Placenames of Ireland
Most of the placenames in Ireland are derived from Gaelic words.
Plants
Many placenames in Ireland are derived from plants and, unsurprisingly given the natural vegetation of the island, many of these are to do with trees. Derry (doire) is an oak grove and this placename is used on its own or in combination with other words in many places in Ireland. For example Derrydrummuck townland in the Aghaderg Parish of County Down comes from Doire Droma Muc or 'the oakwood of the ridge of the pigs'. The name for a yew tree is iubhar and it is from this word that Ballynure, for example, is thought to derive.
The
word for a yew wood is eochaill and Ahoghill is thought to mean 'Field
of the Yew Wood' (although the local council interpret it differently - see
photograph) while Achyoghill (Achadh Eochaill) near Kilkeel in County
Down means 'Field of the yew wood' too. Sally is the vernacular name for a
willow in Ireland – this comes from sail (singular) and
sallach (plural). Townlands such as Ballysally, near Coleraine, point
to how common the willow was. A birch is called beithe in Gaelic
and has given its name to townlands such as Aghaveagh and Ardnaveigh. Scé
is the Gaelic for hawthorn and is quite common in placenems from Skegoneill,
in Belfast, to Gortnaskey (field of hawthorn) County Derry and Ballyskeagh
in County Tyrone. The alder grows in marshy areas and along riverbanks.
Its name in Gaelic is fearn and the townland in Newtownabbey called
Cloughfern has got part of its name from the alder. All these names are a
reminder of what has been lost from much of Ireland as you pass through places
called after trees and forests which have long since vanished.
Other
plants have contributed their names to places. For example the Gaelic for
fern is raithean and Coleraine stems from Cuil Raithean, the
ferny corner. Wild garlic is called creamh in Gaelic and the
wild garlic or ransomes that occur in undisturbed woodlands, with their unmistakable
aroma, have given their name to a number of places in Ireland. Cranfield,
in County Antrim, is a corruption of the original creamh choill or garlic
wood. Fraoch is the Gaelic word for heather and Inishfree in
County Donegal is a combination of inis (island) and freaoch.
Animals
Some
places in Ireland have been named after animals. The sparrow is gealbhán
and has given its name to Lisnagelvin near Derry. The eagle (iolar)
has long been extinct in Ireland but its use in placenames such as Drumiller
(Droim Iolar) in County Down points to its occurence in the past. Even
the humble midge gets a mention in some places. As mioltóg
it has given its name to Pollnameeltogue – hollow of the midges –
in County Tyrone. The dog contributes to place names too. Some perhaps
refer to the fox, as the dog (madagh) and fox (madagh rua
– red dog) have similar names. Limavady (Leim na mhadagh), for
example, means the leap of the dog and there is still a place on the River
Roe where locals assert that the dog jumped across the river. Muc is
the Gaelic for pig and a supposed resemblance to the back of a pig
has given its name to a number of places. Muckish Mountain in County Donegal,
for example, is one of these. Rabbits are coinín in Irish.
Knocknagoney in east Belfast is the hill of the rabbits. This townland name
may ot be as old as some of the others, since rabbits are only believed to
have been introduced into Ireland by the Normans in the 12th Century. Cows
also feature prominently in placenames, representative of their place in Gaelic
culture as represented in Táin Bó Cuailnge (the cattle
raid of Cooley) and other examples of early stories recorded by the monastic
scribes. Drumbo, (Druim Bo) the ridge of the cow, occurs in County
Down and Ballyboe (Baile Bo) in County Donegal.
Landscape
features
Many placenames use natural features of the landscape. Cloch means stone and it is used by itself as in Clough, County Antrim, or in combination with another word, such as in Cloughcor in County Tyrone (close to Stoneypath which gives an indication of the landscape). Another common feature of placenames is creag which means rock. Creggan in Derry comes from the diminutive of creag meaning little rock. It can also be anglicised as Carrick giving the term ‘rock’ to places such as Carricknamanna in County Donegal. A plain in Gaelic is often known as Magh or Machaire. So Maygannon (Magh gCannann), in County Down, is the plain of the white faced cows and Magherabeg (Machaire Beag), also of County Down but widespread, means small plain.
Mountain
is sliabh in Gaelic, aften anglicised as Slieve. Many mountains in
the Mourne Mountains of County Donegal have sliabh in them. Two in
particular Slieve Meelmore and Slieve Meelbeg are sometimes thought to be
derived from Big Bald Mountain and Little Bald Mountain. They are ‘bald’
because, unlike many other peaks in the Mournes, they lack granite tors. (Micheál
Ó Mainnín in Place-names of Northern Ireland interprets these
names as containing míol with the whole meaning 'great mountain of
the ants' and 'little mountain of the ants'.) A hill is cnoc,
sometimes anglicised to Knock and sometimes to Crock. Crockalough in County
Donegal would be an example of the later. Droim means ridge
and this is a very common element of placenames from Drumahoe to Drumbo.
It is thought that rivers have particularly ancient names. Banna is Gaelic for goddess and gives its name directly to the Bann. Abhainn is also used for many rivers such as the Owencarrow in County Donegal. Some rivers are called after their colours – the River Finn (Fionn) in County Donegal is White River and the Roe in County Derry (from rua) is red. Mouth is béal and this term refers too to the mouth of a river, for example. It is used in Belfast (béal feirste – the mouth of the Farset River, which flows into the River Lagan at the point where the city grew up).
The Gaelic
for bog is mona – Drumona is ‘the ridge of the bog’.
Carry is the local name for a weir in many parts of Ireland and it
is a straight lift from the Gaelic word cora meaning weir. Ballycarry
in County Antrim means town of the weir, for example. Inis (island)
can be anglicised as Inch, Ennis or Inish and has given its name to Inch Island
and Inishowen, both in Donegal, to Enniskillen in County Fermanagh and to
many other places.
Personal
names
Another
source for placenames in personal names of people associated with a place.
Inishowen is named after Eoghan, one of the sons of Niall of the Nine
Hostages who was taken there. Tyrone (Tir Eoghan) – the land of
Owen – is also thought to be named after this Eoghan. Many other places
too are named after people who are associated with the land. Ballymartin in
Couty Down is derived from Baile Mhic Giolla Mhártain, or Gilmartin's
Townland. Lismacloskey, close to Toome in County Antrim is from Lios Mhic
Bhloscaidh - MacCluskey's fort.
Non-Gaelic
placenames
Some placenames, such as Strangford and Carlingford, seem to be derived from Norse. Others are Ulster-Scots in origin. Whappstown in County Antrim, for example, owes its name to whaup, the name given by many Ulster-Scots people to the curlew. According to the Down Survey in 1662 it was called Crewganisseran. By the time of the Ordnance Survey in 1833 it had become Whappstown. Similarly, Clatterknowes and Loanends, closeby in County Antrim, derive from Ulster-Scots. English placenames also occur. There are many clachans with English names such as Dunlopstown or Carsonstown. Some of these may be translations from the Gaelic but many reflect settlements formed in plantation times. Yet others are descriptive such as Black Hill and Whitehead. Gracehill in County Antrim is a Monrovian settlement founded in the 18th Century in the townland of Ballykennedy and named at that time.
