- Name Studies, Place-Names, Onomastics, Mountains, Sacred mountains, Irish language, and 14 moreOld Irish Language and Literature, Indo-European Linguistics, Celtic Studies, Celtic Linguistics, Celtic Mythology, Landscape Archaeology, Irish Archaeology, Brittonic Languages, Brittonic Place-names, Irish Studies, Latin Literature, Romance Linguistics, Street Names, and Etymologyedit
- Born, raised and schooled in England, I have lived in Ireland, south and north, since 1990. Having a background in M... moreBorn, raised and schooled in England, I have lived in Ireland, south and north, since 1990. Having a background in Modern Languages (German and Italian, concentrating on historical linguistics), I took a side-step into Irish Studies, undertaking a part-time Masters at QUB (2001-04). My MA dissertation dealt with some common elements in Irish mountain names, a topic which allowed me to combine passions for the landscape and for language. Subsequently worked as a Research Assistant at the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project on a project providing Irish forms of street-names. From 2007 to 2011 I undertook doctoral research with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. My thesis entitled ‘A study of a selection of topographical elements in Irish place-names’ was submitted in January 2011. I was a Research Fellow working part-time at the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project, maintaining and editing the online database: http://www.placenamesni.org until 2013. I am no longer in academia, but continue to pursue my research into place-names independently.
My thesis built on the MA dissertation, exploring a group of elements which are known chiefly from Irish place-names and whose meaning and/or origin is obscure: trosc, collann, mala, málainn, carbad, fothair, mionnán, glinsc. I applied a similar methodology to that used successfully in England by Margaret Gelling to refine the meanings of elements found in names of landscape features. I also examined the etymology of these elements in order to understand their links with other languages, both Celtic and non-Celtic. I assisted my supervisor, Mícheál Ó Mainnín, to organise a conference on early place-names in Ireland and Scotland in September 2008, and I organised a second conference in the series in November 2009 with a number of other research students based in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England: Kelly Kilpatrick (Wadham College, Oxford), Liam Ó hAisibéil (NUI Galway), Peter McNiven (Glasgow) & Judyta Szacillo (QUB). The 2nd International Conference on the Early Medieval Toponymy of Ireland and Scotland was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Queen's University Belfast. http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLanguagesLiteraturesandPerformingArts/Conferences/ConferencesForthcoming/ A series of my articles on place-names in Irish mountain areas was published by the magazine Walking World Ireland in 2010-12.
Research interests: Irish and British hill and mountain names; place-names in mountain/upland areas; topographical names on early maps of Ireland and regions of Ireland (mainly 16th and 17th century); close compound place-names in Irish and other Celtic languages; Kerry place-names; Ulster place-names; Brittonic influence on early Irish language; Brittonic elements in Irish place-names; street-/road-names; Irish etymology; Latin and Romance loans into Irish; personal names; surnames.edit
Index to articles on Belfast Street-Names published in the Belfast Telegraph 1940-41. This index was compiled from microfilm copies in the Newspaper Library, part of Belfast Central Library. Transcript page numbers relate to the blue,... more
Index to articles on Belfast Street-Names published in the Belfast Telegraph 1940-41. This index was compiled from microfilm copies in the Newspaper Library, part of Belfast Central Library. Transcript page numbers relate to the blue, brown and red bound copies held in the Heritage Department of Belfast Central Library.
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Historian John J Marshall wrote a series of articles on Belfast's street-names which were published in the Belfast Telegraph between December 1940 and March 1941. This list details all 33 articles, some of which were not included in the... more
Historian John J Marshall wrote a series of articles on Belfast's street-names which were published in the Belfast Telegraph between December 1940 and March 1941. This list details all 33 articles, some of which were not included in the transcripts compiled subsequently and held in libraries.
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This illustrated blog explores street-names inspired by literature and the arts in general, with a little detour into the role played by street-names in music and literature. Some of these occur as clusters in specific neighbourhoods,... more
This illustrated blog explores street-names inspired by literature and the arts in general, with a little detour into the role played by street-names in music and literature. Some of these occur as clusters in specific neighbourhoods, while others are isolated examples scattered across the city.
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“Transferred names” are a special category of names which are copied from one location to one or many other locations because the places in question share a function, characteristic or association. Typically, the original instance of the... more
“Transferred names” are a special category of names which are copied from one location to one or many other locations because the places in question share a function, characteristic or association. Typically, the original instance of the name applies to a place of note, often prestigious, or sometimes notorious. The street-names discussed in this article are all namesakes of London names. They include Smithfield, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street, Fleet Street and Grosvenor Street (later Grosvenor Road). It is likely that some of these are conscious transfers from London whilst others are probably coincidental occurrences of the same name.
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A common pattern in Belfast street-names is naming after the house of an eminent person or family. The article focusses on a part of North Belfast which, two hundred years ago, was in the countryside just beyond the town boundary. As... more
A common pattern in Belfast street-names is naming after the house of an eminent person or family. The article focusses on a part of North Belfast which, two hundred years ago, was in the countryside just beyond the town boundary. As Belfast expanded, most of these houses were demolished for redevelopment of the land for industry or residential housing for workers.
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Drawing on a research scheme undertaken by the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project from 2005 to 2007 and funded by Foras na Gaeilge, along with personal research carried out subsequently, this article examines some of the themes to be... more
Drawing on a research scheme undertaken by the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project from 2005 to 2007 and funded by Foras na Gaeilge, along with personal research carried out subsequently, this article examines some of the themes to be found in Belfast street-names, including royalty, local and national dignitaries, politicians, residences of the eminent and wealthy, products, manufacturers and producers, and geographical names. Some themes are studied in detail to establish just which street-names form part of the theme, and factors obscuring connections are discussed. This article highlights the fact that themes often include more street-names than is at first apparent. A longer version is available in the "Papers" section.
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Modern Irish sceilg is defined as a ‘steep rock’ or ‘crag’ (Ó Dónaill, 1977). The Old Irish form is sceillec (Dictionary of the Irish Language, 1913–1976). It is rare and now chiefly known through a handful of toponyms but is of... more
Modern Irish sceilg is defined as a ‘steep rock’ or ‘crag’ (Ó Dónaill, 1977). The Old Irish form is sceillec (Dictionary of the Irish Language, 1913–1976). It is rare and now chiefly known through a handful of toponyms but is of considerable importance due to its occurrence in names at two
notable early Christian monastic sites, namely Sceilg Mhíchíl (Eng. ‘Skellig Michael’), a rocky island located off the coast of Co. Kerry, and Teampall na Sceilge (Eng. ‘Templenaskellig’) at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Both Skellig Michael and Glendalough are believed to have been founded by hermit saints in the 6th century AD.
There is no consensus regarding the etymology of sceilg (Vendryes, 1974). In this paper it will be argued that sceilg is a variant of speilg, another rare element in Irish place names with a complimentary, more northerly distribution, also denoting a rock feature, and that both are
loans of Vulgar Latin spelu(n)ca, meaning ‘cave’ (sometimes a hermit’s dwelling) or ‘den’. Irish sceilg, as well as speilg, seems to have undergone a semantic shift, acquiring a more general sense of ‘rock, crag’. An earlier meaning ‘cave, hermitage’, closer to that of Latin spelunca, is only evident at the hermitage sites of Sceilg Mhíchíl and Teampall na Sceilge. In the latter case, the presence of a hermit’s cave, Leaba Chaoimhín (Eng. ‘Saint Kevin’s Bed’), in the immediate vicinity is particularly relevant.
notable early Christian monastic sites, namely Sceilg Mhíchíl (Eng. ‘Skellig Michael’), a rocky island located off the coast of Co. Kerry, and Teampall na Sceilge (Eng. ‘Templenaskellig’) at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Both Skellig Michael and Glendalough are believed to have been founded by hermit saints in the 6th century AD.
There is no consensus regarding the etymology of sceilg (Vendryes, 1974). In this paper it will be argued that sceilg is a variant of speilg, another rare element in Irish place names with a complimentary, more northerly distribution, also denoting a rock feature, and that both are
loans of Vulgar Latin spelu(n)ca, meaning ‘cave’ (sometimes a hermit’s dwelling) or ‘den’. Irish sceilg, as well as speilg, seems to have undergone a semantic shift, acquiring a more general sense of ‘rock, crag’. An earlier meaning ‘cave, hermitage’, closer to that of Latin spelunca, is only evident at the hermitage sites of Sceilg Mhíchíl and Teampall na Sceilge. In the latter case, the presence of a hermit’s cave, Leaba Chaoimhín (Eng. ‘Saint Kevin’s Bed’), in the immediate vicinity is particularly relevant.
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The Irish word sorn, ‘a kiln’ is found in several Ulster place-names, such as Soerneog (Co. Antrim), Drumsurn (Co. Derry) and Crocknasornoge (Co. Tyrone). Dinneen defines it as ‘a kiln, a furnace, an oven, chimney or flue of a furnace, a... more
The Irish word sorn, ‘a kiln’ is found in several Ulster place-names, such as Soerneog (Co. Antrim), Drumsurn (Co. Derry) and Crocknasornoge (Co. Tyrone). Dinneen defines it as ‘a kiln, a furnace, an oven, chimney or flue of a furnace, a pile of fire’. It has a curious etymology, being an early borrowing of Latin furnus into Irish. It has cognates in many Indo-European languages but these are not altogether obvious due to the variations in the initial consonant. In Old Irish it appears as sorn or sornn, a masculine noun, preserving the gender of the Latin original. This article examines some Irish place-names containing the word, with particular focus on some names from North Antrim, and reviews the etymology. It also ties in evidence from other fields, such as archaeology and some early literary references to kilns in Ireland.
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The study of place-names is an inherently multi-disciplinary activity which draws on and speaks to many other domains of research. This article examines three examples drawn from the built environment of Dublin of names which can be... more
The study of place-names is an inherently multi-disciplinary activity which draws on and speaks to many other domains of research. This article examines three examples drawn from the built environment of Dublin of names which can be termed ‘copied names’ or 'off-the-peg names', and which are of particular relevance to historians, archaeologists and geographers, as they tend to refer to notable buildings and public spaces. What connects them is neither their (literal) meaning nor their linguistic origin, but rather the manner in which they are copied from a site with a particular function, status or association to other sites which share, or have pretensions to sharing the same function, status or association. The name Smithfield was applied to markets in Dublin and Belfast simply because these places had an equivalent function to the meat-market of the same name in London, without regard to the derivation from Old English smēðe feld, ‘smooth field’. Owing to the divorce of etymology from ‘functional meaning’, this class of names has been prone to certain types of misunderstanding, both by toponymists and scholars of other disciplines. Some guidelines for dealing with copied names are suggested, based on Irish models of good practice. This research was prompted by the work of Gary Dempsey on burial grounds named Bully’s Acre for an undergraduate dissertation at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. The article summarises a research paper delivered at ‘People, places and memory: an interdisciplinary, post-graduate conference on early modern Ireland’, NUI Galway, 27th August 2010, with the addition of some material specific to the three Dublin names in the title.
