the bog, swamp

Given the realisation of the final consonant of the South Wexford place-names Binn and Rinn as -ng (see BING (#54394), par. St Helen’s; RING (#54213), par. Carn), it is clear that the precursor to Ting, if an Irish word, most likely ended in palatal -nn.

With this in mind, Ting can readily be interpreted as a reflex of toinn, a fossilised dative/accusative singular form of tonn. This element occurs in a number of place-names in the sense “bog, swamp” (see DIL tond; see also Mac Mathúna, 1974 p.10), e.g. Tynacocka/Toinn an Chaca, Tinnatarriff/Toinn an Tairbh (LK); Tincoora/Toinn Chumhra, Toon-lane/Tonn Láin (CK); Bunnaton/Bun na Toinne (DL); Inchinatinny/Inse na Toinne (KY); Tountinna/Tonn na Toinne and Templetenny/Teampall Toinne (TY). In substantive adjectival form it occurs as tonnach “abounding in bog, swamp” (see logainm.ie). It is also attested as a place-name in Irish sources, e.g. ‘Brú Thuinne’ (see FSÁG; cf. Corpas tonn). The occurrence of -town in historical examples such as ‘Tingtown’ (5a) can be compared to the later addition of -town to Rath in RALPHTOWN (#53982) (par. Kilcowan).

It has been suggested that this place-name may ‘refer to the presence of a rural Thingmount’ (see Colfer, 2002 p.21), linking this place-name with Norse settlement in Wexford. However, derivation from Irish toinn is straightforward and as it stands there is no historical or linguistic evidence to the contrary. [Furthermore, it is perhaps salient to note there is a large vein of alluvial soil on this townland’s boundary with Bloomhill and Rathmacknee (see https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/), which reflects the former presence of wet land here, and this could therefore be the location to which the place-name Toinn originally referred. Note that alluvial soil can be very fertile after drainage: there are numerous examples of the placename Baile na Móna “town(land) of the bogland”, originally referring to wet land, where the soil is now of useful quality (see for example BALLINAMONA (#53082) (par. Toome); BALLYNAMONA (#1390480) (par. Castle Ellis).]

[Excerpt from Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland Names of County Wexford, 2016]