With Seachtain na Gaeilge now well underway, people have been encouraged to think about the place names around them and the insights they provide into the landscape we live in.
The vast majority of place names in Ireland are of Irish language origin and date back hundreds of years, when Gaeilge was the language of the people.
On The Claire Byrne Show, gaeilgeoir and broadcaster Meghann Scully said a place’s name in Irish tells you far more about it than the English version.
“The other day I was travelling out on the Dart and we stopped at Glenageary, which is Gleann na gCaorach,” she said.
“But the direct translation is why it caught my eye, caorach is sheep and it means Glen of the Sheep, which means historically Glenageary must have been a place where all the sheep were.”
A signpost in Clifden, County Galway. Picture by: Alamy.com.Ms Scully continued that her knowledge of Irish gave her an insight into the parish she grew up in.
“I used to live in An Spidéal in Connemara, which, of course, is Spiddle,” she said.
“But the reason they got their name was from ospidéal, which is hospital.
“So, there was a hospital back in the day, I believe, when I looked through the records and they just dropped the o - Spideál.”
However, Ms Scully said her favourite Irish language place name can be found in Tipperary.
“Clonmel, which is Cluain Meala, is a honey meadow,” she said.
“And I think that's so beautiful - ‘I'm from Cluain Meala, I'm from a honey meadow’.
“It just sounds so fabulous.”
A road sign in Donegal. Picture by: Alamy.com.Ms Scully urged people to reflect on what an Irish language place name reveals about the area they live in or are visiting.
“I think that's something to maybe make people think the next time you're in your town, your village, or maybe when you're driving by a sign and you look at the Gaeilge,” she suggested.
“Just take a little think, ‘What does that actually mean?’ Because a lot of them are obviously Anglicised.”
Main image: A sign for Dingle in Kerry. Picture by: Alamy.com.