Conference programme and abstracts:
https://earlymodernirelandconference.blogspot.com/2010/07/abstracts.html
Article available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26844469?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Conference programme and abstracts:
https://earlymodernirelandconference.blogspot.com/2010/07/abstracts.html
Article available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26844469?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Research Interests:
Etymologies are proposed for Scots solan and Gaelic sùlaire, two names for the northern gannet, which is essentially an island-dwelling bird. It is suggested that both terms are derived from Latin, solan from insulanus and sùlaire from... more
Etymologies are proposed for Scots solan and Gaelic sùlaire, two names for the northern gannet, which is essentially an island-dwelling bird. It is suggested that both terms are derived from Latin, solan from insulanus and sùlaire from insularis, with loss of the first syllable in- in each case.
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The mountains discussed are Musheramore, Co. Cork, Corranabinnia or Cushcamcarragh, Co. Mayo, Agnew's Hill, Co. Antrim (Benwellerorie on a map of 1595 made by Mercator) and Croaghanmoira, Co. Wicklow.
Covers some common elements found in Irish names of rock features such as boulders, cliffs, pinnacles and rugged headlands: cloch, carraig, creag/creig, carn, tor and mionnán. Specific names discussed include Clochán an Aifir / Giant's... more
Covers some common elements found in Irish names of rock features such as boulders, cliffs, pinnacles and rugged headlands: cloch, carraig, creag/creig, carn, tor and mionnán. Specific names discussed include Clochán an Aifir / Giant's Causeway, Carraig Aonair / Fastnet Rock, Craigcannon / Creig Cheannann, Carn an Daimh Dheirg / Carronadavderg, An Tor Mór, An Eochair Mhór, An Storral / the Sturrall, Mionnán / Minaun or Menawn Cliffs, Oileán Mionnán / Kid Island, Leac na Leannán.
Deals with some common elements denoting passes or gaps in Irish place-names: bearna, mám, bealach, céim, coiscéim. Passes discussed include Glenshane Pass, Mám Clasach, Pass of the Plumes / Bearna na gCleití, Moyry Pass / Bealach an... more
Deals with some common elements denoting passes or gaps in Irish place-names: bearna, mám, bealach, céim, coiscéim. Passes discussed include Glenshane Pass, Mám Clasach, Pass of the Plumes / Bearna na gCleití, Moyry Pass / Bealach an Mhaighre, Ballaghanery / Bealach an Aoire, Mám Toirc, Mám Éan, Mám Aodha, Moll’s Gap / Céim an Daimh, the Wolf’s Step / Coiscéim an Mhadra Alla.
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This article discusses some Irish place-names including the generic elements gleann, alt, com, log, coire and glac/glaic.
This article deals with one of the most common elements in names of Irish hills and mountains. The grammar, phonology, etymology, semantic range and chronology of the element are examined. Sliabh is particularly complex in terms of its... more
This article deals with one of the most common elements in names of Irish hills and mountains. The grammar, phonology, etymology, semantic range and chronology of the element are examined. Sliabh is particularly complex in terms of its semantic range, which includes the following senses: 1) a mountain or hill (standing alone or forming part of a range); 2) a range of hills or mountains; 3) an moor or area of upland. The word is present in the earliest attested stages of the Irish language, and there is some evidence for all three meanings in Old Irish, though senses 1 and 2 are best attested. It is suggested that the view advanced by MacBain and Thurneysen that sliabh is etymologically related to Eng. slope and that this reflects its original meaning is open to some doubt in view of the lack of evidence for this sense in early Irish and the lack of clear cognates in other branches of Celtic and Indo-European languages.
Deals with the Co. Antrim hill-name Ben Wellerorie, marked on Mercator's 1595 map of East Ulster, which can be identified with the peak near Larne now called Agnew's Hill. The name is probably associated with Rory MacQuillan.
This paper examines the issues involved in establishing the chronology of elements referring to landscape features. Much work has been done on the Irish topographical lexicon in recent decades, notably by Prof. Liam Mac Mathúna, whose... more
This paper examines the issues involved in establishing the chronology of elements referring to landscape features. Much work has been done on the Irish topographical lexicon in recent decades, notably by Prof. Liam Mac Mathúna, whose approach is rooted in word-field studies. His research has focussed on common nouns occurring in Old Irish and Middle Irish texts. This paper takes a complementary approach by asking what further light the evidence of place-names can shed on the topographical lexicon. It attempts to establish the outlines of a (largely relative) chronology, using the element sliabh as an example. It then goes on to consider some strategies which can help to refine this dating, using the elements rinn and ros from the word-field ‘promontory’. In particular, the analysis of suffixes and tautological names are discussed as resources which can help to construct a relative chronology.
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The earliest extant regional map covering Carrickfergus, its environs and the sea-inlet which later came to be known as Belfast Lough, is held in the National Archives at Kew, reference MPF 1/77. It shows Carrickfergus and the lough,... more
The earliest extant regional map covering Carrickfergus, its environs and the sea-inlet which later came to be known as Belfast Lough, is held in the National Archives at Kew, reference MPF 1/77. It shows Carrickfergus and the lough, Belfast, Larne Lough, Island Magee, Bangor, etc. at the scale of 1 inch to 1 mile. It is an unsigned map on parchment, commissioned by the Crown during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and not made for publication. It was one of the 16th century maps of Ireland catalogued and described by R. Dunlop and attributed to Robert Lythe (Dunlop 1905). This was supported by John Andrews, who dated it to the year 1567, the year in which Lythe was sent to Carrickfergus to begin a campaign of surveying in Ireland (Andrews 1965).
Lythe’s map is valuable for many reasons, most obviously because it is the earliest extant map of this part of Ulster. It reflects a completely different age from, say, John Speed’s map The province Ulster described, made four decades later in 1610. The Lythe map is post-Reformation but pre-Plantation, and this is reflected in the marking of territories. Belfast was little more than a muddy fording point on the Lagan between Carrickfergus and Bangor. Irish place-names are more in evidence than on other maps of the era. Holywood appears as Ardemaghste (< Ir. Ard Mhic Nasca); Grey Point as Roneraiagh (< Ir. Rinn Riabhach); Thornfield near Carrickfergus as Houghtonskie (< Ir. Achadh na Sceiche). The map in question comes just before a period of major change. It is also a key source for several other later maps which are better known, such as those of Mercator, Hondius, Boazio and Speed (Andrews 1993). Mercator’s Ultoniae Orientalis Pars (‘Eastern Part of Ulster’, 1595) and Speed’s The province Ulster described (1610) are derivative of the present map where they overlap. This paper discusses Lythe’s map in context and the characteristics of the 36 place-names shown. It offers new derivations and identifications for some of the more problematic names.
Lythe’s map is valuable for many reasons, most obviously because it is the earliest extant map of this part of Ulster. It reflects a completely different age from, say, John Speed’s map The province Ulster described, made four decades later in 1610. The Lythe map is post-Reformation but pre-Plantation, and this is reflected in the marking of territories. Belfast was little more than a muddy fording point on the Lagan between Carrickfergus and Bangor. Irish place-names are more in evidence than on other maps of the era. Holywood appears as Ardemaghste (< Ir. Ard Mhic Nasca); Grey Point as Roneraiagh (< Ir. Rinn Riabhach); Thornfield near Carrickfergus as Houghtonskie (< Ir. Achadh na Sceiche). The map in question comes just before a period of major change. It is also a key source for several other later maps which are better known, such as those of Mercator, Hondius, Boazio and Speed (Andrews 1993). Mercator’s Ultoniae Orientalis Pars (‘Eastern Part of Ulster’, 1595) and Speed’s The province Ulster described (1610) are derivative of the present map where they overlap. This paper discusses Lythe’s map in context and the characteristics of the 36 place-names shown. It offers new derivations and identifications for some of the more problematic names.
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The place-name element eochaill has been identified in over forty places scattered around Ireland and has usually been interpreted as a compound noun consisting of eo, ‘yew’ + coill, ‘wood’, so ‘wood of yews’ or ‘yew-wood’ (INP i, 510-11;... more
The place-name element eochaill has been identified in over forty places scattered around Ireland and has usually been interpreted as a compound noun consisting of eo, ‘yew’ + coill, ‘wood’, so ‘wood of yews’ or ‘yew-wood’ (INP i, 510-11; Flanagan and Flanagan 1994: 84, 262). These include Eochaill / Youghal (par.), Co. Cork; Eochaill / Oghill, par. Clontibret, Co. Monaghan; Eochaill / Aughil, par. Tamlaghtard or Magilligan, Co. Derry; and Eochaillí / Oghillees, par. Burrishoole, Co. Mayo.
In contrast with this group, there is another group of names which has typically been interpreted as containing an element meaning ‘promontory’ or ‘look-out point’. These are phonetically very similar to the first group but typically have a- or ea- as the initial vowel. These include Acaill / Achill Island, Co. Mayo; Achaill / Aughils, par. Ballinvoher, Co. Kerry; An Eachla / Aghla Mountain, Co. Donegal; and Feochaill – Foughill Etra/Otra, par. Jonesborough, Co. Armagh, where the initial f- appears to be prothetic. They appear to be cognate with the ancient Celtic place-name Ocelum, which occurs both in Roman-era Britain and continental Europe.
There are several reasons, both linguistic and environmental, to be sceptical of the conventional interpretation ‘yew-wood’ with at least some of the names usually assigned to the first group. This paper takes an inter-disciplinary approach to attempt to establish whether this meaning is appropriate to these places and asks whether some are derived from acha(i)ll / ocha(i)ll, meaning ‘promontory, look-out point’, but have undergone subsequent re-interpretation. It also asks how future research could help to clarify the origin of these names.
In contrast with this group, there is another group of names which has typically been interpreted as containing an element meaning ‘promontory’ or ‘look-out point’. These are phonetically very similar to the first group but typically have a- or ea- as the initial vowel. These include Acaill / Achill Island, Co. Mayo; Achaill / Aughils, par. Ballinvoher, Co. Kerry; An Eachla / Aghla Mountain, Co. Donegal; and Feochaill – Foughill Etra/Otra, par. Jonesborough, Co. Armagh, where the initial f- appears to be prothetic. They appear to be cognate with the ancient Celtic place-name Ocelum, which occurs both in Roman-era Britain and continental Europe.
There are several reasons, both linguistic and environmental, to be sceptical of the conventional interpretation ‘yew-wood’ with at least some of the names usually assigned to the first group. This paper takes an inter-disciplinary approach to attempt to establish whether this meaning is appropriate to these places and asks whether some are derived from acha(i)ll / ocha(i)ll, meaning ‘promontory, look-out point’, but have undergone subsequent re-interpretation. It also asks how future research could help to clarify the origin of these names.
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The etymology of Ir. bán, ‘white’ – a loan from Latin or early Romance? Bán, the most common Modern Irish word for ‘white’, seems to be without cognates in Brittonic or earlier varieties of Celtic. The Welsh word bân, with the same... more
The etymology of Ir. bán, ‘white’ – a loan from Latin or early Romance?
