Gaeilg an Dúin - ‘Oileán Partán’

Is suimiúil go bhfuil ‘Parton Island’[1] ann i Loch Cuan. Oileán Partán ‘Island of the Crabs’ is bunús leis.

Seans mór mar sin go raibh an fhoirm ‘partán’ ann sa chanúint seachas ‘portán’ atá sa chaighdeán inniu[2].

Partán atá le fail i nGaeilge Mhainnín agus i nGaeilge na hAlbain.

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[1] AJ Hughes and RJ Hannan, Place-Names of Northern Ireland , County Down II, The Ards, General ed. Professor Gearóid Stockman: Vol, 2 (1992) l. 22-23

[2] Ibid.

Gaeilge Chluain Daimh : ‘o’ - /u/

Tá dhá mhion-logainm speisialta i bParóiste Chluain Daimh (bailithe agam féin más buan cruinn mo chuimhne).

Is iad Lugagour (Log an Ghabhair / Lag a’ Ghabhair) agus Lugaveagh (‘Log a’ Bheithe’?).

Léiríonn an litriú Béarla, a chum mé féin orthu, ar an ábhar nach raibh Gaeilge ag an té ar thug dom iad, gur /u/ an fhuaimniú a bhí leis an ghraiféim (grapheme) ‘o’ i nGaeilge an cheantair.

Is é sin le rá gur /luɡ/ an fhuaimniú ar ‘log’.

Trí ‘Sliabh’ na mBeann Boirche

Cosúil le Gaeilge Oirialla, is dócha gur /ʃl­ʲeuw/ nó /ʃl­ʲeuβʲ/ an fhuaimniú ar ‘Sliabh’ i gContae an Dúin de ghnáth ach tá fianaise ann go bhfuil dhá fhuaimniú eile ann chomh maith.

Dar ndóigh, baintear úsáid as an fhuaimniú Béarla ‘slieve’ /sli:v/ go coitianta inniu.

Tá sé suimiúil áfach go mbaintear úsáid as an fhuaimniú /ʃlʲə/ i gCluain Daimh go traidisiunta nuair atá ainm shliabh i gceist, mar shampla, deirtear Sli’ Muc.

Ach bhí / tá fuaimniú eile ann nuair atá an fhocal ‘sliabh’ mar chuid de logainm comhtháite ar nós Crotleive (Crotshliabh), Finlieve (Fionnshliabh) agus Shanslieve (Seanshliabh).

Deirtear iad go tradisiúnta mar Crotlie /crat'li:/[1], Finlie agus Shanlie.

Mar sin tá an fhuaimniú /li:/ le ‘shliabh’ sa cás sin.

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[1] P135

Some Drumgooland Surnames

Most common surnames in Drumgooland in 1863-4

Surname (Households)

McAvoy (53). From the Irish Mac A' Bhuí (: Mac Giolla Bhuidhe) in South Down (Duibhín). Giolla Bhuidhe means 'yellow servant'.

Burns (48) Most likely from the Irish Ó Broin but clearly can be a plantation surname. (From Ciarán Ó Duibhín notes "Pron. ă brin′ or (without preceding forename) ō-brin′ or (most commonly) bran′-ăh (S Armagh, SÓhA)" Ciarán Ó Duibhín).

O'Hare (48). From the Irish Ó hÍr.

King (43). Ó Duibhín has King as an anglicisation of Mac a' Rí with the caveat "Possibly a reduced form of a fuller name, such as Mac Conroi or Mac Fhearadhaigh. "

Roney (38). A form of Rooney. From the Irish Ó Ruanaidh, Ó Ruanadha in South Armagh ["Pron. ă roo′-noo (S Armagh, SÓhA) - Duibhín] but very much a Co. Down name.


Doyle (31) - From the Irish Ó Dubhghaill 'descendent of the dark foriegner'. Dubhghall (i.e Dougal) being a forename which originally indicated Norse origin.

Dalzell (25) Not a Gaelic name but a Lowland Scottish Typonymic name, from the Gaelic 'Dail Ghil' "white haugh". A native of Dalzell would be a Dailghileach in Gaelic I have no evidence of this ever being used as a surname.

Ward (25). From the Irish Mac a' Bhaird 'son of the bard'.

Keenan (22) Most likely from the Irish Ó Cianáin 'Descendent of little Cian'. [Pron. (without preceding forename) ă kin′-ăan (S Armagh, SÓhA; so pronounced also in Farney, EÓT) Ó Duibhín]. There is another South Ulster name Ó Caonáin (?), it is possible that this is the name in question.

