Movatterモバイル変換

Oireachtas na Gaeilge, the largest annual Irish language arts festival, returns to Belfast at the end of October for the first time since 1997. This will doubtless bring about a spike in interest as to the meaning of the Irish name from which anglicizedBelfast derives,Béal Feirste (logainm.ie #1166557). The structure of the name is straightforward but, as we will see presently, there have been slightly varying explanations of its meaning over the years. It is also particularly interesting to note that there is more than oneBéal Feirste in Ireland, one of which refers to the deceptively pleasantly-namedFearsaid na Fionntrá “the tidal ford of/at the white strand”, which in fact led the traveller to the site of numerous bloody battles, both real and legendary, recorded in early Irish annals and literature.

Belfast /Béal Feirste in Co. Antrim is extremely well-attested in Irish sources, with many references provided in theHistorical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames (Fascicle 2 s.n.Béal Feirsde). The name is explained there as meaning “Approach to *Fearsad”.Béal ‘mouth’ frequently refers to an ‘approach’ when found in placenames, and the editors have takenFearsad to be a pre-existing placename, most likely based on a historical reference to ‘Cath Feirste’ “the battle ofFearsad” (seeOnomasticon Goedelicum, DIAS). Ireland’s most famous toponymist, John O’Donovan (once Professor of Celtic Languages at Queen’s University Belfast), gave another take on the meaning ofBéal Feirste. In his explanation of the reference to ‘caislén beoil feirste’ in theAnnals of the Four Masters he wrote “Bel-feirste, i.e., the mouth of the riverFersat, which falls into the River Lagan, where this castle stood” (seeThe Annals of the Four Masters IV, p. 1100).

Our colleagues at the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project have a slightly different understanding of its meaning, explainingBéal Feirste as “mouth of the sand-bank ford’’, adding that “The sand-bank ford was across the mouth of the river Lagan. The little river Farset which flows below High Street and enters the Lagan near this point has also been named from the ford (fearsaid, genitivefeirste)” (seeplacenamesNI.org; see also McKay, P. (1999):A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names, p. 21). This wordfearsaid has a number of different meanings including “ridge of sand in tidal waters, tidal ford” (Ó Dónaill,FGB s.v.fearsaid). To the explanations ofBéal Feirste just mentioned we may add another simplified variation, “approach of/to (the) tidal ford”.

The Modern Irish wordfearsaid (gen. sg.feirste) is a development from Old Irishfertas due to a phenomenon called metathesis. (‘Old Irish’ refers to the period of the language from roughlyc. 700 toc. 950 AD.) Thisfertas has been explained as meaning, among other things, ‘a raised bank or ridge of earth or sand, gen[erally] of a bar or shallow near the sea-shore or a ford in a river’ (eDIL s.v. 2fertas), which is still the sense of Modern Irishfearsaid “ridge of sand in tidal waters, tidal ford”. This meaning seems to be a secondary development from an original ‘shaft … axle … spindle’, evidently referring to the raised nature of a sand ridge at low tide (eDIL s.v. 1fertas). Dinneen’s early 20th-century dictionary explains the word as meaning both a ‘spindle’ (fearsaid) and ‘a passage across the strand at low water’ (fearsad), and he even specifically used ‘Béal Feirste, Belfast’ as an example of the latter (seeDinneen, s.vv.fearsad, fearsaid). Other meanings he provides forfearsad include ‘a deep narrow channel in the strand when the tide is at low ebb … a pit or pool of water’, indicating that the meaning of the word had extended to mean the very opposite of ‘a passage across the strand at low water’.

In any case, most references to the placenameBéal Feirste in earlier Irish-language texts refer to it in conjunction with thecaisleán ‘castle’ (seeHistorical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames). This clearly reflects the settlement’s strategic location next to the River Lagan, most likely at thefearsaid ‘tidal ford’ where the estuary could be traversed. As it is likely that thefearsaid mentioned in the account of the earlyCath Feirste ‘(the) battle ofFearsaid’ referred specifically to the tidal ford itself, the nameBéal Feirste must refer to the site of the castle at the ‘approach of/to (the) tidal ford’.

It is not widely known that a secondBéal Feirste ‘approach of/to (the) tidal ford’ is found as the name of a townland in the Gaeltacht of Co. Mayo (logainm.ie #37016). This had the variant Irish formBéal Fearsaide, reflected in the formerly official anglicized spellingBelfarsad found on Ordnance Survey maps. (When the Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004 was made under the Official Languages Act 2003, this anglicized name ceased to have any legal status.) This townland is situated in northwest Mayo between the peninsula of An Corrán and the island of Acaill, directly opposite a place calledGob na Feirste ‘the point of the tidal ford’. According to the late Dr. Fiachra Mac Gabhann, Gob na Feirste is the headland that lies east of the village of Na Sraithíní on Acaill, just below a place calledGob Phatsy ‘Patsy’s point’. Fiachra’s research showed that Gob Phatsy had been erroneously marked ‘Gubnafarsda’ on the Ordnance Survey 6ʺ map, and Gob na Feirste is actually the next promontory to the south of this (‘Acaill le Mapaí; A collection of minor names fromAcaill’ collated by Dr. Fiachra Mac Gabhann in the archive of An Brainse Logainmneacha). In any case Béal Feirste lies directly opposite Gob na Feirste, so we can assume that the tidal ford traversed Gob an Choire (Achill Sound) between these two points.