Bán, the most common Modern Irish word for ‘white’, seems to be without cognates in Brittonic or earlier varieties of Celtic. The Welsh word bân, with the same meaning, is rare and probably a borrowing of the Irish word (GPC). Bán is used in Old Irish, for example by the poet Blathmac in the mid-8th century (DIL). It seems to have become the standard word for ‘white’ between Old Irish and Modern Irish, largely superceding fionn, ‘white’ or ‘blonde’, a word which was more in evidence in Old Irish, as find (DIL).
The conventional derivation of Ir. bán, is from an Indo-European root *bheh2- meaning ‘shine’ (EDPC, 55). The editors of LEIA give this root the forms *bhā- or *bhē and cite cognates in Germanic, i.e. Old English bónian and Modern German bohnen, both meaning ‘to polish’ (LEIA, B-13). For Matasović (EDPC) the nearest cognates are in Greek, φανερός ‘bright’, and the verb φαίνω ‘I make visible, show’. He also cites Sanskrit bhāti ‘shines’, Avestan bānu- ‘beam of light’ and a possible Armenian cognate.
But bán does not only mean the colour ‘white’. It also means ‘blank’, ‘bald’ and ‘grassy’ in reference to land. As a noun, it can also mean fallow ground (Dinneen). In fact, this seems to be the relevant sense in quite a lot of Irish place-names, such as Bántir / Banteer, Co. Cork (www.logainm.ie). This is rather puzzling if the basic meaning is ‘bright, shining’.
Thus, there are several reasons to question the conventional etymology: a) it is semantically somewhat unsatisfactory; b) the word is attributed to an Indo-European root, yet it is only known as a rare loanword in Brittonic, casting doubt over its presence in Proto-Celtic; c) the absence of italic cognates and the uncertain links with Germanic, contrasting with links to Greek and other more distantly related language groups, makes for an unusual pattern of relationships.
In this paper an alternative origin for Ir. bán is proposed as a loan from the Latin adjective vānus, which means ‘empty, vacant’, or from a cognate in a descendant Romance dialect. Loans from Latin typically entered Irish by trading contact or through the spread of Christianity by monks from Britain. However, the initial b- for Latin v- suggests a different type of contact. Latin vānus yields vano in Spanish, for instance, which is pronounced /bano/. There are also reflexes of this word in dialects of Southern France which begin with b- (FEW). Spanish vano also means ‘a space’ or ‘opening’ in an architectural context, which fits well with the senses ‘lea-land, fallow, grassy’ for bán, since this is land left empty, rather than being tilled and planted with crops. The meaning ‘white’ can be seen as a later development in Irish, since this is not attested for Latin vānus or any of the Romance descendants of this word. Thus, Ir. bán is from a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula or in Southern France, or from an early Romance dialect spoken in the same area. Possible contexts for language contact between Latin/Romance and early Irish will be discussed. A loan is more compatible with the evidence, particularly the absence of Brittonic cognates, than a word inherited from Indo-European through Proto-Celtic.
Bán, the most common Modern Irish word for ‘white’, seems to be without cognates in Brittonic or earlier varieties of Celtic. The Welsh word bân, with the same meaning, is rare and probably a borrowing of the Irish word (GPC). Bán is used in Old Irish, for example by the poet Blathmac in the mid-8th century (DIL). It seems to have become the standard word for ‘white’ between Old Irish and Modern Irish, largely superceding fionn, ‘white’ or ‘blonde’, a word which was more in evidence in Old Irish, as find (DIL).
The conventional derivation of Ir. bán, is from an Indo-European root *bheh2- meaning ‘shine’ (EDPC, 55). The editors of LEIA give this root the forms *bhā- or *bhē and cite cognates in Germanic, i.e. Old English bónian and Modern German bohnen, both meaning ‘to polish’ (LEIA, B-13). For Matasović (EDPC) the nearest cognates are in Greek, φανερός ‘bright’, and the verb φαίνω ‘I make visible, show’. He also cites Sanskrit bhāti ‘shines’, Avestan bānu- ‘beam of light’ and a possible Armenian cognate.
But bán does not only mean the colour ‘white’. It also means ‘blank’, ‘bald’ and ‘grassy’ in reference to land. As a noun, it can also mean fallow ground (Dinneen). In fact, this seems to be the relevant sense in quite a lot of Irish place-names, such as Bántir / Banteer, Co. Cork (www.logainm.ie). This is rather puzzling if the basic meaning is ‘bright, shining’.
Thus, there are several reasons to question the conventional etymology: a) it is semantically somewhat unsatisfactory; b) the word is attributed to an Indo-European root, yet it is only known as a rare loanword in Brittonic, casting doubt over its presence in Proto-Celtic; c) the absence of italic cognates and the uncertain links with Germanic, contrasting with links to Greek and other more distantly related language groups, makes for an unusual pattern of relationships.
In this paper an alternative origin for Ir. bán is proposed as a loan from the Latin adjective vānus, which means ‘empty, vacant’, or from a cognate in a descendant Romance dialect. Loans from Latin typically entered Irish by trading contact or through the spread of Christianity by monks from Britain. However, the initial b- for Latin v- suggests a different type of contact. Latin vānus yields vano in Spanish, for instance, which is pronounced /bano/. There are also reflexes of this word in dialects of Southern France which begin with b- (FEW). Spanish vano also means ‘a space’ or ‘opening’ in an architectural context, which fits well with the senses ‘lea-land, fallow, grassy’ for bán, since this is land left empty, rather than being tilled and planted with crops. The meaning ‘white’ can be seen as a later development in Irish, since this is not attested for Latin vānus or any of the Romance descendants of this word. Thus, Ir. bán is from a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula or in Southern France, or from an early Romance dialect spoken in the same area. Possible contexts for language contact between Latin/Romance and early Irish will be discussed. A loan is more compatible with the evidence, particularly the absence of Brittonic cognates, than a word inherited from Indo-European through Proto-Celtic.
Research Interests:
In order to compile a list of Irish mountain names and other features in the mountain landscape of interest to walkers, it is necessary to consult different types of sources. These include place-name surveys, databases, modern and... more
In order to compile a list of Irish mountain names and other features in the mountain landscape of interest to walkers, it is necessary to consult different types of sources. These include place-name surveys, databases, modern and historical maps, administrative documents and guides for walkers and travellers. I have been compiling my own mountain lists since the 1990s and have been involved in researching and collating mountain names for the Mountain Views website for two decades. Gathering information for Mayo, more than any other county, has necessitated the use of a very wide variety of sources. In part, this is due to the fact that a surprising number of peaks and mountain features were left unnamed by the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s, even by comparison with other mountainous counties such as Kerry, Galway and Donegal. Fortunately, it has been possible to fill some of these gaps by consulting other sources in both Irish and English, many listed in ‘Surveys of Irish Place-Names: A Bibliography’ (Tempan 2009). Consultation of William Bald’s map of Co. Mayo (published 1830) and Fiachra Mac Gabhann’s thorough place-name survey, Logainmneacha Mhaigh Eo (2014), has proved particularly fruitful. This contribution examines some of the issues involved in collating such information in order to recommend Irish and English forms for the name of four particular peaks.
Research Interests:
Modern Irish sceilg is defined as a ‘steep rock’ or ‘crag’ (Ó Dónaill 1977). The Old Irish form is sceillec (Dictionary of the Irish Language, 1913–76). It is rare and now chiefly known through a handful of toponyms, but is of... more
Modern Irish sceilg is defined as a ‘steep rock’ or ‘crag’ (Ó Dónaill 1977). The Old Irish form is sceillec (Dictionary of the Irish Language, 1913–76). It is rare and now chiefly known through a handful of toponyms, but is of considerable importance due to its occurrence in names at two notable early Christian monastic sites, namely Sceilg Mhíchíl (Eng. Skellig Michael), a rocky island located off the coast of Co. Kerry, and Teampall na Sceilge (Eng. Templenaskellig) at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Both Skellig Michael and Glendalough are believed to have been founded by hermit saints in the 6th century AD.
There is no consensus regarding the etymology of sceilg (Vendryes 1974). In this paper it will be argued that sceilg is a variant of speilg, another rare element in Irish place-names with a complimentary, more northerly distribution, also denoting a rock feature, and that both are loans of Vulgar Latin speluca, a widespread variant of spelunca, meaning ‘cave’ (sometimes a hermit’s dwelling) or ‘den’. In the original conference paper it was argued that the loss of the nasal in the sound change /ŋk/ > /g/ (Latin spelunca > Old Irish sceillec (> Modern Irish sceilg)) pointed to a very early borrowing, since this sound change is regarded as complete before 400 AD (McManus 1983). However, the revised derivation from speluca, which had already lost the nasal in Vulgar Latin, makes this unnecessary. Irish sceilg, as well as speilg, seems to have undergone a semantic shift, acquiring a more general sense of ‘rock, crag’. An earlier meaning ‘cave, hermitage’, closer to that of Latin spelunca, is only evident at the hermitage sites of Sceilg Mhíchíl and Teampall na Sceilge. In the latter case, the presence of a hermit’s cave, Leaba Chaoimhín (Eng. Saint Kevin’s Bed), in the immediate vicinity is particularly relevant. The loan is still early, but not exceptionally so, and is more likely to date to the 6th or 7th century when these Irish hermitage sites were established.
There is no consensus regarding the etymology of sceilg (Vendryes 1974). In this paper it will be argued that sceilg is a variant of speilg, another rare element in Irish place-names with a complimentary, more northerly distribution, also denoting a rock feature, and that both are loans of Vulgar Latin speluca, a widespread variant of spelunca, meaning ‘cave’ (sometimes a hermit’s dwelling) or ‘den’. In the original conference paper it was argued that the loss of the nasal in the sound change /ŋk/ > /g/ (Latin spelunca > Old Irish sceillec (> Modern Irish sceilg)) pointed to a very early borrowing, since this sound change is regarded as complete before 400 AD (McManus 1983). However, the revised derivation from speluca, which had already lost the nasal in Vulgar Latin, makes this unnecessary. Irish sceilg, as well as speilg, seems to have undergone a semantic shift, acquiring a more general sense of ‘rock, crag’. An earlier meaning ‘cave, hermitage’, closer to that of Latin spelunca, is only evident at the hermitage sites of Sceilg Mhíchíl and Teampall na Sceilge. In the latter case, the presence of a hermit’s cave, Leaba Chaoimhín (Eng. Saint Kevin’s Bed), in the immediate vicinity is particularly relevant. The loan is still early, but not exceptionally so, and is more likely to date to the 6th or 7th century when these Irish hermitage sites were established.
