Place names in Ireland

The vast majority of placenames in Ireland are anglicisations of Irish language names; that is, adaptations of the Irish names to English phonology and spelling. However, some names come directly from the English language, and a handful come from Old Norse and Scots. The study of placenames in Ireland unveils features of the country's history and geography and the development of the Irish language. The name of Ireland itself comes from the Irish name Éire, added to the Germanic word land. In mythology, Éire was an Irish goddess of the land and of sovereignty (see Ériu).
In some cases, the official English or anglicised name is wholly different from the official Irish language name. An example is Dublin: its name is derived from the Irish dubh linn (meaning "black pool"), but its Irish name is Baile Átha Cliath (meaning "town of the hurdled ford").
For most of the Gaelic period, there were very few towns or large settlements in Ireland. Hence, most places were named after noteworthy features of the landscape, such as hills, rocks, valleys, lakes, islands, and harbours. As time went on, more places were named after man-made features, such as churches, castles, and bridges. Some of the most common elements found in Irish placenames are shown in the table below. The differences in spelling are often due to differences in pronunciation.
During the 800s and 900s, Vikings from Scandinavia raided monasteries along Ireland's coasts and waterways. The Vikings spoke the Old Norse language and are also called Norsemen. They set up small coastal camps called longphorts – these were used as bases for their raiding parties and as shelters during the winter. Eventually, some longphorts grew into Norse settlements and trading ports. The biggest of these were Dublin (which became a Norse-Gaelic kingdom), Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick. Over time, the Norsemen embraced Gaelic language and culture, becoming known as the Norse-Gaels (Gall-Ghaeil in Modern Irish, Gall-Gaidhel in Old Irish).
Placenames derived from Old Norse:
After the Norman invasion of Ireland, which began in 1169, Anglo-Norman and English language placenames emerged in the areas under Anglo-Norman control. Most of these are within the bounds of "The Pale" – the area that stayed under direct English control for the longest, and where English language and culture held sway. It stretched along the east coast from Dundalk in the north to Dalkey in the south.
Between 1556 and 1641, during its "conquest of Ireland", the English colonised parts of the country with settlers from Great Britain. This is known as the "Plantations of Ireland". After the 1601 Battle of Kinsale defeat in which the Gaelic aristocracy fled to continental Europe the northern province of Ulster was the most heavily colonised. Those who settled as part of the "Plantation of Ulster" were required to be English speaking made up mostly of Lowland Scots and some northern English. The result is that northeast Ulster also has a great number of English-derived placenames.
Such placenames often refer to buildings and other manmade features. They often include forms such as -town, -ton, -ville, -borough, -bury, bridge, mill, castle, abbey, church, etc. However, forms such as hill, mount, mont, wood, bay, brook etc. are not uncommon.
Some placenames that seem to come from English are in fact anglicized Irish names modified by folk etymology. Examples include Longford (from Irish an Longphort 'the dock'), Upperland (from Áth an Phoirt Leathain meaning "ford of the broad (river) bank") and Forkhill (from Foirceal meaning "trough").
The Lowland Scots who settled during the Plantation of Ulster also contributed to place-names in the north of Ireland, particularly in the Ulster Scots areas. The Scots influence can be seen in places such as Burnside (stream), Calheme from 'Cauldhame' (coldhome), Corby Knowe (raven knoll) Glarryford from 'glaurie' (muddy), Gowks Hill (cuckoo) and Loanends (where the lanes end) in County Antrim, Crawtree (crow), Whaup Island (curlew) and Whinny Hill from 'whin' (gorse) in County Down and the frequent elements burn (stream), brae (incline), dyke (a stone or turf wall), gate (a way or path), knowe (knoll), moss (moorland), sheuch or sheugh (a trench or ditch) and vennel (narrow alley). Other Scots elements may be obscured due to their being rendered in Standard English orthography.
Some places in Ireland bear names from beyond Gaelic, Norse or English.
One reason for this is because foreign names can be perceived as more fashionable than native ones. Particularly in middle-class areas, names of Italian origin have been used because of this perception and many roads (e.g. Vico Road and Sorrento Road in Dalkey) and housing estates have obtained their names in this way. More rarely, this has led to the naming of whole suburbs (e.g. Montenotte and Tivoli in Cork). Portobello, Dublin was named in celebration of the British victory at the 1739 Battle of Porto Bello.
Another source of place names is from Anglo-Norman. Considering the number of surnames of Norman origin in Ireland, these are surprisingly rare. Nevertheless, some examples do exist, such as the town of Buttevant (from the motto of the Barry family – Boutez en Avant) and the village of Brittas (from the Norman-French Bretesche, "boarding, planking"). Others exist in portmanteau with words of Irish or English origin, such as Castletownroche, which combines the English Castletown and the French Roche, meaning rock. Most widespread is the term Pallas (from Norman paleis, "boundary fence") which appears in over 20 place names, including the towns Pallasgreen and Pallaskenry. Reeves Castle and the townland of Reeves near Celbridge take their name from Anglo-Norman rive, meaning "riverbank."
