Featured themes

Date: 02/08/2025

Last week we noted the surname Ó Clabaigh (anglic. Clabby), borne by a professional Gaelic family who held hereditary office as airchinnigh (church-stewards) and as intergenerational (parish) priests at Oran / Órán in Co. Roscommon. We begin this week’s note with a closer look at the surname itself. Most native Irish surnames formed with Ó (earlier Ua, originally meaning ‘grandson of’) are based on the personal name of the family’s ultimate ancestor. For example, the family surnamed Ó Maoileoin (anglic. Malone) purport to trace their lineage back to a person named Maoileoin (< Maol Eoin ‘(tonsured) servant of (Saint) Eoin’). This is also true, though to a slightly lesser extent, for those surnames formed with Mac (originally meaning ‘son of’): the surname Mac Aodha (anglic. Hughes, McKay, etc.) harks back to a progenitor named Aodh.

However, in some instances, the basic element of the surname does not come from a personal name, per se. Ó Clabaigh is based on the epithet clabach ‘big-mouthed’ or ‘garrulous’, or even – as the editors of the Annals of Loch Cé translated it – ‘thick-lipped’ (eDIL s.v. clapach; Ó Dónaill s.v. clabach; Dinneen s.v. id.; cf. ‘Geróid clapach … thick-lipped’ (Annals of Loch Cé anno 1581)). The Irish annals and genealogies abound in nicknames and epithets. Further examples can also be found in English government documents from the 16th and 17th centuries, which record the names of Irish-speakers of both native Gaelic and Old English (gaelicized Anglo-Norman) descent. Hundreds of unique nicknames and epithets can be found in these sources, not even including repetitions of commonly used and relatively neutral adjectives such as beag ‘little’, mór ‘big, senior’, óg ‘young, junior’, etc. Not all of the epithets were as innocuous as these, of course; the word clabach is likely to have been a derogatory or at least mildly offensive nickname in any of its senses, notwithstanding the current fashion for fuller lips. Indeed, the nicknames found among the Gaelic Irish in these sources would be very unlikely to be recorded in modern-day official documents, to put it mildly, and most would be considered highly inappropriate outside the immediate family or intimate social circle of the bearer.

For example, there is no shortage of examples of the epithet gránna ‘ugly’. See for instance the official pardons given to ‘Gilpatrike Grane O’Morro’ [Giolla Phádraig Gránna Ó Murchú], i.e., Ugly Giolla Phádraig Ó Murchú (Murphy) of Kilpatrick near Crossabeg in Co. Wexford, in 1552 (Fiants [Ed.] §959); to ‘Diermod grana m‘Manus M‘Donogh’ [Diarmaid Gránna mac Mánais Mac Donncha], i.e, Ugly Diarmaid, son of Mánas Mac Donncha (McDonagh) of Bricklieve, Co. Sligo, in the 1580s (Fiants [Eliz.] §5805); and to ‘Shane Grana O’Carrolane’ [Seán Gránna Ó Cearúlláin], i.e., Ugly Seán Ó Cearúlláin (Carolan) of Co. Meath, in 1610 (CPR, p.183). The same epithet also occurs in great numbers in Irish sources: it is found among members of the Mac Diarmada and the Ó hAirt families in Mac Fhirbhisigh’s Book of Genealogies (LMnG) (c. 1666). We will not speculate whether the prevalence of gránna as an epithet implies that the Gaels were not generally very good-looking or, conversely, that they had extremely high standards of physical beauty.

There are many other such ‘derogatory’ epithets found in these and other sources, some more well-known than others. Other examples include ‘Owen Loghtaghe O’Hairt’ [Eoghan Lochtach Ó hAirt], i.e., Faulty/Wicked(?)/Slightly Mad(?) Eoghan Ó hAirt (Harte), of Ballyconnell in Co. Sligo (Fiants [Eliz.] §4706); ‘John Kykeraghe Roche’ [Séan Cíocrach de Róiste], i.e., Gluttonous Seán de Róiste (Roche), of Kilcavan in south Co. Wexford (Fiants [Ed.] §317); ‘Cahir moddere’ [Cathaoir Modartha], i.e., Gloomy Cathaoir, of Ardamine, Co. Wexford (Fiants [Eliz.] §6789); ‘Edm. sallagh M‘Gillegallingee’ [Éamann Salach Mac Giolla(…)], i.e., Dirty Éamann [Mac Giolla(…)], of ‘Ratyhlie’ [now defunct] near Easky, Co. Sligo (Fiants [Eliz.] §5805).

Although extremely widespread in daily life, these derogatory epithets are not commonly found in modern townland names. (That is not to say that they never featured in placenames. Sometimes they occur in older forms before falling out of use: see for example Aghfarrell / Áth Fhearaíl ‘the ford of Fearaíol [< Fearghal]’ (#17417) on the Co. Dublin/Wicklow border, formerly Áth Fhearaíl Fhinn ‘the ford of fair(-haired) Fearaíol’: ‘Agherillin’ (c. 1578), ‘Aghferylin’ (1605), ‘Aghfarrellfin’ (c. 1660) → ‘Affarrell’ (1664).) But a handful of examples do survive. Carrach ‘scabby, rough-skinned, mangy’ is a very commonly occurring epithet, no doubt due to the prevalence of skin diseases in the absence of effective medical treatments. Example include ‘Tirrelagh Carrogh McPhellim O’Connor, gent’ [Toirealach Carrach mac Féilim Ó Conchúir], i.e., Scabby/Mangy/Rough-Skinned Toirealach, son of Féilim Ó Conchúir (O’Connor), of Co. Sligo (CPR p.20); ‘Wm. Carragh Bermigam, horsm[a]n’ [Liam Carrach Mac Fheorais], i.e., Scabby Liam Mac Fheorais (Bermingham) of Co. Meath (Fiants [Eliz.] §3952); ‘Brian carragh mcAlexander McDonill, galloglass’ [Brian Carrach mac Alastair Mac Dónaill], i.e., Scabby Brian son of Alastar Mac Dónaill (McDonnell) of Co. Wicklow (Fiants [Eliz.] §444); ‘Patrick carraugh Forlong’ [Pádraig Carrach Forlang], i.e., Scabby Pádraig Forlang (Furlong) of Glynn in Co. Wexford (Fiants [Eliz.] §61). This epithet carrach is unusual insofar as it is found in more than one townland name. In Co. Wicklow we have Ballymacahara / Baile Mhic Aodha Charraigh ‘the town(land) of the son of scabby, mangy, rough-skinned Aodh’ (logainm.ie #55479), while both Ballyshane in Co. Wexford (logainm.ie #53282) (‘Ballyshancarragh’, anno 1757, CGn. 205.48.135029) and Ballyshancarragh in Co. Carlow (logainm.ie #3225) are from Baile Sheáin Charraigh ‘the town(land) of mangy, scabby, rough-skinned Seán’.