Research Interests:
Several notable buildings and public spaces in Dublin have been transferred from London (e.g. Bridewell, Smithfield) or from Italy (e.g. Rialto, Casino). What connects these names is neither their literal meaning nor their linguistic... more
Several notable buildings and public spaces in Dublin have been transferred from London (e.g. Bridewell, Smithfield) or from Italy (e.g. Rialto, Casino). What connects these names is neither their literal meaning nor their linguistic origin, but rather their transfer from an original site (epotoponym) to other sites sharing a similar function, status or association. The process went further in the case of Bridewell, which became a common noun denoting a place of detention (deonymisation). It will be argued that some examples cannot be adequately described merely as transferred names or commemorative names and that they are best treated as a distinct category or sub-category of place-names. This paper builds on one presented in 2010 which took an inter-disciplinary approach (summarised in the following article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26844469?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents), but it also aims to address some matters of specific onomastic interest concerning name theory, terminology and translation.
Research Interests:
Tonn and tuadh/dumhach: concealing Brittonic cognates of Welsh tywyn ‘beach’ and tywod ‘sand’ in Irish place-names? A well-known geographical triad mentioned in The Metrical Dindshenchas is trí tonna h-Érenn uile, usually interpreted... more
Tonn and tuadh/dumhach: concealing Brittonic cognates of Welsh tywyn ‘beach’ and tywod ‘sand’ in Irish place-names?
A well-known geographical triad mentioned in The Metrical Dindshenchas is trí tonna h-Érenn uile, usually interpreted as “three great waves of Ireland”: Tonn Chlidna (Co. Cork), Tonn Rudraige (Co. Down), Túag Inber (Co. Derry). Despite folklore about powerful, destructive waves, observation at these locations suggests that these names simply refer to three stretches of coastline, two of them notable for beaches and sand-dunes. Furthermore, The Tuns is the English name of a hazardous sand-bank, sometimes exposed, at the mouth of the River Foyle. It will be argued that Ir. tonn and Eng. Tuns in these names are ultimately derived from a Brittonic word referring to a beach, cognate with Welsh tywyn ‘seashore, sand-dune’.
Similarly, there is a group of coastal names around N. and N.W. Ireland, anglicised as -toy, -tooey, doo-, dooey, etc. These include Ballintoy (Co. Antrim), Slievetooey (Co. Donegal), Dooagh, Doogort and Dooega on Achill Island (Co. Mayo), and various places called Dooey. Túag Inber also belongs here. Many of these names do not have an agreed origin. It is proposed that these names refer to beaches and/or sand-dunes, and that they derive from a Brittonic cognate of Welsh tywod ‘sand’, which should best be spelt tuadh/duadh in Modern Irish. When rendered in Irish with dumha ‘mound’ or dumhach ‘sand-bank’, the silent -mh- is unetymological.
This group of place-names provides important evidence for two elements which are not found in Irish dictionaries, but are they simply loanwords into Irish from Brittonic or traces of an extinct Brittonic dialect spoken in Ireland? Both elements appear to have been re-interpreted in late medieval Irish tradition, suggesting they were no longer widely understood and that the names were coined at an earlier date.
A well-known geographical triad mentioned in The Metrical Dindshenchas is trí tonna h-Érenn uile, usually interpreted as “three great waves of Ireland”: Tonn Chlidna (Co. Cork), Tonn Rudraige (Co. Down), Túag Inber (Co. Derry). Despite folklore about powerful, destructive waves, observation at these locations suggests that these names simply refer to three stretches of coastline, two of them notable for beaches and sand-dunes. Furthermore, The Tuns is the English name of a hazardous sand-bank, sometimes exposed, at the mouth of the River Foyle. It will be argued that Ir. tonn and Eng. Tuns in these names are ultimately derived from a Brittonic word referring to a beach, cognate with Welsh tywyn ‘seashore, sand-dune’.
Similarly, there is a group of coastal names around N. and N.W. Ireland, anglicised as -toy, -tooey, doo-, dooey, etc. These include Ballintoy (Co. Antrim), Slievetooey (Co. Donegal), Dooagh, Doogort and Dooega on Achill Island (Co. Mayo), and various places called Dooey. Túag Inber also belongs here. Many of these names do not have an agreed origin. It is proposed that these names refer to beaches and/or sand-dunes, and that they derive from a Brittonic cognate of Welsh tywod ‘sand’, which should best be spelt tuadh/duadh in Modern Irish. When rendered in Irish with dumha ‘mound’ or dumhach ‘sand-bank’, the silent -mh- is unetymological.
This group of place-names provides important evidence for two elements which are not found in Irish dictionaries, but are they simply loanwords into Irish from Brittonic or traces of an extinct Brittonic dialect spoken in Ireland? Both elements appear to have been re-interpreted in late medieval Irish tradition, suggesting they were no longer widely understood and that the names were coined at an earlier date.
Research Interests:
Abstract submitted prior to conference: The Irish element gaoth (masc.) is found in a number of Irish place-names, principally in the northern half of Ireland. It is a homonym of gaoth (fem.) meaning 'wind'. While the word is rarely... more
Abstract submitted prior to conference:
The Irish element gaoth (masc.) is found in a number of Irish place-names, principally in the northern half of Ireland. It is a homonym of gaoth (fem.) meaning 'wind'. While the word is rarely used as a common noun in Irish, it is clear from place-names that it refers originally to a water-feature, often the estuary of a river, e.g. Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore, Co. Donegal), Gaoth Sáile (Gweesalia, Co. Mayo). The relevant names have been studied by Dónall Mac Giolla Easpaig (Scathlán no. 3, 1986). No clear etymology has yet been advanced to my knowledge. A Britonnic origin for gaoth is proposed here (which also applies to the sense 'wind'), deriving it from the Celtic root *WEKT- seen in Vectis, the Celtic name for the Isle of Wight. It therefore shows the characteristic Britonnic change W- --> gw-, rather than Irish f-. It is likely to have passed through an early Britonnic form *gweith (cf. Inis Gueith, Nennius' name for the Isle of Wight) before being borrowed into Irish as gaoth. The element has several Britonnic cognates, the best attested being Breton gwazh. The basic meaning of the root appears to be 'current, movement', cf. Latin veho and vector, developing to 'wind' ('current of air') and 'river, estuary' ('(tidal) current of water').
N.B. Since presenting this paper I have revised my ideas about the roots involved. I no longer propose to derive gaoth in both senses from *WEKT-. Gaoth as a hydronymic element is more likely derived from *WĒTT-, which is widely regarded as the origin of Welsh gŵyth 'vein, seam, channel' and Breton gwazh 'stream, bog'. I still regard it as a loan from Brittonic into Irish. Ir. féith 'vein, sinew, nerve' and 'bog channel' (1 word or 2?) are usually derived from *WEIT-, possibly a variant, given the semantic similarity. Gaoth 'wind' remains problematic, but a loan from Brittonic is also possible here.
The Irish element gaoth (masc.) is found in a number of Irish place-names, principally in the northern half of Ireland. It is a homonym of gaoth (fem.) meaning 'wind'. While the word is rarely used as a common noun in Irish, it is clear from place-names that it refers originally to a water-feature, often the estuary of a river, e.g. Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore, Co. Donegal), Gaoth Sáile (Gweesalia, Co. Mayo). The relevant names have been studied by Dónall Mac Giolla Easpaig (Scathlán no. 3, 1986). No clear etymology has yet been advanced to my knowledge. A Britonnic origin for gaoth is proposed here (which also applies to the sense 'wind'), deriving it from the Celtic root *WEKT- seen in Vectis, the Celtic name for the Isle of Wight. It therefore shows the characteristic Britonnic change W- --> gw-, rather than Irish f-. It is likely to have passed through an early Britonnic form *gweith (cf. Inis Gueith, Nennius' name for the Isle of Wight) before being borrowed into Irish as gaoth. The element has several Britonnic cognates, the best attested being Breton gwazh. The basic meaning of the root appears to be 'current, movement', cf. Latin veho and vector, developing to 'wind' ('current of air') and 'river, estuary' ('(tidal) current of water').
N.B. Since presenting this paper I have revised my ideas about the roots involved. I no longer propose to derive gaoth in both senses from *WEKT-. Gaoth as a hydronymic element is more likely derived from *WĒTT-, which is widely regarded as the origin of Welsh gŵyth 'vein, seam, channel' and Breton gwazh 'stream, bog'. I still regard it as a loan from Brittonic into Irish. Ir. féith 'vein, sinew, nerve' and 'bog channel' (1 word or 2?) are usually derived from *WEIT-, possibly a variant, given the semantic similarity. Gaoth 'wind' remains problematic, but a loan from Brittonic is also possible here.
Research Interests:
This paper deals with two problematic names, several instances of which are found in East Ulster. The name Bootown occurs twice in Co. Down, in the parishes of Newtownards and Greyabbey, and also twice in Co. Antrim, in the parishes of... more
This paper deals with two problematic names, several instances of which are found in East Ulster. The name Bootown occurs twice in Co. Down, in the parishes of Newtownards and Greyabbey, and also twice in Co. Antrim, in the parishes of Dunluce and Ballymoney. There are two instances of the name Bryantang in Co. Antrim, two townlands on opposite sides of a watershed, located in the parishes of Carrickfergus and Ballynure. Bootown has been interpreted as including Eng. booth, 'hut' (Hannan 1992, PNI 2, 206), or Scots boo, 'a stock or herd of cattle' (McKay 2009, Ainm 10, 4-5). Regarding Bryantang (par. Ballynure), John O'Donovan noted 'meaning uncertain' in the OS Name Book (c. 1832). P.W. Joyce attributed an Irish origin to this name: Bruighean Teanga, 'fairy-fort of the tongue (of land)'. It is argued here that both these names are of English origin, and specifically that they show characteristics of Cumbrian dialect. Anglo-Norman settlers from the NW of England were prominent in de Courcy's conquest of East Ulster (Seán Duffy 1995, 1-27) and the Co. Down monasteries of Grey Abbey, Nendrum and Inch were daughter houses of Cumbrian monasteries. Bootown, pronounced /bu:tṇ/, is best explained as a dialectal variant of Bolton with vocalisation of the -l- (and indicating a connection with the north-west of England). Bolton-in-Copeland, Cumberland, is attested as Boutonam c. 1170 in the Register of the Priory of St. Bees (PNCumb). A similar alternation is found at Bolton in Co. Armagh, which is recorded as Botten in 1664 and Bowton alias Bolton in 1829. Bryantang, pronounced /bræn'tæŋ/, is best explained as meaning 'steep tongue or hill-spur'. 'Brant' or 'brunt' is found in Cumbrian dialect for 'steep', while 'tongue' is widely used in Cumbrian topographical names for the spur of a hill. There is an instance of the name Burnt Tongue in par. Shap Rural in Cumbria (Whaley 2006, 56), which is parallelled by the two instances of Bryantang in Co. Antrim. Other names in East Ulster which have Cumbrian equivalents are Browndod (Co. Antrim X 2) and Miller Hill (Co. Down).