A further source of place names of other origin is places names after religious sites outside Ireland. Examples are Lourdes Road in Dublin and Pic du Jer Park in Cork.
The baronies of North Salt and South Salt are derived from Saltus Salmonis, a Latin calque of the town name of Leixlip (from Norse Lax Hlaup, "salmon leap").
Some linguists, including Theo Vennemann, have proposed that the ancient name for Ireland Ivernia or Hibernia is derived from proto-Semitic *'i: weriju ("island of copper").
In the Republic of Ireland, both Irish and English names have equal status and are displayed on road signs, though the Irish is in smaller, italicised font, while the English is in all upper case. However, in the Gaeltacht, the English/anglicized names have no official status and do not appear on road signs.
During and after the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922, some English names were returned to their Irish form. In most cases, the Irish Gaelic name became the only official one (for example Kingstown became Dún Laoghaire in both languages). In other cases, the English name was changed for another (for example King's County became County Offaly, which comes from the Irish Uíbh Fhailí). Although most of the changes were accepted by the wider public, some did not catch on and were eventually undone. The Local Government Act 1946 allowed locals to petition for a name change.
The following places were officially renamed:
Pursuant to the Official Languages Act 2003 and the advice of the Coimisiún Logainmneacha (Place-Names Commission), the Placenames (Centres of Population and Districts) Order 2005 was issued, listing the equivalent in the Irish language of place-names specified in the Order with its English form. The Irish words then had the same meaning and same force and effect as the place-name. This order lists a little fewer than 2,000 place-names, many of which were changed from the Irish form used since independence, e.g. Bray went from Brí Chualann to Bré and Naas changed from Nás na Rí to An Nás.
Beyond the Gaeltacht, only English placenames were officially recognised (pre-2004). But further placenames orders have been passed to enable both the English and Irish placenames to be used. An example of present inconsistency is the village of Straffan, designated variously as An Srafáin, An Cluainíní and Teach Strafáin. In the 1830s John O'Donovan listed it as "Srufáin". The nearby village of Kilteel was "Cill tSíle" for centuries, meaning "The church of Saint Síle", but since 2000 it has been shown as "Cill Chéile", which does not carry the same meaning.
Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland are bilingual: the county of registration is shown in Irish above the plate number as a kind of surtitle, and is encoded from English within the plate number. For example, a Dublin plate is subtitled Baile Átha Cliath and the plate number includes D.
In Northern Ireland, the new recognition of the status of the Irish language does not extend to bilingual roadsigns – it is down to individual district councils to decide to place them. Some towns in Fermanagh and Omagh, Derry City and Strabane, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Moyle, Magherafelt, Newry, Mourne and Down and Cookstown council areas display bilingual names on some welcome signs (e.g. "OMAGH" An Ómaigh).
Irish-language street signs may be erected at the request of locals, provided there is enough support.
There are four provinces in Ireland, three of which derive their English name from a mixture of their ancient Irish provincial name with the Old Norse term for land/territory/place; staðr.
In Irish the provinces are known as cúigí, the singular of which is cúige. The word cúige originally meant "a fifth", as in one-fifth part of Ireland. This is because Meath, as seat of the High King of Ireland, was once a province in its own right, incorporating modern counties Meath, Westmeath and parts of surrounding counties. Meath was later absorbed into Leinster.
In Irish, the counties are known as contaetha, the singular of which is contae. Irish versions of county names only have official status in the Republic of Ireland.
Most of the counties were named after a town in that county (commonly referred to as a county town); usually an administrative centre. Some of these towns, such as Louth, have declined into small villages or have lost their county town status to other towns.
Counties named after their present or former county towns: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow. The county of Londonderry is named after the city of the same name, though its county town was Coleraine until 1972 when counties were abolished as administrative units in Northern Ireland and replaced with unitary councils.
Some counties derive their names from ancient Irish túatha, kingdoms or people:
Some counties derive their names from geographic descriptions
In 1994, County Dublin was abolished as an administrative unit and replaced with three new administrative counties:
Many streets and roads in Ireland derive their name from that of the townland, settlement or parish it goes through or heads towards, many of which are of Irish origin. Other streets and roads derive their names from local buildings, manufacturies or people etc.
In Irish, a street is sráid, a road is bóthar (meaning "cow path"), a lane is lána, and an avenue is ascaill. A linear village is called a sráidbhaile ("[one]-street settlement")—this has been anglicised as Stradbally, which is the name of a number of villages on the island. Whilst Irish forms only have official status in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland district councils are allowed to erect bilingual roadsigns.
Origins of some streets and roads in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Origins of some streets and roads in Dublin, Republic of Ireland