NAME THAT TUNE – UH NO, I MEANT PLACE….

How to name an Irish village

 

I knew very little about Irish placenames when I began writing my historical fiction, Hitler and Mars Bars. Writing a novel doesn’t usually require knowledge of how to construct placenames. Some scenes in Hitler and Mars Bars are set in real towns and cities throughout Ireland but most of my story takes place in smaller communities. I decided to invent names for these villages and rural places, rather than use real names, because, in small communities, everyone knows each other. I didn’t want anyone to think that my characters or incidents in the book, although loosely based on historic events, were about real people or events in their villages. So I created imaginary places to avoid unintentionally upsetting or embarrassing anyone. My fictional places are set within real counties, near real towns and cities, but they don’t actually exist.

 

I had free rein to choose any names I liked when I created these places, didn’t I?

Not really. I wanted my imaginary places to fit into the Irish landscape and society. Naming a village Tokyo, Temiskaming or Tonawanda might not be appropriate for post war rural Ireland. So I chose names that sounded Irish and followed the Irish way of naming places.

 

So, how were places named in Ireland?

 

In most European countries placenames evolve from the various languages of the races that inhabited the country over the centuries. So names come from quite a variety of sources. But Ireland, being less accessible as an island, has had fewer races than most other European countries migrating to it.

 

The Vikings established settlements at Cork, Limerick and Dublin. In the 9^th and 10^th centuries they frequently raided Ireland, mostly along coastal areas; Norse names still survive in these areas where they landed. Names such as Waterford and Wexford are derived from Norse words. ‘ford’ in both names comes from the Norse word ‘fjord’.

 

The French speaking Normans invaded Ireland during the 12^th century. Some of their words were assimilated into the Irish language and they also left many surnames. But their presence didn’t seem to influence the development of placenames. This may be because they built and inhabited their own fortified castles rather than founding any towns.

 

The next race to arrive were the English four hundred years ago. Since English eventually became the language spoken by the majority of the population, they had a significant influence on placenames. Unable to pronounce the Irish names, they tried to translate the words phonetically so they would sound similar to the original name. In the northern parts of Ireland the Scottish plantation settlers contributed Scottish Gaelic words to the naming of places.

 

The English also created some new names. These names often reflected the physical features of an area, such as ‘Greystones’, or who possessed or founded a place. Examples of the latter include ‘Castlegregory’ meaning someone named Gregory owned or built the castle and ‘Newtownstewart’ reflecting that a man named Stewart established this town. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether an English name is a direct translation of an original Irish name or a new one that the English chose.

 

 Because there was little mixing of races over the centuries most placenames are of Irish Gaelic origin. Certain syllables can be seen repeated over and over in modern anglicised names. These syllables are often the anglicised version of an Irish word. If you know the meaning of the original Irish words then you can figure out meaning of the name.

 

Ireland was mostly a pastoral and agricultural society hundreds of years ago so many of the names they chose reflected this. Features in the landscape including fields, meadows, rivers and hills often figured prominently in names.

 

Irish names usually describe something:

 

·    A feature of the place or in the landscape around it

·    A building or other structure

·    A person’s relationship to the place eg. the owner or inhabitant of a place, usually people such as saints, chieftains or landowners

 

Hitler and Mars Bars is set in several counties throughout Ireland. As I’ve said, some scenes are set in real towns and cities. Let’s look at how these places got their names.

 

Athy, Co Kildare: The name is derived from the Irish words ‘ath-I’ meaning the ‘town by the ford of Ae’. Ae was a second century Munster chieftain who was killed at the river crossing or ford near where the town was established.

 

Belfast: The name is derived from the Irish words ‘Beal Feirste’ meaning the ‘mouth of the sandbank’. The ‘sandbank’ referred to is the Irish name, ‘fearsad’, for the river Farset, a small river that joins the Lagan in the city. ‘Fearsad’ means ‘sandbank’.

 

Bray, Co Wicklow: The name is derived from the Irish word ‘bre’ or ‘breagh’ meaning ‘a hill’.