An even less well-known location formerly calledBéal Feirste (logainm.ie #1437931) was situated in the townlands of Carrowcrin and Cartronabree on the shores of Ballysadare Bay in Co. Sligo. In the 17th century this placename is attested as ‘Belfersdy’ on theDown Survey andHiberniae Delineatio maps (seedownsurvey.tchpc.tcd.ie) and as ‘Bellfersdy’ in the relatedBook of Survey and Distribution, as well as ‘Bellfast’ in the unrelatedHearth Money Rolls (p. 29). We also find it as ‘Bellfirst’ in 1711 (CGn. 63.73.42718) and ‘Bellfreesals. Belferst’ in 1732 (CGn. 71.282.50749), so there can be no doubt thatBéal Feirste is the original Irish form. (Note as an aside that our earliest example of the name, ‘Bealefirste’ (1614), found in a King’s grant to James Baxter, provides us with the name of its last Gaelic Irish owner, namely ‘Calloh McOwen O’Connor’ [Calbhach mac Eoghain Ó Conchúir] who was ‘slain in rebellion’ (CPR, p. 266b).)

A nineteenth-century map of tidal fords in County Sligo refers to the ford extending fromBéal Feirste to Streamstown as ‘Fintragh Pass’ (T. O’Rorke,The History of Sligo: Town and County I, p. 47). Thisfearsaid ‘tidal ford’ actually leads not only to Streamstown, but to two further tidal fords depicted as ‘Long Strand’ and ‘Short Strand’ on the map in question. In fact, this document shows that there was once a network of tidal fords in Co. Sligo: the first went from Coolbeg and Kintogher across Drumcliff Bay; the second crossed Sligo Bay atFearsaid Rann an Liagáin (possibly at Standalone Point); the third was the one just mentioned, crossing Ballysadare Bay fromBéal Feirste to Streamstown; while the last ones, namely ‘Short Strand’ and ‘Long Strand’, led from the same place in Streamstown across the south of Ballysadare Bay to Crockacullion and Beltra, respectively. These formed part of the primary route from west Ulster into north Connaught. The longer of last-mentioned tidal fords, namely ‘Long Strand’ was identified asFearsaid na Fionntrá atCúil Chnámh in Edward Hogan’sOnomasticon Goedelicum:‘f[ersat]na finntrága atCúil Cnamh [next to Beltra] … al. Pass ofTráigh Eothuille’. This identification was recently followed by one of the present writers in an essay discussing defunct placenames in Sligo (see C. Ó Crualaoich, ‘Causeways, battles, real and imaginary: some placenames in the Sligo parish of Dromard, one of the ‘three wonders of Connaught and Ireland’ and one of the ‘three strands of Ireland’, inSligo Field Club Journal 2023). However, in light of the identification by Sligo man Terence O’Rorke of thefearsaid fromBéal Feirste to Streamstown as ‘Finntragh Pass’, there seems little reason to doubt that this was actuallyFearsaid na Fionntrá ‘the tidal ford of the white strand’ as mentioned in the Annals.

Be that as it may, at roughly 4km, thefearsaid across Ballysadare Bay called ‘Long Strand’, to which the tidal ford from Sligo’sBéal Feirste ultimately led, was unquestionably one of the longest tidal fords in Connaught and possibly in the whole of Ireland. It was the site of numerous historical battles and skirmishes, so much so that its fame spread thoroughly into native Irish literature: mentioned in the Fenian Cycle, it also crops up frequently in the saga calledCath Mhaigh Tuireadh (‘The Battle of Maigh Tuireadh’), as well as in the native Triads and genealogies. Its renown also led to the literary creation of further aliases for the strand such asRos Airgid ‘silver headland’ andTrá na Mná Mairbhe ‘the strand of the dead woman’. An optical illusion caused by a feature north of thefearsaid, namelyCarraigín Eothaile, was so infamous that it too was incorporated into literature: asCarn Thrá Eothaile it was described as the burial cairn of KingEochaidh mac Eirc, also known asCarn Eachach andLuí Eothaile. Indeed, thisLuí Eothaile was described in theTriads as one of the ‘Trí hignad Hérenn’ “three wonders of Ireland” (see ‘Causeways, battles, real and imaginary’). Its infamy was due to a particularly dangerous optical illusion:Carraigín Eothaile (als.Luí Eothaile) appeared at exactly the same level by low water as by high. This meant that thefearsaid atTrá Eothaile could be easily misjudged and be particularly perilous, even when armies, real or literary, weren’t clashing here. Indeed, it must be no coincidence that the point at which thefearsaid ofTrá Eothaile came ashore atBeltra /Béal Trá was actually calledCúil Chnámh “(the) recess of bones” locally.