These skin ailments were not confined to the southeast, however! There are two separate townlands in the Donegal Gaeltacht called Mín Ghiolla Charraigh ‘the mountain grass-land of (An) Giolla Carrach [(the) Scabby Fellow]’ (logainm.ie #14971; #16180). Here, (An) Giolla Carrach would seem to be a nickname: compare ‘Giolla Críost mac Aonghusa, aonmhac leis .i. an Giolla Carrach (Sithriug a ainm)’ [Giolla Críost son of Aonghas had one son, i.e., An Giolla Carrach “the Scabby Fellow” (Sithreag was his [real] name)], in the genealogy of a South Ulster family (LMnG §315.2).

(More next week.)

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 23/07/2025

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!

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)

Date: 12/07/2025

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: 01/07/2025

As we saw last week, Eoin (Baiste), the Irish name for Saint John (the Baptist), is a pre–Anglo-Norman borrowing from Latin Joannes (see Gaelic Personal Names, D. Ó Corráin & Fidelma Maguire (1981) s.n. Eoin; see also D. Greene, Ériu 35 (1984)). It would be tempting to consider the possibility, therefore, that an Irish-language placename such as Ballyowen / Baile Eoin ‘the town(land) of (Saint) John’ (logainm.ie #53384), near Wellingtonbridge in Co. Wexford, must predate the Anglo-Norman invasion. The eponym is certainly Eoin ‘(Saint) John’, rather than the similar sounding native Irish name Eoghan: the townland contains a holy well named Saint John’s Well, and Saint John was also the patron of the church of the parish, in the adjacent townland of Ballylannan (see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of Co. Wexford, p.387). Typologically, however, it would be extremely unusual to find the structure ‘baile + saint’s name’ in a townland name of Irish origin, in contrast to the corresponding formation ‘saint’s name + -town’ in English coinages. One such English example is Johnstown near Naas in Co. Kildare (logainm.ie #1181). The earliest references, such as ‘Joneston’ (c 1280), do not tell us much; however, this placename in fact derives from a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, as is clear from 17th-century references to ‘Ecclesia S. Joannis Baptistae’, ‘Ville Sancti Joannis’ on a list of Co. Kildare churches. Note also, in passing, that the generic element baile ‘town(land)’ itself only really began to flourish in the 12th century (see Toner, ‘Baile: settlement and landholding in medieval Ireland’, Éigse 34 (2004)).
With all this in mind, it is far more likely that anglicized Ballyowen in Co. Wexford represents an Irish placename of an early Anglo-Norman coinage *(Saint) Johnstown ‘the town(land) of (the church of) Saint John’. This part of Co. Wexford was heavily colonized after the invasion but, as happened throughout the country, Irish remained the vernacular of the natives and was soon adopted by the descendants of the early settlers themselves (see C. Ó Crualaoich & K. Whelan, Gaelic Wexford 1550 – 1650, forthcoming; see also C. Ó Crualaoich, ‘Some evidence in Tudor Fiants, Calendar of Patent Rolls and Inquisitions for Irish among families of Anglo-Norman descent in county Wexford between 1540 and 1640’, Studia Hibernica 34 (2006–2007), pp.85–110). The recommended official Irish version of the townland name is therefore Baile Eoin ‘the town(land) of Saint John’, in recognition of its association with the church of Saint John the Baptist (see Placenames (Co. Wexford) Order – Draft 2016).
Why, then, is it more usual to find Baile Sheáin ‘the town(land) of Seán’ as the Irish version of Johnstown elsewhere in the draft placenames order for Co. Wexford, and in the placenames orders for other counties? Furthermore, why is the Irish form of Johnstown (logainm.ie #55501) near Arklow in Co. Wicklow Baile Sheonac ‘the town(land) of Seonac’, while Johnstown (logainm.ie #33579) in Co. Louth is Baile Sheoin ‘the town(land) of Seon’? And there are further ‘inconsistencies’: the Irish name of Johnstown (logainm.ie #9793) in the civil parish of Kilmichael in Co. Cork is Cill Sheanaigh; Saint Johnstown (logainm.ie #47647) in Co. Tipperary is Baile an tSeánaigh; and Johnstown (logainm.ie #38191) southeast of Kells in Co. Meath is Baile Sheonóid.
Of course, as is often the case, the Irish forms only seem problematic when viewed from the point of view of their English names! To begin with, Eoin (as found in Eoin Baiste, ‘Saint John the Baptist’) is not the only possible Irish-language equivalent to the English name John. In fact, the Biblical origins of Eoin (< Lat. Joannes) are probably not very well known to Irish-speakers, such is the strength of the equivalence of Irish Seán and English John in modern usage. But even that equivalence is not straightforward: Irish Seán does not derive directly from the English name John at all, but from its Anglo-Norman equivalent Jehan (see Ó Corráin & Maguire, s.n. Seán). Like many other Anglo-Norman names adopted by the Gaelic Irish, Seán became so popular that the townland names in which it occurs are simply too numerous to list here. Seán (< AN Jehan) was subsequently anglicized (or, at a push, ‘re-anglicized’) as John, as is clear from late medieval and early modern English documents (e.g. ‘John alias Shane O’Doeran’ [Seán Ó Deoráin], Inq. Lag. Car. I 66), further cementing the equivalence Seán = John in modern Irish-language usage. For this reason, when no evidence happens to survive for the local Irish form of a placename containing John, the official name uses the standard Seán, as in Johnstown → Baile Sheáin (logainm.ie #16671) in Co. Dublin.
However, in a number of cases, some very interesting evidence for the local Irish form of the placename does happen to come down to us. We will discuss some of this evidence next week, but not before making a brief mention of one of the more commonly occurring examples, Baile Sheoin ‘the town(land) of Seon’. Although listed as a variant of Seán (< AN Jehan) in some sources (e.g. Ó Corráin & Maguire, s.n. Seán), Seon – pronounced [ʃoːn] with a long o-vowel – is a direct Irish borrowing of Middle English John. For the most part, the two borrowings Seán and Seon were treated as very distinct names in Irish. (To be continued next week.)

