Featured themes 25/05/2026

Docks
Coolnagoppoge / Cúil na gCopóg
‘the recess, nook of the docks’
(see logainm.ie #22482)

Date: 25/05/2026

One of the first Irish-language nursery jingles children learn is Neantóg a dhóigh mé, copóg a leigheas mé (‘It was a nettle that stung me, it was a dock-leaf that cured me!’). Even in the predominantly Anglophone Ireland of today this folk remedy is still well known, and of course it is not restricted to this county. While the scientific basis for the “cure” is questionable to say the least, there is a good chance that the next time you receive a sting from a nettle you will notice – when you’re finished cursing – that the copóg ‘dock-leaf’ is growing at the same spot. Like the nettles it intermixes with, the copóg ‘dock’ is very well represented in townland names, as we will see below.

One noticeable feature is the frequency with which copóg occurs in townland names containing the generic element cúil ‘nook, recess’. The English name Springhill in Co. Tipperary (logainm.ie #47726) is a 19th-century replacement of Cúil na gCopóg ‘the recess, nook of the docks’. This same Irish placename – in the anglicized form Coolnacoppoge – occurs three times in Co. Kerry (logainm.ie #22482; #22828; #22974), with further examples in Cos. Carlow (logainm.ie #3245), Kilkenny (logainm.ie #26563) and Waterford (logainm.ie #50347).

Note that we only have one probable example of Cúil na gCopóg outside Munster and Leinster, in Co. Antrim. Townland names in which copóg occurs with other generic elements show less of a geographical bias. Thus, in the northern half of Ireland we find Lecarrownagappoge / Leithcheathrú na gCopóg ‘the half-quarter (land measure) of the docks’ (logainm.ie #20057) in Co. Galway; Cloonnagoppoge / Cluain na gCopóg (logainm.ie #34810) in Co. Mayo; and two townlands in the Co. Donegal Gaeltacht, namely Mín na gCopóg ‘the level ground of the docks’ (logainm.ie #14432) and Srath na gCopóg ‘the river valley of the docks’ (logainm.ie #14712). (There are two probable examples in Cos. Down and Tyrone.) Further examples are found in the south: Knocknaguppoge / Cnoc na gCopóg ‘the hill of the docks’ (logainm.ie #27031) in Co. Kilkenny; Tooreennaguppoge / Tuairín na gCopóg (logainm.ie #10621) in Co. Cork and Toornagoppoge / Tuar na gCopóg (logainm.ie #49960) and Co. Waterford, which both refer to a ‘bleaching-green’ or ‘lea-field’ (FGB s.v. tuar); and finally – a name which would make any respectable modern farmer shudder – Gorteenaguppoge / Goirtín na gCopóg ‘the (little) field of the docks’ (logainm.ie #8030) in Co. Clare.

Note that the foregoing list is not intended to be exhaustive. Note also that the Placenames Branch bears no responsibility for the medicinal effectiveness of the dock-leaves in any of the places mentioned.

Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill

Docks Coolnagoppoge / Cúil na gCopóg ‘the recess, nook of the docks’ (see logainm.ie #22482)

Docks
Coolnagoppoge / Cúil na gCopóg
‘the recess, nook of the docks’
(see logainm.ie #22482)