However, references tofearsaid need not always be perilous or filled with foreboding. On the occasion of this year’s Oireachtas, it is pleasing to note the coincidence thatfearsaid can also refer to literary creations such as a ‘piece of poetry, verse or ditty’ (FGB s.v.fearsaid). Keeping phrases such asi mbéal eadra ‘coming on to milking-time’ in mind, can we stretch our poetic licence to translateBéal Feirste as ‘coming on to poetry-time’…? Maybe just for the duration of the Oireachtas!

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich \& Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

We are now on the threshold of the mid-winter month of December and it is likely that some farmers can still be seen harvesting. Given that many of the December crops aretubers – turnips, carrots and the like – we will look at some occurrences in townland names of the wordmeacan ‘any tap-rooted plant, as a carrot, a parsnip’ (Dinneen 1904 s.v.meacan), also found asmeacan bán ‘parsnip’,meacan buí/dearg ‘carrot’ andmeacan ráibe ‘turnip’ (FGB s.v.meacan).

The word seems to have been used in the sense of ‘(cultivated) root’ in the early literature (eDIL s.v.mecon). (Note that an early law-text specified that barley and wheat were best grown intír trí mecon cona tuar téchta ‘land of three roots with proper manuring’: see Kelly,Early Irish Farming, p.229.)Meacan is not a cast-iron diagnostic of agricultural activity, however, as it also occurs in the names of various uncultivated, more or less edible species (FGBibid.; cf.Dinneen 1927: 721 s.v.meacan). (Note for example the local interpretation ofMackan/Na Meacain (#29361) in Co. Leitrim: “Meacain … so called, according to Old Moran, from the abundance of wild carrots it produced” (1836).)

That being said, whenmeacan is found in combination with the genericgort ‘field’ we can perhaps presume that cultivation is implied: thusGortavacan/Gort an Mheacain (logainm.ie #30089) in Co. Leitrim can be explained ‘the field of the cultivated root’ andGortnamackan/Gort na Meacan (logainm.ie #19987) in Co. Galway ‘the field of the cultivated roots’. We have mentioned in earlier notes the common repurposing of disused defensive/domestic enclosures to serve an agricultural purpose: it is possible that this is the origin of the namesLisnamacka/Lios na Meacan (logainm.ie #39371) in Co. Monaghan andRanamackan/Ráth na Meacan (logainm.ie #19678) in Co. Galway, both signifying ‘the ring-fort of the (cultivated/edible) roots’, although of course wild growth is equally likely in dilapidated structures. When found with topographical elements, however, the plausibility ofmeacan as a cultivated crop can be questioned. Thus, whileCloonmackan/Cluain Meacan ‘pasture of (the) (cultivated/edible) roots’ (logainm.ie #6698) in Co. Clare might point to agriculture, other examples such asLugnamackan/Log na Meacan (logainm.ie #45087) ‘the hollow of the (edible?) roots’ in Co. Sligo andAltnamackan/Alt na Meacan ‘the height, abyss of the (edible?) roots’ (logainm.ie #56385) in Co. Armagh (see alsoplacenamesni.orgAltnamackan) are more unlikely.

The derived adjectivemeacanach also occurs in substantivized form in placenames, apparently denoting a place ‘abounding in (cultivated/edible?/wild) roots’. Examples includeMackanagh/Meacanach (logainm.ie #48694) andMackney/Meacanaigh (logainm.ie #46548) in Co. Tipperary.Mackinawood/Coill na Meacanaí (logainm.ie #48541) – also in Co. Tipperary but unrelated to either of the preceding examples – is perhaps better explained as ‘the wood of/atAn Mheacanach [placename]’ (see ‘Mackinagh’ (1726), ‘Mackina Wood’ (1840)) whereasGortnamackanee/Gort na Meacanaí (logainm.ie #22082) in Co. Kerry, owing to its genericgort, might be more likely to refer to a field in which tuberous root crops were cultivated, i.e., ‘the field of the place abounding in carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc.’

The explanations above are all based on the conventional interpretation ofmeacan as denoting a plant of some description. However, T.S. Ó Máille – having noted figurative usages in literature – suggested in relation to 18 examples ofmeacan (and derivatives) in placenames around the country that the term “seems to be applied frequently to a thick lump and hence, in toponymy, to a hill, or short ridge” (‘Meacan in Áitainmneacha’,Dinnseanchas II (1967) pp. 93–97). The metaphor is reasonable but more research is required to establish whether this is anything more than pure coincidence.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)