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 21/06/2025

A visitor to the Galway Gaeltacht at this time of the year might be struck by the sight of blazing bonfires on the night of 23rd June, the eve of St. John’s feast-day. In Ireland, these mid-summer fires appear to have been transferred from the ancient May festival of Bealtaine (see Kay Muhr, ‘Bealtaine in Irish and Scottish Place-Names’, Journal of Scottish Name Studies 10). It is notable that the saint celebrated on the night of 23rd/24th June, Saint John the Baptist – Eoin Baiste in Irish – does not feature in the Martyrology of Donegal (see Felire na Naomh nÉrennach), the 17th-century version of the ecclesiastical calendar of native saints. Note also that parishes dedicated to Saint John are found for the most part in areas heavily colonized by the Anglo-Normans. Witness Saint John’s / Paróiste Eoin in Cos. Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Wexford, and Waterford (see logainm.ie). The parish of Teach Eoin ‘Saint John’s (religious) house’ (logainm.ie #2112) in Co. Roscommon, called Saint John’s in English, can also be traced to Anglo-Norman settlement in the area, as can Teampall Eoin ‘Saint John’s church’ (logainm.ie #2147) in Sligo Town, and Templeowen / Teampall Eoin (logainm.ie #3548) at Tullow in Co. Carlow refers to a friary founded in 1314 by Simon Lumbard and Hugh Talun (see Historic Environment Viewer: CW008-045001).

Of the placenames commemorating this saint, the ones containing the element cill ‘church’ are perhaps the most interesting, such as the parish of Killone / Cill Eoin ‘the church of Saint John’ (logainm.ie #485) near Ennis in Co. Clare. The generic element cill ‘church, cell’ usually denotes an ecclesiastical site of some antiquity (see Pádraig Ó Cearbhaill, Logainmneacha na hÉireann II: Cill i logainmneacha Co. Thiobraid Árann (2007) lch.2), but the example in Co. Clare refers to an Augustian foundation that certainly post-dates the Anglo-Norman invasion. There are other attested examples of Cill Eoin ‘the church of Saint John’ in Cos. Cork, Down, Galway and Waterford, easily confused with the slightly more common Cill Eoghain ‘the church of Saint Eoghan’, commemorating a native saint. Note that these two placenames are homophonous in later Modern Irish and we are often reliant on secondary evidence, such as patron dates, to identify the original Irish precursor. (As to the official anglicized spellings, based on the information gathered by the Irish scholars at the Topographical Department, the Ordnance Survey standardized Cill Eoin to Killone and Cill Eoghain to Killowen wherever they could, but later research sometimes shows their analysis to have been incorrect.)

(Note in passing that the saint’s full title was used in the Irish name of the townland Baptistgrange / Gráinseach Eoin Baiste ‘the grange of John the Baptist’ (logainm.ie #47624) in Co. Tipperary: ‘grainseach Eóin Baiste’ (1840), another placename of probable Anglo-Norman origin.)

The proliferation of Anglo-Norman dedications does not necessarily mean that Saint John the Baptist was neglected by the Irish prior to the invasion. We have some good onomastic evidence to the contrary. Although omitted from the 17th-century martyrology mentioned above, we should note that Eoin (Saint John the Baptist) is mentioned in the earlier Irish calendars: ‘Ríg-gein Iohain baptaist…’ in The Martryology of Oengus the Culdee/Félire Óengusso Céili Dé [24th July, recte June]. (As mentioned before, Irish Eoin is a borrowing from Biblical Latin Joannes, in contrast to the later borrowings Seon and Seán from the Anglo-Normans, through English John and Norman French Jehan, respectively.) But of course a mere mention in the early calendar is not in itself evidence of an Irish cult of Saint John, as many other non-Irish saints who were never venerated in Ireland are included in the same source. Stronger evidence is found in the form of the surname Ó Maoileoin ‘descendant of the follower of St. John’ (now generally anglicized Malone). The significance is that the prefix Ó (Mid.Ir. Úa) ‘descendant of’ (originally meaning ‘grandson of’) was not productive in Irish surnames after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. (Native surnames coined after the invasion use the prefix mac ‘descendant of’, originally ‘son of’, or no prefix at all, e.g. Mac Seáin [anglic. McShane], Caomhánach [anglic. Cavanagh/Kavanagh].) Therefore, the existence of the surname Ó Maoileoin ‘descendant of the follower of Saint John’ points to veneration of John the Baptist in Gaelic society before the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. The underlying personal name is of course Maoileoin [Mid.Ir. Mael Eóin] (cf. eDIL s.v. 3 Mael (c); cf. ‘Maoileoin, epscop acus angcoiri’ [Maoileoin, bishop and anchorite] in the Martyrology of Donegal (20th October)).

