The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project

Tá Béal Feirste ag ullmhú d'Oireachtas na Samhna 2025!

Ceannaigh ticéad anseo: www.antoireachtas.ie/oireachtas-n...

#OnaS25

Fógra

Seoladh mór @leabharbreac.bsky.social ag @oirnagaeilge.bsky.social

3pm go dtí 5pm Dé hAoine 31 Deireadh Fómhair, sa gCultúrlann (sa Dánlann ar chúl an tsiopa leabhar, An Ceathrú Póilí)

Prince Andrew: Killyleagh has its say over his baron title - BBC News The prince is relinquishing all of his royal titles - one of which is Baron Killyleagh.

It is possible that Laoch of Cill Ó Laoch ‘church of the descendants of Laoch’ (Killyleagh) is a variant spelling of Luighdheach, a genitive form of Lughaidh which was a popular name in early Ireland. The ruins of the medieval parish church are north of the town centre. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Irish language: Bilingual street sign damaged with angle grinder The white sign to Shandon Park was cut with an angle grinder with the Irish language removed.

Páirc an tSeandúin - Shandon Park with seandún meaning ‘old fort’ www.bbc.com/news/article...

Cloud-capped #Mournes from the townland of Magherasaul/Machaire Sabhall ‘plain of barns', @placenamesni.bsky.social

#CountyDown
#SpéirGhorm

Corrected from earlier post.

In the townland of Doagh, Co. Antrim, the Irish element dumhach ‘mound’ refers to a Norman motte, but in the four Co. Derry townlands named Doaghs (parish of Magilligan), the same element refers to the sand dunes along Magilligan Strand all the way to Magilligan Point.

Hi Liam. Thanks for getting in touch. The UPNS road name project was led by the Ulster Place-Name Society. Different body (but lots of the same people involved). See placenamesni.org for more recent research :)

Place-naming and Place-sharing in Northern Ireland - The Linen Hall, Belfast As part of the celebrations for Oireachtas na Samhna, The Linen Hall is delighted to welcome Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín, Dr Frances Kane, and Dr Brian Devlin for a fascinating talk on the history and...

linenhall.com/event/place-... save the date!

Streaks of red, pink-infused clouds

Morning sky over Raholp, Saul, Slieve Patrick. Wow!

#Lecale #LeathCathail
#CountyDown
#SpéirGhorm
#Skyscape

Possible: Ráth Cholpa ‘fort of the steer’, source @placenamesni.bsky.social

Ravara (Ráth Bhearach ‘fort of heifers) is ’referred to as Balliravarragh in 1605. The parish of Dromara is also named after heifers: bearach. No ringfort appears to survive.

a man in a pig costume says what ? ALT: a man in a pig costume says what ?

Despite its appearance, Ahoghill isn't 'a hill for hogs', but a transliteration of Achadh Eochaille ‘field of the yew wood’ (see also Youghal, Cork). However we do have plenty of pig-hills like in Cornamuck (corr na muc), Tullymuck (Tulaigh muc) and Crocknamuck (Cnoc na muc)

9 Sept: Feast Ss Mochta mac Dergain of Druim, Fer Dá Chrích, Dar Erca, Fíalán "the Miraculous", Dímmán & Conall the sage "son of Oengus". "druim"=back, ridge. In c. 2,400 Irish townlands, anglicised drum/drom/drim ( @placenamesni.bsky.social )! 📷Drumlins, Ballymorran, Strangford, Down ©Albert Bridge

Craobh ‘tree, branch’ appears as both ‘creeve’ and ‘crew’. The hill of Craobh Thulcha at Crew, Antrim was the site of two famous battles between the rival peoples of Uí Néill and Ulaid. To emphasise their victory in 1099, the Uí Néill party cut down the sacred tree of the Ulaid.

Had the pleasure today of getting up close and personal with some of John O’Donvan’s handiwork and his edits for the names of Tory Island with an excellent session hosted by the wonderful Crystal Bennes @ria.ie 😍

Writing on the Wall/An Scríbhinn ar an Bhalla Tá an Ghaeilge i bhfad níos feiceálaí anois ar chomharthaí sráidainmneacha ar fud Bhéal Feirste ná mar a bhí riamh. Toradh é seo ar pholasaí nua a thug Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste isteach in 2022...

We are delighted to be partnering with the Andersonstown News with a regular piece on our local place-names. Kicking off with Divis. belfastmedia.com/writing-on-t...

Did you know that the city of Derry was once an island? The area now known as the Bogside was originally underwater. The Foyle flowed round the island, and was first settled as the river diverted. It dried out into marshland: hence the name Bogside.

Writing for the OS memoirs, John O’Donovan comments “what a pit-y that the Irish were so fond of calling places after such pits as the pit of Queen Meve” 😂 @irelandmapped.bsky.social

Rising to 687 metres, Sawel Mountain is the highest peak of the Sperrins, sitting on the border of Counties Derry and Tyrone. The full name of the mountain is Samhail Phite Méabha ‘likeness to Maeve’s vulva’ and is said to be used metaphorically to refer to a hollow on the side of the mountain.

Baile (usually ‘bally’) originally meant ‘place’, later 'a piece of land belonging to an individual or group, but gradually took on wider meanings; land-measure, homestead, home, abode, town, village, place' In medieval texts the word was used to refer to a passage in a book and a part of the body!

Macha ‘pasture’ in Armagh (Ard Mhacha ‘height of Macha’) is the name of a land-goddess who represents sovereignty in the myths of the ancient Ulstermen. Armagh is also where Patrick built his great stone church in 445AD, making Armagh the Ecclesiastical Capital of Ireland.

The super folks at @belfastsociety.org have annihnced this year's lectures. Some absolute stonkers I've marked in to attend, one being @profkdlilley.bsky.social on Oct 8th retracing OS surveyors ( for all of us who live for the OS Memoirs!)
Venue: Old Museum,College Sq N.

Dubhais, consisting of dubh (black) and ais (ridge), is the longstanding Irish name of Divis mountain. However, recent reconsideration by the Placenames team of the pronunciation of Divis in English suggests the slender variant Duibhis is much more likely to be the original local name.

Celebrating 200 years since first mapping survey of Divis Mountain took place A NEW community heritage project has been launched which will shine a light on the rich and fascinating heritage of the Ordnance Survey in Ireland.

An exciting new venture from our friends @profkdlilley.bsky.social and @niscifest.bsky.social on our very own doorstep. Looking forward to the programme of events that they have planned belfastmedia.com/celebrating-...

Notoriously ‘cac’ was also applied as a derogatory nickname to King James II (Séamas an Chaca ‘James of the Excrement’) after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne 💩

Ballyhackamore (Baile an Chacamair ‘townland of the slob land or mud flat’) featuring cac ‘excrement’ refers to soft mud or slob land. Now inland, its western boundary is the Connswater and it may have bordered on part of Belfast Lough before modern land-reclamation schemes.

Thanks Lorraine! Great to see you again :)

Welcome to bluesky to @placenamesni.bsky.social ! xx.

Through their website I learnt the meaning of my townland of 'Ballyminstra' outside Ahoghill in Co. Antrim! Baile Mainistreach means ‘townland of the monastery’! Hugely relevant and pleasing to me, as I obviously love early Irish church history!

We are the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project, based in Irish & Celtic Studies at QUB since 1987. Funded by DfC since 2023, we research the origins and meanings of local names and support councils with Irish forms for signage. Explore our searchable corpus at placenamesni.org.