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Triallam timcpeall na Fodhla - LET US WANDER ROUND IRELAND: So wrote the topographer, John O’Dugan, five hundred years ago, when beginning his poetical description of Ireland, and so I address my readers to-day. The journey will be at least a novel one; and to those who are interested in the topography of our country, in the origin of local names, or in the philosophy of language, it may be attended with some instruction and amusement. The materials of this book were collected, and the book itself was written, in the intervals of serious and absorbing duties. The work of collection, arrangement, and composition, was to me a never-failing source of pleasure; it was often interrupted and resumed at long intervals; and [vi] if ever it involved labour, it was really and truly a labour of love.
I might have illustrated various portions of the book by reference to the local etymologies of other countries ; and this was indeed my original intention; but I soon abandoned it, for I found that the materials I had in hands, relating exclusively to my own country, were more than enough for the space at my disposal.
Quotations from other languages I have, all through, translated into English; and I have given in brackets the pronunciation of the principal Irish words, as nearly as could be represented by English letters.
The local nomenclature of most countries of Europe is made up of the languages of various races: that of Great Britain, for instance, is a mixture of Celtic, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman French words, indicating successive invasions, and interesting and valuable for that very reason, as a means of historical research; but often perplexingly interwoven and difficult to unravel. In our island, there was scarcely any admixture of races, till the introduction of an important English element, chiefly within the last three hundred years for, as I have shown (p. 105), the Danish irruptions produced no appreciable effect; and accordingly, our place-names are [vii] mostly of recent introduction. This great name system, begun thousands of years ago by the first wave of population that reached our island, was continued unceasingly from age to age, till it embraced the minutest features of the country in its intricate net-work; and such as it sprang forth from the minds of our ancestors, it exists almost unchanged to this day.
This is the first book ever written on the subject. In this respect I am somewhat in the position of a settler in a new country, who has all the advantages of priority of claim, but who purchases them too dearly perhaps, by the labour and difficulty of tracking his way through the wilderness, and clearing his settlement from primeval forest and tangled underwood.
On the journey I have travelled, false lights glimmered every step of the way, some of which I have pointed out for the direction of future explorers. But I have had the advantage of tw0 safe guides, Dr. John O’Donovan, and the Rev. William Reeves, D.D. : for these two great scho- lars have been specially distinguished, among the honoured labourers in the field of Irish literature, by their success in elucidating the topography of Ireland.
To the Rev. Dr. Reeves I am deeply indebted for his advice and assistance, generously volun- teered to me from the very beginning. He examined my proposed plan of the book in the [viii] first instance, and afterwards, during its progress through the press, read the proof sheets all with an amount of attention and care, which could only be appreciated by an actual inspection of the well annotated pages, abounding with remarks, criticisms, and corrections. How in- valuable this was to me, the reader will ui d ?r stand when he remembers that Dr. Reeves is the highest living authority on the subject of Irish topography.
My friend, Mr. William M. Hennessy, was ever ready to place at my disposal his great knowledge of the Irish language, and of Irish topography. And Mr. O’Longan, of the Royal Irish Academy, kindly lent me some important manuscripts from his private collection, of which I have made use in several parts of the book.
I have to record my thanks to Captain Berdoe A. Wilkinson, R.E., of the Ordnance Survey, for his kindness in procuring permission for me to read the Manuscripts deposited in his office, Phoenix Park. And I should be guilty of great injustice if I failed to acknowledge the uniform courtesy I experienced from Mr. Mooney, Chief Clerk in the same office, and the readiness with which both he and Mr. O’Lawlor facilitated my researches.
I have also to thank the Council of the Royal Irish Academy for granting me permission long before I had the honour of being elected a [ix] member of that learned body to make use of their library, and to consult their precious collection of Manuscripts.
Dublin, July, 1869.
THE following is a list of the principal historical and topographical works on Ireland published wifhin the last twenty years or so, which I have quoted through the book, and from which I have derived a large part of my materials:
The Annals of the Four Masters, translated and edited by John O’Donovan, LL.D., M.R.I.A.; published by Hodges and Smith, Dublin; the noblest historical work on Ireland ever issued by any Irish publisher a book which every man should possess, who wishes to obtain a thorough knowledge of the history, topography, and antiquities of Ireland.