Woulfe also notes ‘a distinguished family of ecclesiastics of Clonmacnoise, of which several O’Malones were abbots and bishops’ (SGG s.v. Ó Maoileóin). Members of the Ó Maoileoin family also crop up as clerics in other places: they were undoubtedly active in the dioceses of Clonfert / Cluain Fearta, Killaloe / Cill Dálua and Tuam / Tuaim, with other possible examples (see Calendar of Papal Registers, passim). Some of these references mention papal dispensations given to the offspring of unions between a priest and an unmarried woman. As mentioned in previous notes, the frequency with which these types of dispensations were issued in Ireland implies that the office of priesthood within the Gaelic Church was regularly passed from father to son. This led to the creation of ‘clerical families’ which persisted in Ireland long after celibacy had become official policy in the rest of the Church. This tradition seems to have survived into the late medieval and early modern period, only coming to an end with the destruction of Gaelic society in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Take for instance a papal letter dated January 1412, concerning the promotion of a clerk, Donald Omulluyn [Dónall Ó Maoileoin] of the diocese of Killaloe, ‘to all, even holy orders and hold a benefice … of Castro Conayng’ [Castleconnell / Caisleán Uí Chonaill (logainm.ie #31374)]. This Donald / Dónall had only lately received papal dispensation as the son of a priest and an unmarried woman (Calendar of Papal Registers VI, pp.254–270). Another such dispensation was given to John Omuleoyn [Seán/Eoin(?) Ó Maoileoin], a priest of the diocese of Tuam, before he received a promotion to the rectory of ‘Magcarnan’ [Moycarn / Maigh Charnáin (logainm.ie #217)] in 1422 (Calendar of Papal Registers VII pp.228–229). The vacancy had arisen upon the death of one Maurianus Omuleoyn, and it is not impossible that this was John’s own father! (The Latinate form Maurianus/Marianus, which was popular enough among Irish clerics in the late medieval period, probably represents Irish Maolmhuire [Mid.Ir. Mael Muire] ‘follower of the Virgin Mary’ in this case. Note that it was also used to refer to Mairín Ó Briain (†1236), archbishop of Cashel (AIF anno 1238), whose Irish (religous) name is a direct diminutive of Muire [earlier Maire] ‘the Virgin Mary’.)

As we have mentioned in earlier notes, recent research has shown – somewhat counterintuitively – that native Irish surnames are not very common in Irish townland names. Those surnames that do occur generally refer to families with a professional pedigree – clerical, legal, literary, etc. – who received better terms of tenure than other Gaelic families. (See C. Ó Crualaoich, ‘Townland and Defunct Placenames in Sligo: Evidence for Surnames in the Historical Forms of Townland and other Placenames’ (Part I)’, in Sligo Field Club Journal, 3 (2017); (Part II), in Sligo Field Club Journal, 4 (2019).) Therefore it should come as no surprise that a surname with the ecclesiastical pedigree of Ó Maoileoin should be found in the townland names Ballyvelone in Co. Cork and Ballymalone in Co. Clare, both of which derive from Baile Uí Mhaoileoin ‘the town(land) of Ó Maoileoin’. It is likely that the families involved were granted those lands on the basis of their professional status.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

Date: 09/06/2025

The famous mythological hero Cú Chulainn we mentioned last week is not directly mentioned in the name of any townland in Ireland. However, he is commemorated in many non-administrative placenames. (We usually call these non-administrative placenames minor names even though they can include massive geographical features!)

The first of these minor placenames is the well-known headland in southwest Co. Clare known in English as Loop Head (logainm.ie #104201). The Irish name Ceann Léime “headland of (the) leap” (in reference to a chasm on the coastline) could still be heard from local native speakers well into the 20th century. However, the headland was also well known by the longer name, Léim Chon Culainn “the leap of Cú Chulainn”. One of the earliest attestations in Irish sources is found in the 11th-century Cert Ríg Caisil (‘The Right of the King of Caiseal / Cashel’), which describes the historic district of Corca Bhaiscinn as extending from Léim Chon Culainn to Clarecastle (#1412543) (‘ó tá Lém Chon Culainn co Clár Átha Dá Chara’). It is interesting to note, then, that even the earliest surviving anglicized sources reflect the name Ceann Léime, for example ‘Can Leame’ on Boazio’s map Irlandiæ accvrata descriptio first published in 1599. Curiously, although the modern English name derives from a translation of this Irish form, it is not *Leap Head as we might anticipate, but rather Loop Head. (We will have to leave discussion of this unexpected English form for another day, though it may not be unconnected with the topic of the remainder of this note.)

Cú Chulainn also features in the names of much smaller features, e.g. the two separate cairns just outside the modern Gaeltacht in Corca Dhuibhne, Co. Kerry, both called Cuchullin’s House / Tigh Chú Chulainn (logainm.ie #101129; #1414794), in which the genitive form Chú Chulainn (hypercorrected to ‘…Conchulain’ by John O’Donovan in the Ordnance Survey Namebooks) implies a much later origin than Léim Chon Culainn. He is also commemorated in a number of names found in early Irish literature, some of which were imaginary and all of which are now defunct. We are told that in Binn Éadair / Howth, Co. Dublin, there was a place called Bern Chon Culaind [Bearn Chon Culainn] “the gap of Cú Chulainn”. In Teamhair / Tara, Co. Meath, there were said to be places called Córus Cind Chonchulainn [Córas Cinn Chon Culainn] “the measure of the head of Cú Chulainn”, Láthrach Scéith Con Chulainn [Láithreach Scéith Chon Culainn] “the site of the shield of Cú Chulainn” and Méide Con Chulainn [Méidhe Chon Culainn] “the (decapitated) neck of Cú Chulainn”! (These places in Tara were right beside Ráth Chonchúir Mhic Neasa, named after the king of Ulster whose service Cú Chulainn joined as a youth, as mentioned in a previous note.) In Cú Chulainn’s old stomping-ground of Co. Louth we are told of Echlasc Ech Con Chulainn [Eachlasc Each Con Culainn] “the horse-shelters of Cú Chulainn” near Dún Dealgan / Dundalk and Grellach Con Chulainn [Greallach Chon Culainn] “the miry place of Cú Chulainn” near Baile Átha Fhirdhia / Ardee. (Ardee has its own tragic connections to Cú Chulainn, of course!) (For these and other references to placenames in Irish literature, see DIAS E-Onomasticon – Donnchadh Ó Corráin’s annotated version of Edmund Hogan’s Onomasticon Goedelicum (1910) – and the essential modern series Foclóir Stairiúil Áitainmneacha na Gaeilge / Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames.).

