“the pasture, (wet) meadow between two marshes”) logainm.ie #6909

More orchards, more apple-trees and native folk etymologies.
Avalbane/Abhaill Bhán “the white apple-tree (i.e. orchard)”
(see logainm.ie #40526)

Apple-trees and orchards, and youthful deeds
Applefort/Cnoc na nÚll “the hill of the apples”
(see logainm.ie #7820)

Links, linguistics and a fearthainn with no rain
Murroogh/Muirbheach “level stretch of sandy land along sea-shore, links”
(see logainm.ie #18664)

Placenames and floods: a red flag for planners, a boon for rewetting! (Part II)
Lagore / Loch Gabhar (“lake of (the white) horses”)
(logainm.ie #37986)

Cold water and wells: tiobra, tiobraid, uarán, fuarán, órán
Oran/Órán ‘spring, fountain’
(see logainm.ie #2114)

Fresh water and wells
Tobar na nGealt ‘the well of the mad people’
(see logainm.ie #1414570)

More strands, approaches to strands, and once-famous battles
Beltra/Béal Trá “mouth, approach of (to) the strand”
(see logainm.ie #134412)

Strands, furze, and translations.
Ballytra/Baile na Trá “town(land) of (at) the strand”
(see logainm.ie #54187)

Confusion reigns! (Part II)
The strange derivation of English Johnstown from Baile Eoin, Baile Sheáin, Baile Sheoin, Baile Sheonac, Baile Sheonóid and Baile an tSeánaigh!

Placenames and floods: a red flag for planners, a boon for rewetting! (Part I)
Clonederalaw / Cluain idir Dhá Lá
(“the pasture, (wet) meadow between two marshes”)
logainm.ie #6909