The Book of Rights; published by the Celtic Society; translated and edited by John O’Donovan. Abounding in information on the ancient tribes and territories of Ireland.
The Battle of Moylena: Celt. Soc. Translated and edited by Eugene 0’ Curry, M.B.I.A.
The Battle of Moyrath: Irish Arch. Soc. Trans- lated and edited by John O’Donovan.
The Tribes and Customs of the district of Hy-Many: Irish Arch. Soc. Translated and edited by John O’Donovan.
The Tribes and Customs of the district of Hy- Fiachrach: Irish Arch. Soc. Translated and edited by John O’Donovan (quoted as “Hy-Fiachrach” through this book).
A Description of H-Iar Connaught. By Roderick O’Flaherty: Irish Arch. Soc. Edited by James Ilardiman, M.B.I. A.
The Irish version of the Historia Britonum of Nen- nius: Irish Arch. Soc. Translated and edited by James Henthorn Todd, D.D., M.R I.A.
Archbishop Colton’s Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, 1397: Irish Arch. Soc. Edited by the Uev. William Reeves, D.D., M.R.I.A.
Cambrensis Eversus. By Dr. John Lynch, 1662: Celt. Soc. Translated and edited by the Rev. Matthew Kelly.
The Life of St. Columba. By Adamnan: Irish Arch, and Celt. Soc. Edited by the Rev. William Reeves, D.D., M.B., V.P.R.I.A. This book and the next contain a vast amount of local and his- torical information, drawn from every conceivable source.
Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dro- more. Edited by the Rev. William Keeves, D.D. M.B., M.R.I.A. (Quoted as the “Taxation of 1306,” and “Reeves’ Eccl. Ant.”).
The Topographical Poems of O’Dugan and O’Heeren: Irish Arch, and Celt. Soc. Translated and edited by John O’Donovan.
The Calendar of the O’Clerys; or, the Martyrology of Donegal; Irish Arch, and Celt. Soc. Trans- lated by John O’Donovan. Edited by James Henthorn Todd, D.D., M.R.I.A., F.S.A.: and the Rev. William Beeves, D.D., M.R.I.A. (quoted as “O’C. CaL”).
The Wars of the Gaedhil with the Gaill. Published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. Translated and edited by James Henthorn Todd, D.D., &c. (Quoted as 4< Wars of GG.”)-
The Chronicon Scotorum. Published under the di- rection of the Master of the Rolls. Translated and edited by William M. Hennessy, M.R.I.A.
Cormac’s Glossary; translated by John O’Donovan; edited by Whitley Stokes, LL.D.
Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History; delivered at the Catholic University by Eugene O’Curry, M.R.I.A. Published by James Duffy, Dublin and London.
The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland; comprising an Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland. By George Petrie, R.H.A., V.P.R.I.A.
Among these, I must not omit to mention that most invaluable work to the student of Irish Topography and History, “The General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, the Parishes and Baronies of Ireland - Census 1861” which was ever in my hands during the progress of the book, and without the help of which, I scarcely know how I should have been able to write it.
I have also consulted, and turned to good account, the various publications of the Ossianic Society, which are full of information on the legends, traditions, and fairy mythology of Ireland.
[xii] On the most ancient forms of the various Irish root-words and on the corresponding or cognate words in other languages, I have derived my information chiefly from Professor Pictet’s admirable work, “Les Origines Indo-Européennes, ou les Aryans Primitifs. Zeuss’ masterly work, “Grammatica Celtica,” in which the author quotes in every case from manuscripts of the eighth, or the beginning of the ninth century: Ebel’s Celtic Studies: translated by Wm. K. Sullivan, Ph.D., M.R.I.A.: Irish Glosses; a Mediaeval Tract on Latin Declension, by Whitley Stokes, A.B.; and an Edition with notes of Three Ancient Irish Glossaries by the same accomplished philologist.
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