Returning to Ceann Léime “(the) headland of (the) leap”, we find the same placename repeated at a second location further up the west coast in Co. Galway. This example also has a very unexpected English form, namely Slyne Head (logainm.ie #1165703). Again, we find the reasonably accurate anglicized spelling ‘Can Leame’ both on Boazio’s map (see above) and on another roughly contemporary John Speed’s The Province of Connaught with the City of Galway described (c 1610). One of the earliest Irish attestations is ‘Ceann leime’ (1684) in A Chorographical Description of West or H-Iar Connaught written A.D. 1684 by Roderic O’Flaherty (Ruairí Ó Flaithbheartaigh). It is unclear whether the modern English name Slyne Head is a half-translation of Ceann Léime as *Lem Head, with an intrusive S- giving *Slemhead – note that O’Flaherty gives the English forms ‘Slimhead’ and ‘Slimehead’ (1684) – or whether it is an unconnected name of English origin.

Similarly to Ceann Léime in Co. Clare (formerly called Léim Chon Culainn), this Ceann Léime in Co. Galway was earlier known as Léim Lára “mare’s leap” (see Éamonn Ó Tuathail, ‘Léim Lára’, Éigse VI, pp.155-156; A. B. Taylor, ‘Léim Lára – Ceann Léime’, Éigse IX, pp.30-31). It is remarkable to note that this headland was of such significance to mariners that it appears to be recorded in the Landnámabók – the medieval account of the Viking settlement of Iceland – as Jǫlduhlaup “mare’s leap”. As the first element jalda “mare” seems confined to poetic language, unlike the more common word merr “mare” (see Icelandic English Dictionary, (1962, reprint, Oxford)), Jǫlduhlaup “mare’s leap” appears to have been a carefully made translation. Whatever the case, it is clear that the Old Norse translator of the name had an understanding of Irish.

Of course, this is not the only example of speakers of Old Norse interacting with the Irish placenames they encountered here. The modern English name of Dalkey (logainm.ie #17503) in Co. Dublin is derived from what might be described as an Old Norse calque of the original Irish name Deilginis “thorn-island” in which the Middle Irish elements delg + inis have been replaced by Old Norse dálk + øy. The English name of Ireland’s Eye / Inis Mac Neasáin “the island of the sons of Neasán” (logainm.ie #17542) is from a Norse version of an alternative Irish name for that island, namely Inis Éireann “the island of Éire”, from the female personal name Éire, gen. Éireann (Mid.Ir. Ériu, gen. Érenn). This was incorrectly translated as if it contained a reference to the country-name Éire (see DIAS e-onomasticon s.n. inis érenn). Further examples can be found in Dónall Mac Giolla Easpaig, ‘L’influence Scandinave sur la Toponymie Irlandaise’, in É. Ridel (ed.), L’Héritage Maritime des Vikings en Europe de l’Ouest (Caen, 2002) pp. 441‒82.

These placenames showing Old Norse interaction with Irish placenames are of particular significance in terms of the linguistic history of Ireland, as they provide evidence for a familiarity of the Irish language among the early Vikings. Indeed, given our knowledge of significant Viking settlement in Ireland, it is remarkable that there are so few placenames of unambiguous Norse origin in the country (see Mac Giolla Easpaig, ibid.). It is also striking that with very few exceptions, Old Norse coinages were not adopted by the Irish: for example, the introduction of the new name Veðrafjǫrðr (now Eng. Waterford) had no impact whatsoever on the name Irish-speakers used, which is still to this day Port Láirge. Note that this is in very stark contrast to the situation in the Western Isles of Scotland, where there are countless examples of Norse placenames in gaelicized form.

Furthermore, while Scandinavian placenames in Ireland survive almost exclusively in the English-language stratum, this need not necessarily imply that the names were transmitted directly from Old Norse-speakers to the Anglo-Normans upon their arrival. While there were some vestiges of Norse/Irish bilingualism in Dublin into the 12th century (see Ó Corráin, ‘Old Norse and medieval Irish: bilingualism in Viking-age Dublin’, Dublin and the medieval world (2009), building on the research of Bugge, Nordisk sprog og nordisk nationalitet i Irland (1905)), the weight of the evidence points to widespread gaelicization. (In the earliest records of the Anglo-Normans the vast majority of surnames of Scandinavian origin appear as reflexes of the Irish forms – i.e., Macthorkel rather than Thorkelsson – and many gaelicized forms of Old Norse personal names feature in contemporary placenames of Irish-language origin.) In this context it is salient to note that the only Old Norse placenames the Anglo-Normans themselves adopted were the names of headlands, inlets and islands that would already have been familiar to generations of seafarers through what Ó Corráin called ‘the lingua franca of Ostman sailors and merchants’.

The dearth of Old Norse placenames in Ireland may point to the very early adoption of Irish as the vernacular among Scandinavian settlers in Ireland. But it might also point in the other direction: it could suggest that a significant number of the Vikings arriving in Ireland via Scotland – not only the specific group mentioned in the historical sources as the Gall-Goídil (Mod.Ir. Gall-Ghaeil) “foreign Irish” – already had a knowledge of the Irish language, possibly due to kinship ties with the Gaelic population of that country. Reliable historical evidence from the annals is very scanty, and the analysis of the toponymic evidence is very tricky. We will return to this topic next week.

[Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill]

Date: 02/06/2025

The hurling Championship has returned again! As we already discussed placenames relating to hurling this time last year, however, in this note we will draw attention to an interesting, albeit coincidental, link between the name of one of Co. Wexford’s premier clubs and the most famous reference to hurling in Irish literature. One of the prologues to the epic story Táin Bó Chuaille (OIr. Táin Bó Cúalnge) (‘the cattle-raid of Cuaille / Cooley’) tells of the arrival of the boy named Séadanta to Eamhain Mhacha, the residence of the king Conchúr mac Neasa, whereupon he engaged the youths of Ulster in a hurling match. (See Eamhain Mhacha / Navan (logainm.ie #56153; placenamesni.org Eamhain Mhacha. Note the standardized Modern Irish orthography of Séadanta. The Old and Middle Irish spelling Sétanta tends to be brutally mispronounced as /səˈtanˌta/, as in the name of the sports channel.) The version in the Book of Leinster tells us that Séadanta encountered these youths for faidche na Emna, ‘on the faiche of Eamhain Mhacha’. Here faiche is clearly used in the sense ‘open space in front of a fort, (significant) residence’ (for other examples see eDIL s.v. faithche, faidche). (OIr. Faidche na hEmna is mentioned in other early Irish sagas, e.g. Aided Chonchubair.) Needless to say, Séadanta was victorious, and later in the story the same faiche is again the scene for a display of his skill with the camán ‘hurley/hurl’ which earned him the new name Cú Chulainn. (No spoilers given here!)