Kelly (20). From the Irish Ó Ceallaigh 'Descendent of Ceallach'.

Some Drumballyroney Surnames

Most common surnames in Drumballyroney in 1863-4

(Rough notes)

Surname (Households)

Martin (35). In South Down Mac Giolla Martáin is anglicised as Martin. Mac Giolla Martáin means 'Son of the servant of (St) Martin'. It can also be of Scottish origin, both Gaelic 'Mac Gille Mhartainn' and lowland, and of English origin.

Cromie (20) - from the Gaelic Crombach, 'crooked place'. Despite the deriving from a Gaelic word and only meaning in the Gaelic language, Cromie is not a Gaelic name, but rather a 'Lowland' Scottish name as it is a toponymic, i.e. named after a place-name. Gaelic surnames are generally patronymic, ie. named after an ancestor. The Irish Cromie is normally found in South Armagh and is an anglicisation of Ó Cromtha. meaning bent / crooked. This however may derive from the Scottish name.

Davidson (20), despite the appearance of being an English name, it is unlikely to be so. Davidson would be considered a 'Protestant', Plantation name. But the truth is that Davidson could Gaelic a name as any of those above given that the Davidsons of Ulster are originally the Scottish MacDhaibhidh.

Bell (18), Can be an Anglicization of the Gaelic Mac Giolla Mhaoil, but can also be an English or French language name.

Burns (16). Most likely from the Irish Ó Broin but clearly can be a plantation surname. (From Ciarán Ó Duibhín notes "Pron. ă brin′ or (without preceding forename) ō-brin′ or (most commonly) bran′-ăh (S Armagh, SÓhA)" Ciarán Ó Duibhín).

Downey (15) - From the Irish Mac Giolla Domhnaigh. The Scottish Gaelic Mac Gille Domhnaich is also anglicised as Downey. The both mean 'son of the Lord's servant' (Bell).

Ferguson (15). A Scottish surname, being an anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Fhearghuis / Mac Fhearghusa 'son of Fergus'. Fergus means 'man of valour;.

McNeilly (15). From the Gaelic Mac an Fhilidh 'Son of the poet', originally an Antrim name.

Beatty (13) Beatty CAN be of Gaelic origin, either Scottish or Irish meaning Biadhtach 'Public Victualler' (Bell), but this is unlikely in this case, what is likely is that Beatty is a lowland Scots name being a diminutive / pet form of Bartholomew.

Murphy (13), from the Irish Mac Murchaidh, pronounced (in Omeath) A' Mhurfaí. Murchadh means 'sea warrior'. Murphys are refered to in Irish as 'Na Beirnigh'.

Clonduff's greatest literature written by a 'Bridge man

Some readers will be utterly shocked to learn that was must be considered the most significant literary effort ever produced in the parish of Clonduff was written by a man who who most likely from Mayobridge.

I refer to what is known in the English language as An Irish Funeral Oration over Owen O'Neill, of the House of Clanaboy.

The original Irish oration, which is a powerful one both in terms of language and content, was delivered by Dr. James Pulleine (Séamas Mac Poilin) who is understoond to be of Aughnagon in the Mayobridge area.

Eoghan O Néill, of the Clann Aodha Buì Uì Néill drowned in the River Bann in 1744. He lived in the house which stands behind Bannvalle at Mussen's Corner in Ballymaghery.

He is buried at the Old Clonduff church were the oration was delivered. I will post up extracts when I get the chance.

'Teach Yourself Meath Irish'

Ok, this has little to do with Clonduff, BUT, Clonduff existed in a wider Gaeltacht, made up by Oriel and Meath.

Meath has two Gaeltachts today but both of these are made up of people for the most part whose ancestors came from the West of Ireland.

But it is erroneous to connect Gaelic with the West of Ireland alone, the Meath Gaeltacht survived well into the 20th Century and well after many places further west had succumbed to English.

In fact, native Irish survived longer on the plains of Meath than in the mountains of Mourne.

Unfortunately, no recording survives but we do have a kind of 'Teach Yourself Meath Irish' in the book 'Mion-chaint na Midhe agus Uladh' (1905) by Pádraig Ua Dhubhthaigh.

The book has been digitised by the Royal Irish Academy and is available in full here.

The dialect of Meath differed little from Oriel, of which Co. Down Irish is considered apart of. Well worth a look.