Irish Placenames Guide

…Coolkeeragh …Ardnagroghery …Ringaskiddy…

Irish placenames can seem like poetry, a puzzle…or a joke! Learning a little bit of Irish can help you unlock the meaning of the placenames around you.

Irish placenames are mostly natural, describing the landscape or geographical features. In learning about Irish placenames, it’s a good idea to start with the obvious features you can see:

Natural Features
mountain, hill, beach, river, field, lake, rock.

Mountain in Irish is Sliabh. In English, this is often Slieve, like in Slieve Donard (Domhangart’s mountain).

Hill in Irish is Cnoc. In English, this is often Knock, like in Knockmore (big hill).

Beach in Irish is Trá. In English, this is often Tra, like in Tramore (big beach).

River in Irish is Abhainn. In English, this is often Aw or Owen, like in Owenbeg (little river).

Field in Irish is Achadh (although there are many names for different types of field). In English this is often Agha, like in Aghabog (soft field).

Lake in Irish is Loch. In English, this is often Lough, like in Lough Eske (Fish Lake).

Rock in Irish is Carraig (although there are many names for different types of rock). In English, this is usually carrick or carrrig, like in Carrickbeg (little rock).

Made in Ireland
The built environment is important in Irish placenames too: town, church, fort, road.

Town in Irish is Baile (although it also means townland or homestead). In English this is often Bally or Balli, like in Ballycastle (Town of the Castle).

Church in Irish is Cill. In English, this is often Kill or Kil-, like in Kilcormac (Church of Cormac)

Fort in Irish is Dún. In English, this is often Dun, like in Dunbeg (Small Fort).

Road in Irish is Bóthar. In English, this is often Boher, like in Boherboy (Yellow Road).

Add some Adjectives!
It’s useful to learn some basic adjectives, for example:

big        mór        more
small    beag        beg
long      fada        fad or fadda
black    dubh        duff
green   glas         glass
white    bán         bane

Remember that adjectives in Irish are usually placed after the noun they are describing, so instead of Big Hill you have Knockmore – Cnoc Mhor – literally Hill Big.

Result
If you can crack these, suddenly Irish placenames open up to you.

And there’s more…
Later you can start learning about how myths, animals, trees, plants and people all left their mark in the placenames of Ireland. Check out the attached PDF, which covers the most common elements in Irish placenames.

There's an interesting post on wikipedia about Irish placenames in other countries. Irish emigration resulted in towns and regions being named or renamed after places in Ireland. There's a Belfast in South Africa! Canada has lots of Irish Placenames. Check out wikipedia:

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

i think there are also 11 Belfast's in the US

Gerard, Raidió Fáilte 107.1fm

dont forget dara which is irsh for oak,oak forest etc as in derry, eden derry etc also domhnach which also is church as in donnycarney,donnybook,etc

I think this is brilliant! Only being a resident here for not even two years, I'm always discovering new things. I love the connection with place names, and mythology as well. I remember driving down the M1, and seeing the sign for Ardee, Baile Átha Fhirdhia. It wasn't until I drove past a Ferdia petrol station, and later a Cooley Peninsula sign by that big Bull scuplture that I made the Táin connection. I thought that was the greatest thing. In even here where a lot of signs have no Irish, I remember visiting The Giant's Ring, and passed a sign for some church, "Ballycairn." Then it clicked, "Hey, The Giant's Ring is a cairn!" Home of the Cairn? Was it Baile Carn, or Baile na Carn maybe? Sorry if this sounds cheesy, but it's all new to me.