However, faiche was not restricted at any stage of the language to the narrow meaning in which it was used in this tale. Further meanings in early Irish include ‘public square, courtyard; green meadow; playingfield’ (eDIL) and in the modern language, ‘(playing-)field, (play)ground’ (FGB s.v. faiche), or even simply ‘field’, ‘lawn’ or ‘plain’ (Dinneen s.v. faithche). Given its versatility it is little surprise that faiche is quite common in placenames. Thus we find townlands bearing the simplex name An Fhaiche in all four corners of the country (see Glossary, logainm.ie s.v. faiche), anglicized by the Ordnance Survey as Faha in Cos. Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford; Fahy in Cos. Clare, Galway, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Meath and Offaly; Foygh in Co. Longford; and Foy in Co. Kildare.

In combination with qualifying adjectives faiche also features in the forerunner to Fahy Beg in Cos. Mayo (logainm.ie #37225) and Clare (logainm.ie #7430), Fahybeg (logainm.ie #36397) also in Co. Mayo, along with Foy Beg (logainm.ie #56616) in Co. Armagh, which all represent An Fhaiche Bheag, variously meaning ‘the small green’ or ‘the green, small (subdivision of)’; and their counterparts Fahamore (logainm.ie #22522) in Co. Kerry, Fahymore (logainm.ie #29294) in Co. Leitrim, and Fahy More (logainm.ie #37226) in Co. Mayo, as well as Foy More (logainm.ie #56617; see also placenamesni.org An Fhaiche Mhór) in Co. Armagh, which all represent An Fhaiche Mhór. Faiche is also qualified by adjectives of colour in Irish townland names: see Fahalea / An Fhaiche Liath ‘the grey green’ (logainm.ie #10936) in Co. Cork, and Fahavane / An Fhaiche Bhán ‘the white green’ (logainm.ie #10936) and Fahaduff / An Fhaiche Dhubh ‘the black green’ (logainm.ie #24681) in Co. Kerry. (Note that of course the original Irish forms have none of the unavoidable double-meaning of green in these English translations.)

Faiche ‘green, etc.’ also occurs as a qualifying element. It is possible that Lisnafaha / Lios na Faiche ‘the ringfort of the green’ (logainm.ie #6930) in Co. Clare originally referred to the ground directly outside of the ringfort, similar to the faiche in front of Eamhain Mhacha mentioned above. A different meaning is evident in Callan / Callain, Co. Kilkenny, however, where the townland Cannafahy / Ceann na Faiche ‘the head of the green’ (logainm.ie #26146) received its name because it was located just beyond the town’s Fair Green (Faiche an Aonaigh). (The place is mentioned frequently in the early 19th-century diary of Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin.) Various other meanings, some more obscure than others, must have been intended in the following placenames: Baile na Faiche ‘the townland of the green’ (anglicized Ballynafeigh (logainm.ie #62052) and Ballynafie (logainm.ie #62921) in Co. Antrim; Ballynafagh in Co. Kildare (#26086)); Lugnafaha / Log na Faiche ‘the hollow of the green’ (logainm.ie #37232) in Co. Mayo and Cornafaghy / Corr na Faiche ‘the round hill of the green’ (logainm.ie #40600) in Co. Monaghan.

As to derivatives, the word faichín – i.e., faiche with the diminutive suffix -ín – does not occur in townland names, although it is found in microtoponymy in Munster: in Co. Tipperary we find the two unconnected placenames Faugheen / Faichín (#67199) and Faheen Cross Roads / Crois Fhaichín (#67198), and in Co. Waterford we find Faugheen Church / Teampall an Fhaichín (#1436460) and another probable example in the Gaeltacht field name An Fhaichín(?) (#1420588). On the other hand, we do find examples of townland names containing another diminutive faicheog, i.e., faiche with the suffix -óg either in a collective sense (‘the place abounding in greens’) or, more likely, a diminutive sense (‘the small green’). In its plural form Na Faicheoga, this is the precursor to Fihoges in Co. Longford (logainm.ie #33157) and Foyoges (logainm.ie #44485) in Co. Sligo.

Note that so far, the English-language versions of the townland names featuring faiche, faichín and faicheog we have mentioned are all standardized spellings of fairly straightforward phonetic adaptations of the Irish placenames, as opposed to translations or replacements. There are a couple of exceptions. At some stage during the 17th or 18th century, the townland name Gort na Faiche ‘the field of/at the green’ (logainm.ie #26167) in Co. Kilkenny (‘Gortnefahe’ 1538) appears to have become associated with an unconnected English placename Haggard (‘the haggard’ 1555), producing the modern official English name Haggartsgreen (-t- sic). It is interesting to note that the Irish translation Faiche an Agaird ‘the green of the haggard’ subsequently emerged as a local variant. (Although this is clearly derived from the English name Haggardsgreen, its etymology appears to have been forgotten by local Irish-speakers in the 19th century: the Ordnance Survey recorded the form ‘fatha na ccárd’ (1838), and even the literate Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin misunderstood it as ‘Fatha-na-gárda’ (1833), both forms showing an unanticipated shift of stress to the final syllable.)