Research Interests:
The study of place-names is an inherently multi-disciplinary activity which draws on and speaks to many other domains of research. This paper examines a category of names which can be termed ‘copied names’ or 'off-the-peg names', and... more
The study of place-names is an inherently multi-disciplinary activity which draws on and speaks to many other domains of research. This paper examines a category of names which can be termed ‘copied names’ or 'off-the-peg names', and which are of particular relevance to historians, archaeologists and geographers, as they tend to refer to notable buildings and public spaces. What connects them is neither their (literal) meaning nor their linguistic origin, but rather the manner in which they are copied from a site with a particular function, status or association to other sites which share, or have pretensions to sharing the same function, status or association. The name Smithfield was applied to markets in Dublin and Belfast simply because these places had an equivalent function to the meat-market of the same name in London, without regard to the derivation from Old English smēðe feld, ‘smooth field’. Owing to the divorce of etymology from ‘functional meaning’, this class of names has been prone to certain types of misunderstanding, both by toponymists and scholars of other disciplines. Some guidelines for dealing with copied names will be suggested, based on Irish models of good practice. This research was prompted by the work of Gary Dempsey on burial grounds named Bully’s Acre for an undergraduate dissertation at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
Conference programme and abstracts:
https://earlymodernirelandconference.blogspot.com/2010/07/abstracts.html
Article, published in Archaeology Ireland, summer 2019, available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26844469?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Conference programme and abstracts:
https://earlymodernirelandconference.blogspot.com/2010/07/abstracts.html
Article, published in Archaeology Ireland, summer 2019, available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26844469?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Research Interests:
The speaker participated as a member of a research team working on a scheme to provide Irish forms of postal addresses at the Northern Ireland Place-Names Project within Queen’s University, Belfast. The scheme, funded by the Irish... more
The speaker participated as a member of a research team working on a scheme to provide Irish forms of postal addresses at the Northern Ireland Place-Names Project within Queen’s University, Belfast. The scheme, funded by the Irish language body Foras na Gaeilge with a view to facilitating those wishing to send and receive correspondence in Irish, focussed on translating road- and street-names in selected areas of Northern Ireland. This paper draws on the research carried out under this scheme. Examples will be provided of the challenges facing those researching and translating this particular set of names, methods that proved fruitful, and some fringe benefits of the research. In particular, the difficulties of translating street-names containing non-Irish place-names (including some Scottish names of Gaelic origin, as well as some more exotic ones) will be examined.
(This version of the abstract corresponds to the paper as delivered and covers a slightly narrower range of issues from those outlined on the version published in the conference programme, as the paper had to be trimmed to fit a 20 minute slot.)
(This version of the abstract corresponds to the paper as delivered and covers a slightly narrower range of issues from those outlined on the version published in the conference programme, as the paper had to be trimmed to fit a 20 minute slot.)
Research Interests:
Drawing on a research scheme undertaken by the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project from 2005 to 2007 and funded by Foras na Gaeilge, this paper examines some of the themes to be found in Belfast street-names, which range from the... more
Drawing on a research scheme undertaken by the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project from 2005 to 2007 and funded by Foras na Gaeilge, this paper examines some of the themes to be found in Belfast street-names, which range from the conventional and obvious, such as Irish and British place-names and local and national dignitaries, to some rather more exotic or obscure categories such as American and Asian place-names, characters and places from the works of Shakespeare and Walter Scott, racehorses and ocean liners. Some themes are studied in detail to establish just which street-names form part of the theme, and factors obscuring connections are discussed. This light-hearted paper highlights the fact that themes often include more street-names than is at first apparent.
Ir. carbad, meaning ‘boulder’, is a word largely overlooked by dictionaries and known primarily from its occurrence in Irish place-names. It appears to have no cognates in other Celtic languages. In Modern Irish it is a homonym of... more
Ir. carbad, meaning ‘boulder’, is a word largely overlooked by dictionaries and known primarily from its occurrence in Irish place-names. It appears to have no cognates in other Celtic languages. In Modern Irish it is a homonym of carbad, ‘chariot’ (OIr. carpat), though it is probable that the two words have quite separate etymologies. Some toponymists, notably P.W. Joyce, have preferred the sense ‘chariot’ in the vast majority of place-names containing carbad. This is also the sense typically attributed to such names when they occur in medieval dinnseanchas sources. However, there is a consensus in current place-name scholarship that carbad refers to boulders in certain names.
This paper aims to show how observation in the field and topographical analysis can help to ascertain a reliable interpretation and concludes that the sense ‘boulder’ is probably much more common than has heretofore been recognised. Carbad is probably one of a group of Irish words in car– denoting rock, including carraig, carn, and carrach. [At the time of the presentation I also included cairthe/coirthe, but I would now link this with Latin quadrare, 'to quarry or dress stone'.] Parallels with Continential Celtic names and other Continental European names in kar– + labial extension (karb– / karp– / kar(a)v–) referring to rock features are discussed. It is proposed that carbad can be analysed as carb– ‘rock’ + suffix –ad. The precise meaning of the suffix –ad/–aid is unclear, but it is familiar in other Irish place-name elements such as caolad, dromad, leithead, fánaid.
This paper aims to show how observation in the field and topographical analysis can help to ascertain a reliable interpretation and concludes that the sense ‘boulder’ is probably much more common than has heretofore been recognised. Carbad is probably one of a group of Irish words in car– denoting rock, including carraig, carn, and carrach. [At the time of the presentation I also included cairthe/coirthe, but I would now link this with Latin quadrare, 'to quarry or dress stone'.] Parallels with Continential Celtic names and other Continental European names in kar– + labial extension (karb– / karp– / kar(a)v–) referring to rock features are discussed. It is proposed that carbad can be analysed as carb– ‘rock’ + suffix –ad. The precise meaning of the suffix –ad/–aid is unclear, but it is familiar in other Irish place-name elements such as caolad, dromad, leithead, fánaid.
Research Interests:
Whilst Irish is the earliest known language spoken in Ireland, there is a consensus among linguists that a Celtic language ancestral to modern Irish is most unlikely to have been the first language spoken on the island. In the light of... more
Whilst Irish is the earliest known language spoken in Ireland, there is a consensus among linguists that a Celtic language ancestral to modern Irish is most unlikely to have been the first language spoken on the island. In the light of recent research on Atlantic Celts and maritime networks in Atlantic Europe, notably by John Koch and Barry Cunliffe, many scholars would now prefer a date in the Bronze Age for the arrival of a Celtic language in Ireland to the previously popular Iron Age window. Nevertheless, this pushes the date back at most by a millennium, and it remains a reasonable working assumption that non-Celtic languages were spoken in Ireland in the Neolithic era, and non-Indo-European languages in the Mesolithic. The question of the pre-Celtic linguistic situation in Ireland and Britain has received relatively little attention from scholars. To the extent that the topic has been broached at all, the main focus of attention has been potential traces of a substrate language on Celtic syntax (e.g. Morris Jones, Pokorny, Lewy, Wagner, Adams, Vennemann, Gensler, Jongeling), with far less consideration of vocabulary. Yet, 27% of the Irish place-name elements treated by Flanagan & Flanagan (1994) neither have a Celtic cognate outside Goidelic, nor can they be proven to be later loans. Therefore, it is possible that at least some of them were inherited from an earlier linguistic layer, and the question of pre-Celtic place-names in Ireland needs to be seriously considered. This paper argues for a pre-Celtic and pre-Indo-European origin for three such elements: tul, ‘knoll, small hill’, and ros, ‘promontory; mountain; wood’, can be linked to elements found in Semitic languages (Hebrew, Phoenician, Arabic, Amharic); tor ‘tall rock, steep rocky height’ has pre-Indo-European cognates found widely in mountain names of Western Continental Europe, and may also have Semitic cognates. Ros and tor have Brittonic equivalents which are productive in place-names, whilst tul is characteristically Goidelic, particularly with its derivative tulach. Ros and tul are scarcely to be found in Continental Celtic place-names. Tor has cognates which are common in the Alps, Massif Central and Iberia, but is not considered part of a Celtic package by Continental scholars. These three elements were selected for examination initially due to their predominantly insular distribution, combined with their apparent absence from Continental Celtic.
[This paper was prepared as part of my doctoral research. It was delivered in September 2008, but was written up with some minor modifications in early 2010, which allowed the inclusion of some references to works published during 2009. The paper was integrated into chapter 3 of my doctoral thesis, submitted in January 2011.]
[This paper was prepared as part of my doctoral research. It was delivered in September 2008, but was written up with some minor modifications in early 2010, which allowed the inclusion of some references to works published during 2009. The paper was integrated into chapter 3 of my doctoral thesis, submitted in January 2011.]
Research Interests:
This paper examines the issues involved in establishing the chronology of elements referring to landscape features. Much work has been done on the Irish topographical lexicon in recent decades, notably by Prof. Liam Mac Mathúna, whose... more
This paper examines the issues involved in establishing the chronology of elements referring to landscape features. Much work has been done on the Irish topographical lexicon in recent decades, notably by Prof. Liam Mac Mathúna, whose approach is rooted in word-field studies. His research has focussed on common nouns occurring in Old Irish and Middle Irish texts. This paper takes a complementary approach by asking what further light the evidence of place-names can shed on the topographical lexicon. It attempts to establish the outlines of a (largely relative) chronology, using the element sliabh as an example. It then goes on to consider some strategies which can help to refine this dating, using the words rinn and ros from the word-field 'promontory'. In particular, the analysis of suffixes and tautological names are discussed as resources which can help to construct a relative chronology.
Those place-names which combine noun + noun (and, to a lesser extent, adjective + noun) in close compounds are regarded as among the most ancient Irish place-names. It is widely held that they reflect a structure dating back to the... more
Those place-names which combine noun + noun (and, to a lesser extent, adjective + noun) in close compounds are regarded as among the most ancient Irish place-names. It is widely held that they reflect a structure dating back to the Common Celtic period due to their similarity to Brittonic and Gaulish compounds in terms of structure and vocabulary.
In this paper, the Gaulish, British and Irish names are compared, particularly in terms of the repertoire of elements found in each set and the semantic categories represented. It is found that there is surprisingly little overlap between the Gaulish and Irish repertoires, both in terms of generic and specific elements. In general, the British names, especially the Romano-British ones, offer better parallels with the Continent.
The close compound structure, inherited from Indo-European, is taken up in Ireland, but gets heavily adapted in terms of the repertoire of elements and is steadily replaced by other structures. The strongest connections with Gaulish names are found in Ulster and North Leinster. There are areas where noun + noun compounds are scarce or absent.
The early Irish elements with non-cognate Gaulish synonyms merit further study, as a proportion of them may have non-Celtic origins.
In this paper, the Gaulish, British and Irish names are compared, particularly in terms of the repertoire of elements found in each set and the semantic categories represented. It is found that there is surprisingly little overlap between the Gaulish and Irish repertoires, both in terms of generic and specific elements. In general, the British names, especially the Romano-British ones, offer better parallels with the Continent.
The close compound structure, inherited from Indo-European, is taken up in Ireland, but gets heavily adapted in terms of the repertoire of elements and is steadily replaced by other structures. The strongest connections with Gaulish names are found in Ulster and North Leinster. There are areas where noun + noun compounds are scarce or absent.