 

Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim: ‘Carrig’ is the Irish word for ‘rock’. So ‘Carrick’ seems like an English attempt to phonetically translate the original word. But the name isn’t that straightforward. The Irish name of the town is Cora Droma Ruisc which translates rather obscurely as the ‘weir of the ridge of the bark’.

 

Cavan Town, Co Cavan: The name comes from the Irish words ‘An Cabhan’ meaning ‘the hollow’.

 

Dublin: There are two names for this city, each with a different meaning. Dublin or ‘Dubh Linn’ is believed to have Norse origins and means ‘black pool or black hole’. The modern Irish name for the city, Baile Ath Cliath, means the ‘town of the hurdled ford’.

 

The names of these towns and cities provide examples of how places were named. When I decided to create names for my villages and other rural places, I used Irish words that are commonly found in placenames as the building blocks for my imaginary placenames. I mixed them up and put them back together, trying to form names that don’t already exist or at least are not the names of well known places in the counties where I’ve put my imaginary villages. As far as I’m aware, I’m unlikely to ever drive past Derrykeane farm, Rathnane School or Clanefoy school if I’m out for a Sunday spin in Co Cavan.

 

Ballylea, Co Cavan: I used the words ‘bally’ and ‘lea’ to create this name. In Irish ‘baile’ is a ‘place’. It’s often translated as ‘town’ but the word was in use before towns existed in Ireland and is more accurately translated as ‘place’. ‘Lea’ is an anglicisation of ‘liath’ meaning grey or grey place. So I’ve named my village the Grey Place.

 

Clanefoy School, Co Cavan: I created this name from ‘clane’ and ‘foy’. ‘Clane’ is the anglicised version of ‘claonadh’ meaning ‘the slope’. ‘Foy’ is from the Irish word ‘fod’ meaning ‘sods’. The ‘sods slope’ doesn’t really make great sense but the name does sound authentic.

 

Clonty, Co Cavan: I created this name from the anglicised version of the Irish word ‘cluainte’ meaning ‘a meadow or pasture’.

 

Derrykeane, Co Cavan: I created this name using the words ‘derry’ and ‘keane’. The Irish word ‘doire’ means the ‘grove of oak trees’ and Keane is an Irish surname. So the meaning of the name is Keane’s oak grove. In my story there aren’t any Keanes living at this farm but I like the sound of the name.

 

Kilmullagh Church, Co Cavan: I created this name from the words ‘kil’ and ‘mullagh’. ‘Cill’ is the Irish word for church. ‘Mullagh’ comes from the Irish word ‘mullach’ meaning a hilltop. So the name means the ‘church on the hilltop’. It’s very apt in Hitler and Mars Bars as that is exactly where I set this church.

 

Rathnane School, Co Cavan: I created this name from the words ‘rath’ and ‘nane’. A ‘rath’ was an ancient ringfort or monastery. ‘Nane’ could be the Irish word ‘n-ean’ meaning ‘the birds’ or the personal or family name, Fhionain. So the name might mean ‘the fort of the birds’ or ‘Fhionain’s fort’.

 

So that’s how I named some Irish villages, schools, churches and other spots. I enjoyed the process and I think the names sound pleasant and Irish. And, if you want to analyse them, they have meanings much as real Irish names do. My placenames could fit inconspicuously into any Irish county.

 

If you would like to find out more about Irish placenames, you may find these websites interesting:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_names_in_Irish

http://www.ulsterplacenames.org/landscape_in_irish-language_names.htm

http://www.dochara.com/stuff/irish-placenames.php

http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/geography/placenames.html

http://www.fionasplace.net/irishplacenames.html

 

‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ is the story of a German boy, Erich, growing up in war-torn Germany and post-war rural Ireland. Set against the backdrop of Operation Shamrock, a little known Irish Red Cross project which aided German children after World War II, the novel explores a previously hidden slice of Irish and German history.

 

If you would like to learn more about the novel, please drop by my website at www.geocities.com/dianne_ascroft . My Virtual Book Tour continues until December 24. You can get the full schedule at www.dianneascroft.wordpress.com.

 

‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ is available to order from www.trafford.com, many other online book shops, including www.amazon.co.uk, and my website. It can also be ordered from any book shop.