Probably the most unusual anglicized form of the element faiche itself is found in the south Wexford townland name Faythe / An Fhaiche (logainm.ie #54433) in the civil parish of Tacumshin: ‘the Faigh’ (1579), ‘Faith’ (1716). Exactly the same form (with the addition of the definite article) is used for another example of Irish An Fhaiche in the same county, in the name of civil parish of Saint Michael’s of Feagh (logainm.ie #2620) in Wexford Town. The local spelling of this name is The Faythe; the earliest surviving written attestation is ‘le ffaghe’ (1461x1483), but it is spelled ‘Faythe’ in the Tithe Applotment Books (c. 1830). However, the traditional pronunciation is the bizarre /ˈfaiɣth/, /faəɣth/ or /faigth/ (as if spelled Faaghth, Fayghth), never the anticipated ‘spelling-pronunciation’ as if Eng. faith (/feːθ/, /feːt̪/). This local form appears to derive from Middle Irish variant pronunciation faichthe /faxʹθʹə/, with a reflex of the cluster /xʹθʹ/ as /ɣtʰ/, indicating that the anglicized form of the placename was fossilized from the very earliest period of the Anglo-Norman colony in Ireland, when these sounds were still heard in the Irish name.

But what is the connection with Cú Chulainn’s hurling exploits on the faiche of Eamhain Mhacha? Well, The Faythe (Saint Michael’s of Feagh) / An Fhaiche is located just outside the old town wall of Wexford, suggesting that in this case faiche might have had its early sense ‘an open space in or before a significant settlement’, reminiscent of the faiche outside Conchúr mac Neasa’s royal residence. It is a pleasure to note, then, that An Fhaiche / The Faythe in Wexford happens to be steeped in the sport of hurling! It gives its name to Wexford Town’s most eminent hurling club, The Faythe Harriers (Ruagairí na Faiche), the home of many legends of hurling down through the ages, including Larry O’Gorman, Ireland’s Hurler of the Year in 1996. The current star is of course Lee Chin, who not only carries the hopes of the club on his shoulders every year, but also usually the hopes of the entire county. A song about Nicky Rackard (another Wexford hurling legend, this time from Rathnure), has already used the title Cú Chulainn’s Son. But what better claim to that nickname now than Lee Chin, the most legendary modern-day hurler on the Faiche!

Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill

Date: 26/05/2025

Last week’s neanta ‘nettles’ naturally leads us to this week’s copóg ‘dock(-leaf)’. 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

Date: 21/05/2025

We saw in last week’s note how highly the domestic cat was valued in Gaelic Ireland, in the sense that a significant financial penalty was levied for unlawful killing or injury of the animal. Modern cat-lovers will be pleased to know, however, that cats had more than a monetary value in early Irish society, and that some Old and Middle Irish sources even record the names of individual pet cats. The most famous of these is undoubtedly Pangur Bán ‘white Pangur’, who features in a well-known Old Irish poem. (The poem is preserved in the 9th-century Codex Sancti Pauli, now held in Austria and apparently written by an Irish cleric in the abbey of Reichenau near Konstanz on what is now the border of Germany and Switzerland. Cf. Oskamp, Éigse 17 (1978); Toner, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 57 (2009).) The first quatrain goes as follows:

Messe ocus Pangur bán,                           Myself and white Pangur
cechtar nathar fria ṡaindán;                      each of us at his special craft:
bíth a menma-sam fri seilgg,                     his mind is wont to be on hunting
mu menma céin im ṡaincheirdd.               my own mind on my special craft.

The 16th-century text known as O’Davoren’s Glossary contains explanations of some of the terminology in the early Irish law tracts. Here we find an entry beginning ‘Glasnenta .i. ainm do chat…’ [Glasnenta, i.e., the name of a cat…], which sets out the honour-price of a certain type of cat so called (Stokes 1862: 95). (Fergus Kelly (EIF p.123) takes this to be an extract from the legal tract Catṡlechtae ‘cat-sections’ which we mentioned last week.) The first element of the name is OIr. glas, which referred to a range of colours in the earlier language before becoming the standard Modern Irish word for the colour ‘green’. The editors of the Dictionary of the Irish language suggest that this cat-name should be understood as meaning ‘Nettle-Green’ (eDIL s.v. 2 glas), but Kelly (EIF p.123) suggests ‘nettle-grey’. The text itself explains the name .i. bís fon nglasnenaigh, nó gebar do nenaigh glais .i. don nenntóig “i.e. which is under the green nettle, or which is brought from a green nettle, i.e. from the nettle” (Murray, Celtica 25). In any case, it is the second element of this name, OIr. nenta = Mod. Ir. neanta, a collective noun meaning ‘nettles’, which concerns us this week.

The word neanta – diminutive neantóg, neantán (see FGB s.vv. neanta, neantóg; see also Dinneen s.v. neannta) – occurs in many placenames around the country. It usually found as a qualifying element, as in the townland name Tornant [Upper, Lower] / Tor Neanta ‘tall rock(?) of nettles’ (logainm.ie #54717) in Co. Wicklow. (The precise meaning of the generic element tor is unclear in this name; its various senses in Modern Irish include ‘bush, clump, tuft; tall rock, steep rocky height; tower’ (FGB s.v. 1, 2 tor). Note that the hilltop in Tornant Upper features a standing stone, a megalithic tomb and a stone circle: cf. archaeology.ie WI0-15-039; WI0-15-036; WI0-15-037.) Another Co. Wicklow example is Ballinanty / Baile an Neanta ‘the town(land) of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #55267). There is a Creggananta / Creig an Neanta ‘the rock, crag of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #19383) in Co. Galway. Our colleagues from the Northern Ireland Placenames Project have researched the townland Ballynant (logainm.ie #60183; placenamesni.org) in Co. Fermanagh, and their conclusion is that it derives from Baile an Neanta ‘the town(land) of the nettles’ or Baile Neanta without the article.

Note that the examples just mentioned treat neanta as a masculine noun, gen. an neanta ‘of the nettles (coll.)’. However, neanta is more usually found as a feminine noun in placenames: thus, in Co. Limerick we have Ballynanty / Baile na Neanta ‘the town(land) of the nettles’ (logainm #30825), Cappananty / Ceapach na Neanta ‘the plot of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #30529) and Knockananty / Cnocán na Neanta ‘the hillock of the nettles’ (logainm.ie # 31222). In Co. Galway there is Srahaunananta / Srathán na Neanta ‘the (little) river valley of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #20068) and Cornananta / Corr na Neanta ‘the round hill of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #20361). Further north we have Carrownananta / Ceathrú na Neanta ‘the quarter of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #45027) in Co. Sligo and Derrynananta / Doire na Neanta ‘the (oak-)wood, grove of the nettles’ (logainm.ie #1371793) in Co. Cavan.