The early Irish elements with non-cognate Gaulish synonyms merit further study, as a proportion of them may have non-Celtic origins.
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A look at the set of words loaned into early Irish, the different paths they can follow, what they reveal and the scope for interdisciplinary research
Research Interests:
A look at some of the names given to the northern gannet (Morus bassanus) in a range of European languages, the etymologies of these words and the various characteristics of the gannet emphasised by each word. The words discussed are... more
A look at some of the names given to the northern gannet (Morus bassanus) in a range of European languages, the etymologies of these words and the various characteristics of the gannet emphasised by each word. The words discussed are English gannet, Irish gainnéad, Scottish Gaelic sùlaire, Scots solan goose, French fou de bassan, German Basstölpel, Polish głuptak, Spanish alcatraz and English albatross.
Research Interests:
An attempt to trace the origins of baile, which has a wide range of meanings, including 'farmstead', 'village', 'town', 'townland', 'place' and 'home'. It is one of the most common elements in Irish place-names
Research Interests:
A derivation for Ir. uaine, 'green' as a loan of Latin *uvineus
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I've resumed my etymology blog with a look at Ir. leaba 'bed' and its OIr. antecedent lepaid which lack any cognates outside the Goidelic languages. This has sometimes been accounted for by analysing the word as a compound (e.g. *lebboti... more
I've resumed my etymology blog with a look at Ir. leaba 'bed' and its OIr. antecedent lepaid which lack any cognates outside the Goidelic languages. This has sometimes been accounted for by analysing the word as a compound (e.g. *lebboti < leg- + boti, 'lying abode', MacBain, 1911; < leth + buith, 'being with', Greene, 1954) and therefore an innovation in Irish. A quite different origin is proposed here: a loan from Latin lapis (gen. lapidis) with semantic shift from 'stone, gravestone' to 'bed', supported by place-name evidence. 02/02/2021
Research Interests:
A new etymology is proposed for Irish adhmad 'wood, timber' as a loan word from Ibero-Romance, probably from Spanish ademado 'timbering'. It is also proposed that adhmad is related to Old Irish aidemm 'instrument' (which yields Modern... more
A new etymology is proposed for Irish adhmad 'wood, timber' as a loan word from Ibero-Romance, probably from Spanish ademado 'timbering'. It is also proposed that adhmad is related to Old Irish aidemm 'instrument' (which yields Modern Irish úim), and that this is a loan from Spanish ademe/adema 'brace, strut, support'. This word in turn is a loan from Arabic di‘ma or di‘āma, 'column, pillar, support'. 12/03/20.
Research Interests:
A new etymology is proposed for Ir. réalta and Scottish Gaelic reul 'star' as loans from one of the Ibero-Romance dialects, i.e. from Old Spanish estrella, also meaning 'star', or possibly from a Portuguese or Catalan cognate. 17/01/20.
Research Interests:
Thoughts on some of the barriers to the development of Irish etymology, and a proposed origin for Ir. mothar meaning 'thicket, clump of trees'. 31/10/19.
Research Interests:
A proposal to derive Ir. speilg, sceilg (Skellig) and béillic from Lat. spelu(n)ca 'cave, den'. Of relevance to place-names such as Skellig Michael, Temple-na-Skellig (at Glendalough), Spelga and Bealick. Revised 14/02/2021 and again... more
A proposal to derive Ir. speilg, sceilg (Skellig) and béillic from Lat. spelu(n)ca 'cave, den'. Of relevance to place-names such as Skellig Michael, Temple-na-Skellig (at Glendalough), Spelga and Bealick. Revised 14/02/2021 and again 05/02/2023. Full revised paper forthcoming in the Proceedings of ICOS XXVII (Kraków).
Research Interests:
A suggested derivation of Irish rincim, vn. rince, 'to dance', from Spanish brincar 'hop, jump'. 11/06/18.
Research Interests:
A proposal for Irish fada 'long' being inherited from a Brittonic linguistic layer in early Ireland, now updated with a follow-up on feadh 'extent, duration' and observations on the context of early loans from Latin and Brittonic.... more
A proposal for Irish fada 'long' being inherited from a Brittonic linguistic layer in early Ireland, now updated with a follow-up on feadh 'extent, duration' and observations on the context of early loans from Latin and Brittonic. 16/06/18.
Research Interests:
A new etymology proposed for Ir. áit 'place' as a borrowing of Latin habitatio 'dwelling'. April 2018.
Research Interests:
The etymology of Ir. odhar 'brown' is examined and a loan from Latin āter 'dark' via Ibero-Romance is proposed. 24/03/18.
Research Interests:
A new proposal for the etymology of Ir. áth, 'ford', and a critical look at previous attempts to link this word and certain others with quite remote branches of Indo-European. 18/03/18.
Research Interests:
A new etymology for Ir. bán, 'white; grassy, lea-land', as a loan form a Hispanic pronunciation of Vulgar Latin vānus, 'empty'. March 2018. Updated January 2023 with a note on bonègo, 'fallow', in the dialect of Aveyron, France.
Research Interests:
Thoughts of Romance on the etymology of Irish álainn 'beautiful'. February 2018.
Research Interests:
On the somewhat surprising etymology of Irish coirthe/cairthe, 'standing stone'. February 2018.
Research Interests:
A list of mountain passes and similar features extracted from the gazetteer "Irish Landscape Names". Please consult the full document (also available at Mountain Views, www.mountainviews.ie | More | Resources) for the abbreviations of... more
A list of mountain passes and similar features extracted from the gazetteer "Irish Landscape Names". Please consult the full document (also available at Mountain Views, www.mountainviews.ie | More | Resources) for the abbreviations of sources, symbols and conventions adopted. The list was compiled during the month of June 2020 and comprises more than eighty Irish passes and cols, including both vehicular passes and pedestrian saddles.
Research Interests:
Preface to 2020 edition The Irish language names of features situated in the Gaeltacht, wholly or partially, have now been highlighted in bold type. Irish forms have been added for secondary peaks which do not have a separate name, e.g.... more
Preface to 2020 edition
The Irish language names of features situated in the Gaeltacht, wholly or partially, have now been highlighted in bold type. Irish forms have been added for secondary peaks which do not have a separate name, e.g. Barr Trí gCom (mullach thoir thuaidh) for Baurtregaum NE Top, Cnoc na Ceachan (mullach i gcéin thoir theas) for Caha Far SE Top. More than 80 passes and other similar mountain routes have been added to the list. Numerous minor revisions, corrections and standardisations to ensure consistency of format have been carried out.
Preface to 2019 edition
A selection of mountain ranges, peninsulas, headlands and islands has now
been added to the list, with information on the geographical features themselves
and on their names. 171 new entries have been added in this edition, making
1,261 entries in total. The ranges are mainly those which were already
mentioned in the 2010 MV list of peaks. 31 existing entries have also been
significantly revised and/or expanded. The vast majority of entries in the list still relate to specific peaks, but for other features, the category of the feature has been added in brackets after the name where this is not self-evident, e.g. Slieve Aughty (range), Corraun (peninsula), etc. The title of the list has been changed to “Irish Landscape Names” to reflect the wider range of content. I hope to add a selection of significant water features, rock features, glens and passes in later updates. This document is now available as a pdf at https://mountainviews.ie/resourceitem/names/List2019/IrishLandscapeNames2019.pdf
Preface to 2010 edition
For a few years now I have had the pleasure of contributing to the Mountain Views website (www.mountainviews.ie ), particularly by compiling place-name data and information from other relevant disciplines on the names of the Irish mountains listed there. This excellent website was created as a resource for Irish hillwalkers by Simon Stewart, who also maintained it with great vision and dedication for about a decade. Over 800 members have contributed articles and photos to the website and helped with its development. It has been so successful that the running of the site and associated walking events has recently been entrusted to a committee of volunteers, though Simon still has a leading role in this. The list of mountains and hills has been expanded several times and it now comprises no less than 1,056 summits. The compilation of this data has been a community effort over a number of years. At an early stage I got involved in compiling name information, mainly from existing place-name surveys. I then also carried out some original research on names of certain peaks, and helped to establish both Irish and English forms for some hills for which information was scarce. Contributors to MV also provided useful information on names, particularly for certain minor peaks, and this was incorporated into the notes on the site.
Until now the notes on the names of the summits have only been accessible by visiting the page for each summit separately. However, enquiries and feedback over the last few years strongly suggested that there was sufficient interest to justify having the name information and other relevant data available in a single document to facilitate consultation. This document is now available as a pdf at . The headings in this list are Anglicised Name(s) (or Irish name where not available); Irish Name(s) (where available); Name Origin and Meaning; Notes about peak and name(s); Area; County; Grid Reference; Height (in metres); 1:50,000 map sheet. I should explain that the Irish name comes second only for the practical reason that this column is unfortunately blank in quite a lot of cases, especially for minor hills whose name was only known in English. We have managed to fill in more than a few of the blanks, and continue to work on completing this data.
I would be very interested to get any comments about this document. It runs to 111 pages, so I’m sure it is not completely error-free, and I’d be happy for you to report any errors or inconsistencies, either through the site or by emailing me. If you have information on names which currently lack it, that would also be most welcome.
It is also worth emphasising, for the benefit of those who are not yet familiar with Mountain Views, that it is much more than just a list of summits with comments and photos. It is more like a Facebook for Irish hillwalkers, but better (attention is focussed on the mountains rather more than on individual walkers). Do take a look. The second annual evening of talks and awards was held recently at Bewleys Hotel near Dublin, and ‘Scavenger’ walks are organised by members on an occasional basis.
The Irish language names of features situated in the Gaeltacht, wholly or partially, have now been highlighted in bold type. Irish forms have been added for secondary peaks which do not have a separate name, e.g. Barr Trí gCom (mullach thoir thuaidh) for Baurtregaum NE Top, Cnoc na Ceachan (mullach i gcéin thoir theas) for Caha Far SE Top. More than 80 passes and other similar mountain routes have been added to the list. Numerous minor revisions, corrections and standardisations to ensure consistency of format have been carried out.
Preface to 2019 edition
A selection of mountain ranges, peninsulas, headlands and islands has now
been added to the list, with information on the geographical features themselves
and on their names. 171 new entries have been added in this edition, making
1,261 entries in total. The ranges are mainly those which were already
mentioned in the 2010 MV list of peaks. 31 existing entries have also been
significantly revised and/or expanded. The vast majority of entries in the list still relate to specific peaks, but for other features, the category of the feature has been added in brackets after the name where this is not self-evident, e.g. Slieve Aughty (range), Corraun (peninsula), etc. The title of the list has been changed to “Irish Landscape Names” to reflect the wider range of content. I hope to add a selection of significant water features, rock features, glens and passes in later updates. This document is now available as a pdf at https://mountainviews.ie/resourceitem/names/List2019/IrishLandscapeNames2019.pdf
Preface to 2010 edition
For a few years now I have had the pleasure of contributing to the Mountain Views website (www.mountainviews.ie ), particularly by compiling place-name data and information from other relevant disciplines on the names of the Irish mountains listed there. This excellent website was created as a resource for Irish hillwalkers by Simon Stewart, who also maintained it with great vision and dedication for about a decade. Over 800 members have contributed articles and photos to the website and helped with its development. It has been so successful that the running of the site and associated walking events has recently been entrusted to a committee of volunteers, though Simon still has a leading role in this. The list of mountains and hills has been expanded several times and it now comprises no less than 1,056 summits. The compilation of this data has been a community effort over a number of years. At an early stage I got involved in compiling name information, mainly from existing place-name surveys. I then also carried out some original research on names of certain peaks, and helped to establish both Irish and English forms for some hills for which information was scarce. Contributors to MV also provided useful information on names, particularly for certain minor peaks, and this was incorporated into the notes on the site.
