Buaile na mBriogadán/Ballynabrigadane
“the boley of the stubbles”
(see logainm.ie #52568)
Date: 16/10/2025
As we continue towards the end of the harvest in October, or Deireadh Fómhair "(the end of harvest (time)" in Irish, it is notable that there are few townland names that refer to stubble fields. One possible example is Ballynabrigadane / Buaile na mBriogadán "the boley of the stubbles" in County Wexford (see logainm.ie: #52568). However, the final element, briogadán, may have been employed here in the secondary sense "the bits of straw lighted as a play thing, burning tipped sticks", possibly in reference to the 'Will o' the wisp', a natural phenomenon that usually occurs in bogs, swamps and marshes. It is interesting to note that 'peaty topsoil types' and also 'lacustrine' soils are recorded in this townland, which is consistent with the existence of marshes or bogs here prior to drainage.