Fresh water and wells
Tobar na nGealt ‘the well of the mad people’
(see logainm.ie #1414570)
Date: 19/07/2025
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)