Until now the notes on the names of the summits have only been accessible by visiting the page for each summit separately. However, enquiries and feedback over the last few years strongly suggested that there was sufficient interest to justify having the name information and other relevant data available in a single document to facilitate consultation. This document is now available as a pdf at . The headings in this list are Anglicised Name(s) (or Irish name where not available); Irish Name(s) (where available); Name Origin and Meaning; Notes about peak and name(s); Area; County; Grid Reference; Height (in metres); 1:50,000 map sheet. I should explain that the Irish name comes second only for the practical reason that this column is unfortunately blank in quite a lot of cases, especially for minor hills whose name was only known in English. We have managed to fill in more than a few of the blanks, and continue to work on completing this data.
I would be very interested to get any comments about this document. It runs to 111 pages, so I’m sure it is not completely error-free, and I’d be happy for you to report any errors or inconsistencies, either through the site or by emailing me. If you have information on names which currently lack it, that would also be most welcome.
It is also worth emphasising, for the benefit of those who are not yet familiar with Mountain Views, that it is much more than just a list of summits with comments and photos. It is more like a Facebook for Irish hillwalkers, but better (attention is focussed on the mountains rather more than on individual walkers). Do take a look. The second annual evening of talks and awards was held recently at Bewleys Hotel near Dublin, and ‘Scavenger’ walks are organised by members on an occasional basis.
Research Interests:
Contribution of place-name information to a book edited by Alan and Margaret Tees, published by Mountaineering Ireland as a tribute to mountaineer Joss Lynam (1924-2011). Irish Peaks is Mountaineering Ireland’s new guide to hillwalking... more
Contribution of place-name information to a book edited by Alan and Margaret Tees, published by Mountaineering Ireland as a tribute to mountaineer Joss Lynam (1924-2011). Irish Peaks is Mountaineering Ireland’s new guide to hillwalking on Ireland’s highest mountains: 256-page hardcover guidebook, featuring 71 hillwalking routes across the island of Ireland; routes submitted by Mountaineering Ireland members, many from local clubs; based on the MountainViews list of Ireland’s Highest Hundred Mountains.
Contribution of further place-name information for the second edition published in 2022.
Contribution of further place-name information for the second edition published in 2022.
Research Interests:
Article: 'Close Compounds in Irish Place-Names' (in collaboration with Peter Drummond) in A Land that Lies Westward: Language and Culture in Islay and Argyll, selected papers from the 8th Conference on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster (Islay, 2006), edited by J. Derrick McClure, John M. Kirk and Margaret Storrie, 2009, 48-78.more
Talks via Zoom on place names in the mountain landscapes of Co. Tyrone and Scotland. Guided walk to Mullaghcarn.
Léachtaí ar ZOOM: logainmneacha sna sléibhte Chontae Thír Eoghain agus logainmneacha i sléibhte na hAlban le Ruairidh MacIlleathain / Siúlóid treoraithe go Mullach Cairn le Paul Tempan.more
Bhí Féile Pheadair Joe 2020 ar siúl ón Déardaoin 24 Meán Fómhair go dtí an Domhnach 27 Meán Fómhair. The Peadar Joe Haughey Festival 2020 took place from Thursday 24th September to Sunday 27th September Déardaoin 24 Meán Fómhair –... more
Bhí Féile Pheadair Joe 2020 ar siúl ón Déardaoin 24 Meán Fómhair go dtí an Domhnach 27 Meán Fómhair.
The Peadar Joe Haughey Festival 2020 took place from Thursday 24th September to Sunday 27th September
Déardaoin 24 Meán Fómhair – Thursday 24th September, 8pm; ONLINE
Bhí Paul Tempan agus Ruairidh MacIlleathain i mbun na léachta ar na príomhchosúlachtaí idir na logainmneacha in Éirinn agus cuid de na tíortha Ceilteacha eile.
Talk via Zoom on place names in the mountain landscape of Co. Tyrone. Paul Tempan and Roddy Maclean guide us through the main similarities between place names in Ireland and some of the other Celtic nations.
Domhnach 27 Meán Fómhair – Sunday 27th September, 11am, Gortin Glen Forest Park car park.
Siúlóid treoraithe go Mullach Cairn le Paul Tempan.
Guided walk with Paul Tempan to the top of Mullaghcarn (542m).
The Peadar Joe Haughey Festival 2020 took place from Thursday 24th September to Sunday 27th September
Déardaoin 24 Meán Fómhair – Thursday 24th September, 8pm; ONLINE
Bhí Paul Tempan agus Ruairidh MacIlleathain i mbun na léachta ar na príomhchosúlachtaí idir na logainmneacha in Éirinn agus cuid de na tíortha Ceilteacha eile.
Talk via Zoom on place names in the mountain landscape of Co. Tyrone. Paul Tempan and Roddy Maclean guide us through the main similarities between place names in Ireland and some of the other Celtic nations.
Domhnach 27 Meán Fómhair – Sunday 27th September, 11am, Gortin Glen Forest Park car park.
Siúlóid treoraithe go Mullach Cairn le Paul Tempan.
Guided walk with Paul Tempan to the top of Mullaghcarn (542m).
Research Interests:
Lecture delivered to CANI, the Classical Association, on Wed 29th Jan, 2020, at the Peter Froggatt Centre, Queen's University Belfast. The topic was Latin/Romance loanwords in early Irish, an area I've been working on for the last couple... more
Lecture delivered to CANI, the Classical Association, on Wed 29th Jan, 2020, at the Peter Froggatt Centre, Queen's University Belfast. The topic was Latin/Romance loanwords in early Irish, an area I've been working on for the last couple of years. The principal finding of my research is that there is a small but significant component in the early Irish vocabulary consisting of previously unidentified loanwords from Latin/Romance, and more than half of these have specific links to Old Spanish, suggesting strong early medieval contacts between Ireland and Spain. The words involved are mostly quite common items of lexis, such as adhmad, áit, álainn, bán, odhar, réalta and rince, but there are also some words known principally from place-names, e.g. áth, cairthe/coirthe, ladhar, mothar, sceilg/speilg.
Research Interests:
This talk about the Irish element bréadach and the place-names Breda (a townland name and part of the parish name Knockbreda) and Newtownbreda was delivered at Newtownbreda Library on Tuesday Nov 12, 2019. The presentation covered the... more
This talk about the Irish element bréadach and the place-names Breda (a townland name and part of the parish name Knockbreda) and Newtownbreda was delivered at Newtownbreda Library on Tuesday Nov 12, 2019. The presentation covered the landscape of the area, history of the names and comparisons with other instances of bréadach in Irish place-names. The case was made for a new interpretation of the element referring to rising ground / upland and a derivation was propsed from the Proto-Celtic root brigant-.
Research Interests:
A talk on Irish surnames and other surnames used in Ireland: how they came into being, how they work, how they can be categorised and what they mean. The talk focused mainly on Irish and Scottish Gaelic surnames, but mention was also... more
A talk on Irish surnames and other surnames used in Ireland: how they came into being, how they work, how they can be categorised and what they mean. The talk focused mainly on Irish and Scottish Gaelic surnames, but mention was also made of English, Scots, Welsh and Manx names, as well as some from further afield. This talk was given on Tuesday 5th November, 2019, at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, as part of series of 6 evening talks funded by Foras na Gaeilge and organised organised by Gordon McCoy of Turas.
Research Interests:
A talk on Irish place-names given on Tuesday 29th October, 2019, at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, as part of series of 6 evening talks funded by Foras na Gaeilge and organised organised by Gordon McCoy of Turas. The presentation... more
A talk on Irish place-names given on Tuesday 29th October, 2019, at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, as part of series of 6 evening talks funded by Foras na Gaeilge and organised organised by Gordon McCoy of Turas.
The presentation covered the following topics:
1. The system of Irish administrative units
2. Irish language and other languages which have contributed to the stock of place-names found in Ireland.
3. Logainmneacha Bhéal Feirste — some place-names in and around Belfast
4. A sample of the earliest layer of place-names in Ulster.
5. Resources for researching place-names
The presentation covered the following topics:
1. The system of Irish administrative units
2. Irish language and other languages which have contributed to the stock of place-names found in Ireland.
3. Logainmneacha Bhéal Feirste — some place-names in and around Belfast
4. A sample of the earliest layer of place-names in Ulster.
5. Resources for researching place-names
Research Interests:
A talk on Irish place-names, given as part of "Discover the Irish Language", a day of talks and taster classes - 31st March 2018, organised by Gordon McCoy of Turas at the Skainos Centre, Newtownards Road, Belfast. 1. The system of... more
A talk on Irish place-names, given as part of "Discover the Irish Language", a day of talks and taster classes - 31st March 2018, organised by Gordon McCoy of Turas at the Skainos Centre, Newtownards Road, Belfast.
1. The system of administrative units
2. Irish language and other languages which have contributed to the stock of place-names found in Ireland.
3. Logainmneacha Bhéal Feirste — Place-Names in and around Belfast
4. Resources for researching place-names
1. The system of administrative units
2. Irish language and other languages which have contributed to the stock of place-names found in Ireland.
3. Logainmneacha Bhéal Feirste — Place-Names in and around Belfast
4. Resources for researching place-names
Research Interests:
A talk on Irish surnames and other surnames used in Ireland: how they came into being, how they work, how they can be categorised and what they mean. The talk focused mainly on Irish and Scottish Gaelic surnames, but mention was also... more
A talk on Irish surnames and other surnames used in Ireland: how they came into being, how they work, how they can be categorised and what they mean. The talk focused mainly on Irish and Scottish Gaelic surnames, but mention was also made of English, Scots, Welsh and Manx names, as well as some from further afield. This talk was given as part of "Discover the Irish Language", a day of talks and taster classes - 31st March 2018, organised by Gordon McCoy of Turas at the Skainos Centre, Newtownards Road, Belfast.
Research Interests:
Public Talk at Carryduff Library on Wednesday 21 February, 2018, 6.30pm. The talk covered local surnames found in Co. Down, mostly of Irish, English and Scottish origin, but mention was also made of Welsh and Manx names, as well as some... more
Public Talk at Carryduff Library on Wednesday 21 February, 2018, 6.30pm.