There are few examples of the derivatives neantóg and neantán, however. One fairly certain exception is Kilnantoge / Coill Neantóige ‘wood of (the) nettle’ (logainm.ie #41640) in Co. Offaly. And the townland name Nantinan / Neantanán ‘place of nettles’ (logainm.ie #23369) in Co. Kerry gets a mention in Dinneen’s Dictionary (s.v. neanntanán), where he explains it as “a nettle shrubbery”. The same name Nantinan / Neantanán is borne by a civil parish and townland in Co. Limerick (logainm.ie #1584; #32235).

Research has not been completed on Glasnant (logainm.ie #15942) in Co. Donegal, but preliminary work also reflects the presence of neanta ‘nettles’ or a derivative thereof in the Irish precursor. (The similarity to the Old Irish cat-name Glas Nenta mentioned above can safely be presumed to be coincidental!)

It is likely that neanta ‘nettles’ flourished in many locations prior to the introduction of more modern agricultural practices and the 17th-century mania for ‘improvement’ of land (a word that occurs almost 200 times in The Civil Survey, A.D. 1654-1656 ... County Wexford alone!). Apart from referring to its simple prevalence and visibility in the countryside, however, these placenames may also reflect the utility of the nettle in Gaelic society. Early Irish texts refer to the nettle’s use as a seasonal food (EIF p.311), and in the modern era it is also known for medicinal properties. The Schools’ Folklore Collection of the 1930s recorded a Co. Roscommon tradition that drinking three portions of brután neantóg (a type of nettle soup) during the month of March would ward off illness for the rest of the year (BNS 0015.144). A recipe for nettle broth and dumplings was collected in Phibsborough, on the doorstep of Dublin City (BNS 0799.209). But the schoolchildren of Co. Meath went one better, providing a detailed recipe for nettle beer (BNS 0684.238). Many people in Ireland still make nettle soup today. For a twist that is both traditional and modern, you can infuse the neantóg ‘nettle’ with the creamh ‘wild garlic’ – discussed in a previous note – to make a very good pesto.

Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill

Featured themes

Nicknames in Gaelic Irish Society: Ugly, greedy, faulty, lame, snub-nosed…(Part I)
Ballymacahara / Baile Mhic Aodha Charraigh
‘the town(land) of the son of scabby, rough-skinned, mangy Aodh’

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)

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!

A confusion of Johns (Part I)
Eng. Johnstown from Ir. Baile Eoin, Baile Sheáin, Baile Sheoin, Baile Sheonac, Baile Sheonóid or Baile an tSeánaigh!
(see logainm.ie)

John the Baptist, Saint John’s Eve and the surname Malone (Ó Maoileoin)
Saint John’s / Teampall Eoin ‘the church of John the Baptist’
(see logainm.ie #2147)

Loop Head / Ceann Léime “headland of (the) leap”
(see logainm.ie #104201)

Placenames, playing fields and the arrival of a warrior
Faythe / An Fhaiche ‘the open space in front of (ancient) fort or city’; ‘the green’; ‘the plain’
(see logainm.ie #2620

Docks
Coolnagoppoge / Cúil na gCopóg
‘the recess, nook of the docks’
(see logainm.ie #41640)

Townland names with a sting
Kilnantoge / Coill Neantóige
‘wood of (the) nettle’
(see logainm.ie #41640)

Featured themes

Nicknames in Gaelic Irish Society: Ugly, greedy, faulty, lame, snub-nosed…(Part I) Ballymacahara / Baile Mhic Aodha Charraigh ‘the town(land) of the son of scabby, rough-skinned, mangy Aodh’

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)

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!

A confusion of Johns (Part I) Eng. Johnstown from Ir. Baile Eoin, Baile Sheáin, Baile Sheoin, Baile Sheonac, Baile Sheonóid or Baile an tSeánaigh! (see logainm.ie)

John the Baptist, Saint John’s Eve and the surname Malone (Ó Maoileoin) Saint John’s / Teampall Eoin ‘the church of John the Baptist’ (see logainm.ie #2147)

Loop Head / Ceann Léime “headland of (the) leap” (see logainm.ie #104201)

Placenames, playing fields and the arrival of a warrior Faythe / An Fhaiche ‘the open space in front of (ancient) fort or city’; ‘the green’; ‘the plain’ (see logainm.ie #2620

Docks Coolnagoppoge / Cúil na gCopóg ‘the recess, nook of the docks’ (see logainm.ie #41640)

Townland names with a sting Kilnantoge / Coill Neantóige ‘wood of (the) nettle’ (see logainm.ie #41640)

Nicknames in Gaelic Irish Society: Ugly, greedy, faulty, lame, snub-nosed…(Part I)
Ballymacahara / Baile Mhic Aodha Charraigh
‘the town(land) of the son of scabby, rough-skinned, mangy Aodh’

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)

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!

A confusion of Johns (Part I)
Eng. Johnstown from Ir. Baile Eoin, Baile Sheáin, Baile Sheoin, Baile Sheonac, Baile Sheonóid or Baile an tSeánaigh!
(see logainm.ie)

John the Baptist, Saint John’s Eve and the surname Malone (Ó Maoileoin)
Saint John’s / Teampall Eoin ‘the church of John the Baptist’
(see logainm.ie #2147)

Loop Head / Ceann Léime “headland of (the) leap”
(see logainm.ie #104201)

Placenames, playing fields and the arrival of a warrior
Faythe / An Fhaiche ‘the open space in front of (ancient) fort or city’; ‘the green’; ‘the plain’
(see logainm.ie #2620

Docks
Coolnagoppoge / Cúil na gCopóg
‘the recess, nook of the docks’
(see logainm.ie #41640)

Townland names with a sting
Kilnantoge / Coill Neantóige
‘wood of (the) nettle’
(see logainm.ie #41640)