The talk covered local surnames found in Co. Down, mostly of Irish, English and Scottish origin, but mention was also made of Welsh and Manx names, as well as some from further afield. It dealt not just with origin and meaning, but also structure and typology. Readers at Carryduff Library had the chance to sign up and request information on their own surname or other names of interest.
The talk covered local surnames found in Co. Down, mostly of Irish, English and Scottish origin, but mention was also made of Welsh and Manx names, as well as some from further afield. It dealt not just with origin and meaning, but also structure and typology. Readers at Carryduff Library had the chance to sign up and request information on their own surname or other names of interest.
Research Interests:
An illustrated talk, examining the evidence for Brittonic influence on the early Irish language and specifically on place-names, then discussing some early place-names from Co. Down whose origin cannot be adequately explained as Irish and... more
An illustrated talk, examining the evidence for Brittonic influence on the early Irish language and specifically on place-names, then discussing some early place-names from Co. Down whose origin cannot be adequately explained as Irish and where Brittonic may offer a solution. The names discussed included Lambeg (cf. Welsh llan), Bangor, Saintfield (Tavenaghnewin in 1615, cf. W. newyn), Drummiller (3 instances in Co. Down, cf. W. moelfre, often anglicised as 'miller', 'mellor'), Tullycarnet (cf. W. carnedd), Ballymiscaw (cf. W. misgawn), Gortgrib (cf. W. crib), Castlereagh (cf. W. rhiw, Ir. rubha), Braniel (cf. W. broniallt), Galwally (in district Gallouche), Breda (Knockbreda, Newtownbreda, Ir. bréadach, cf. W. braint, 'Brent' names in England < Proto-Celtic *brigant-), Leveroge (cf. W. llifeiriog), Collin (cf. W. cwlen), Sketrick (cf. sgethrog), Dufferin (cf. W. dyffryn) and Drin (dring). The conclusion is that, with a small percentage of early Irish place-names, a Brittonic origin provides a more satisfactory solution than previous interpretations, not only in terms of phonology but also in terms of the geographical context. Most of these names involve prosaic topographical descriptions which correspond to the local landscape.
Research Interests:
This was a short 20 minute talk for the students of Belfast Free Spanish Lessons as part of their evening of Saint Patrick's celebrations on Monday 14th March 2016. The notes for this talk have now been expanded and updated in March 2020... more
This was a short 20 minute talk for the students of Belfast Free Spanish Lessons as part of their evening of Saint Patrick's celebrations on Monday 14th March 2016. The notes for this talk have now been expanded and updated in March 2020 for a longer presentation.
Research Interests:
An illustrated talk discussing place-names in the vicinity of Comber in north Down, particularly those which feature on the maps of the Hamilton estate made by Thomas Raven in 1625. This set of maps, held at the North Down Museum in... more
An illustrated talk discussing place-names in the vicinity of Comber in north Down, particularly those which feature on the maps of the Hamilton estate made by Thomas Raven in 1625. This set of maps, held at the North Down Museum in Bangor, where they have been digitised for display and detailed study, is a valuable resource for local history and place-name research. This talk developed on an earlier talk given at Dundonald.
Research Interests:
An illustrated talk discussing place-names in the vicinity of Dundonald in north Down, particularly those which feature on the maps of the Hamilton estate made by Thomas Raven in 1625. This set of maps, held at the North Down Museum in... more
An illustrated talk discussing place-names in the vicinity of Dundonald in north Down, particularly those which feature on the maps of the Hamilton estate made by Thomas Raven in 1625. This set of maps, held at the North Down Museum in Bangor, where they have been digitised for display and detailed study, is a valuable resource for local history and place-name research.
Research Interests:
An introduction to Irish placenames, overview of languages involved, townlands and the administrative system, discussion of some important names of the Ards. Students looked for their own townland on map and looked up origin and meaning... more
An introduction to Irish placenames, overview of languages involved, townlands and the administrative system, discussion of some important names of the Ards. Students looked for their own townland on map and looked up origin and meaning in online database: www.placenamesni.org
Topographical place-names have tended to be somewhat neglected in Ireland favour of administrative names such as townlands, parishes and baronies. However, the work of Dr. Margaret Gelling on English topographical names has underlined the... more
Topographical place-names have tended to be somewhat neglected in Ireland favour of administrative names such as townlands, parishes and baronies. However, the work of Dr. Margaret Gelling on English topographical names has underlined the importance of detailed examination of the landscape. Four lesser known generic elements referring to the landscape were discussed: lágh, carbad, trosc and mionnán as well as two place-names, Binn Chuilceach/Cuilcagh in Co. Fermanagh and Cnoc Daod/Hungry Hill in Co. Cork. The element lágh (often anglicised as law, e.g. Clonderalaw, Luggala) which Joyce interpreted as ‘a hill', cognate with Anglo-Saxon law (recte hlaw), could be a loan but cannot be cognate as a Celtic equivalent would begin with kl-. It is, however, is more likely to have the meaning ‘spear’, either literally or figuratively. Carbad which is often interpreted as ‘chariot’ is often seen to mean ‘boulder’ as the locations are in many cases too wild, mountainous and trackless for chariot-driving to have been possible. Trosc which is interpreted by Joyce as ‘cod’, a word borrowed from Norse, in fact refers consistently to hills and probably is a more ancient term for a relief feature, perhaps representing tor + the termination –sc. Mionnán which is not found in the north of Ireland means ‘a pinnacle, sea stack, rocky island’ along the west coast of Ireland . Some problematic individual names were discussed: Binn Chuilceach or Cuilcagh Mountain is likely to mean ‘cloaked peak’ (as proposed in HDGP), and in any case can hardly mean 'chalky' (Joyce), an interpretation completely at odds with the local geology (predominantly grey sandstone with some limestone on lower slopes). Cnoc Daod in the Caha Mountains can best be explained as a development from Cnoc Déad, the final element being déad ‘jaw, set of teeth’, perhaps referring to one or more jagged ridges leading to the summit to the summit of Hungry Hill. It is therefore essential to take local land-forms into account when interpreting topographical place-names, by observing them in the field and/or using map contour detail and photography, if the risk of erroneous 'desk-bound' interpretations is to be kept to a minimum. Frequently the interpretations resulting from more rigorous observation are more prosaic, less fanciful, but thoroughly rooted in the landscape.
Covered the element tairbeart 'a portage place' in Irish place-names, with comparative material from Scottish place-names. Why is Tarbert, Co. Kerry, so named, when it is not apparently located on an isthmus? Also some discussion of the... more
Covered the element tairbeart 'a portage place' in Irish place-names, with comparative material from Scottish place-names. Why is Tarbert, Co. Kerry, so named, when it is not apparently located on an isthmus? Also some discussion of the origin and meaning of the term bridewell. How did a name for a holy well dedicated to a female saint associated primarily with Ireland get attached to a palace in London and then come to Ireland as part of the British penal system? The talk was preceded by a field-trip to Tarbert Island, where access onto the ESB site had been arranged.
Research Interests:
1. The system of administrative units
2. Logainmneacha Bhéal Feirste — Place-Names in and around Belfast
3. Resources for researching place-names
4. Irish Mountain Names
2. Logainmneacha Bhéal Feirste — Place-Names in and around Belfast
3. Resources for researching place-names
4. Irish Mountain Names
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This display was prepared for Libraries NI and was on show in the Heritage Department in Belfast Central Library for the month of June, 2023. The city of Belfast has an enormous and richly varied stock of street-names, especially when... more
This display was prepared for Libraries NI and was on show in the Heritage Department in Belfast Central Library for the month of June, 2023. The city of Belfast has an enormous and richly varied stock of street-names, especially when one adds those used in the past (streets now cleared or renamed) to the list of current names. The earliest street-names known from the 17th and 18th centuries were unofficial and subject to variations in spelling and alternatives. People who are familiar with the city will be aware of the group of street-names connected with the Chichester family, whose head held the title Earl of Donegall, and later Marquess of Donegall. These include Chichester Street itself, Arthur Street and the numerous street-names in Donegall, such as Donegall Street, Donegall Road, Donegall Place, Donegall Pass and Donegall Square, etc. Many other streets and landmarks were named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the 19th century, such as Victoria Street, Great Victoria Street and the Albert Memorial Clock. Other themes which are discernible include peerage titles of lords and nobles, military leaders, politicians, geographical names and occupations, as well as some more “niche” topics such as classical myth, literary names and racehorses. This display dealt with four of the less well-known themes in Belfast street-names and explores what lies behind them: products and producers; big houses; ships of the White Star Line (all built by Harland & Wolff); and a cluster of geographical names from the Indian sub-continent. It also included a short biography of John J. Marshall, whose articles on Belfast street-names were published in the Belfast Telegraph in 1940-41. The exhibit consisted of maps, archive photos, present day photos, text, newspaper cuttings, artefacts and Marshall's own scrapbook, but only the accompanying text is made available here.
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Text accompanying an exhibition at Grove Library in North Belfast. The exhibition was a covid lockdown and post-lockdown initiative to maintain people's interest in and contact with the library while access was restricted. It included... more
Text accompanying an exhibition at Grove Library in North Belfast. The exhibition was a covid lockdown and post-lockdown initiative to maintain people's interest in and contact with the library while access was restricted. It included written contributions, memorabilia and photographs loaned by library users, photographs from the National Museums of Northern Ireland Collection, along with Ordnance Survey maps, reproduced by permission of the individual owners, NMNI and Land and Property Services. These are not included in this document for copyright reasons. The photographs reproduced here are my own and Creative Commons images.
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This presentation was developed initially as part of an Irish course for An Droichead Community Centre, Ormeau Road, and then further developed for a presentation at The Regent School, Newtownards. It provides an introduction to Irish... more
This presentation was developed initially as part of an Irish course for An Droichead Community Centre, Ormeau Road, and then further developed for a presentation at The Regent School, Newtownards. It provides an introduction to Irish place-names: concepts, languages, examples, sources for study. The material is suitable for teaching sixth-formers and adults. The presentation is illustrated with examples mainly from Belfast and Newtownards, but is relevant to place-names throughout Ireland, North and South.
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Hand-out for a talk at Carryduff Library on Wed 21 February, 2018, dealing with a wide range of family names in current use in Co. Down, their origin, structure and meaning. This fact-sheet is also intended for more general use as an... more
Hand-out for a talk at Carryduff Library on Wed 21 February, 2018, dealing with a wide range of family names in current use in Co. Down, their origin, structure and meaning. This fact-sheet is also intended for more general use as an introduction to the topic of family names. Using examples from Ireland and Britain, it discusses when and why people adopted surnames, how they were used by women and men, and how surnames can be categorised by meaning. Examples of English, Irish and Scottish names of each type are given. The evolution of patronymic names into surnames is discussed and compared to the situation in Iceland, where patronymics are still much more widely used than surnames. The use of Mac and Ó in Irish and Scottish Gaelic surnames is covered, as well as the equivalent terms for women, Nic/Mhic and Ní/Uí. Brief mention is made of Norman, Scots, Manx and Welsh names, which are all part of the stock of surnames currently used in East Ulster.