Mountain names in bilingual areas of Co. Mayo

Preface to 2020 edition The Irish language names of features situated in the Gaeltacht, wholly or partially, have now been highlighted in bold type. Irish forms have been added for secondary peaks which do not have a separate name, e.g. Barr Trí gCom (mullach thoir thuaidh) for Baurtregaum NE Top, Cnoc na Ceachan (mullach i gcéin thoir theas) for Caha Far SE Top. More than 80 passes and other similar mountain routes have been added to the list. Numerous minor revisions, corrections and standardisations to ensure consistency of format have been carried out. Preface to 2019 edition A selection of mountain ranges, peninsulas, headlands and islands has now been added to the list, with information on the geographical features themselves and on their names. 171 new entries have been added in this edition, making 1,261 entries in total. The ranges are mainly those which were already mentioned in the 2010 MV list of peaks. 31 existing entries have also been significantly revised and/or expanded. The vast majority of entries in the list still relate to specific peaks, but for other features, the category of the feature has been added in brackets after the name where this is not self-evident, e.g. Slieve Aughty (range), Corraun (peninsula), etc. The title of the list has been changed to “Irish Landscape Names” to reflect the wider range of content. I hope to add a selection of significant water features, rock features, glens and passes in later updates. This document is now available as a pdf at https://mountainviews.ie/resourceitem/names/List2019/IrishLandscapeNames2019.pdf Preface to 2010 edition For a few years now I have had the pleasure of contributing to the Mountain Views website (www.mountainviews.ie ), particularly by compiling place-name data and information from other relevant disciplines on the names of the Irish mountains listed there. This excellent website was created as a resource for Irish hillwalkers by Simon Stewart, who also maintained it with great vision and dedication for about a decade. Over 800 members have contributed articles and photos to the website and helped with its development. It has been so successful that the running of the site and associated walking events has recently been entrusted to a committee of volunteers, though Simon still has a leading role in this. The list of mountains and hills has been expanded several times and it now comprises no less than 1,056 summits. The compilation of this data has been a community effort over a number of years. At an early stage I got involved in compiling name information, mainly from existing place-name surveys. I then also carried out some original research on names of certain peaks, and helped to establish both Irish and English forms for some hills for which information was scarce. Contributors to MV also provided useful information on names, particularly for certain minor peaks, and this was incorporated into the notes on the site. Until now the notes on the names of the summits have only been accessible by visiting the page for each summit separately. However, enquiries and feedback over the last few years strongly suggested that there was sufficient interest to justify having the name information and other relevant data available in a single document to facilitate consultation. This document is now available as a pdf at . The headings in this list are Anglicised Name(s) (or Irish name where not available); Irish Name(s) (where available); Name Origin and Meaning; Notes about peak and name(s); Area; County; Grid Reference; Height (in metres); 1:50,000 map sheet. I should explain that the Irish name comes second only for the practical reason that this column is unfortunately blank in quite a lot of cases, especially for minor hills whose name was only known in English. We have managed to fill in more than a few of the blanks, and continue to work on completing this data. I would be very interested to get any comments about this document. It runs to 111 pages, so I’m sure it is not completely error-free, and I’d be happy for you to report any errors or inconsistencies, either through the site or by emailing me. If you have information on names which currently lack it, that would also be most welcome. It is also worth emphasising, for the benefit of those who are not yet familiar with Mountain Views, that it is much more than just a list of summits with comments and photos. It is more like a Facebook for Irish hillwalkers, but better (attention is focussed on the mountains rather more than on individual walkers). Do take a look. The second annual evening of talks and awards was held recently at Bewleys Hotel near Dublin, and ‘Scavenger’ walks are organised by members on an occasional basis.

Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences August 17-22, 2008, York University, Toronto, Canada, 2009

This paper examines the issues involved in establishing the chronology of elements referring to landscape features. Much work has been done on the Irish topographical lexicon in recent decades, notably by Prof. Liam Mac Mathúna, whose approach is rooted in word-field studies. His research has focussed on common nouns occurring in Old Irish and Middle Irish texts. This paper takes a complementary approach by asking what further light the evidence of place-names can shed on the topographical lexicon. It attempts to establish the outlines of a (largely relative) chronology, using the element sliabh as an example. It then goes on to consider some strategies which can help to refine this dating, using the elements rinn and ros from the word-field ‘promontory’. In particular, the analysis of suffixes and tautological names are discussed as resources which can help to construct a relative chronology.

In addition to the townland names, first systematically recorded by the Ordnance Survey in the mid-nineteenth century, the Cooley Mountains possess a rich stratum of minor place names pertaining to topographic, geological, and archaeological features on the mountains. These minor place names survive in use among the farming communities in Cooley, who use the mountains to pasture animals and to cut turf. Place names are key to understanding how people past and present made meaning in landscape. They are at the heart of local identities and sense of place. They embody a fine-grained knowledge of place gathered by communities who use the mountains. The mountains have been an important place for a long time, and bear the imprint of over five thousand years of human activity, from the great prehistoric cairns of Carnawaddy and Clermont to the relict cultivation ridges and abandoned dwellings of the more recent past. Minor place names constitute a collectively forged mental map of the mountains, identifying landmarks and resources, from grazing grounds to mythically charged places. They indicate the significance of the mountains as grazing lands for cattle, sheep, pigs and geese; for cutting turf; for quarrying stone; for gathering wild plants and hunting animals; as a place of refuge; as a route way; and as a place of gathering and assembly.

Multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research in Landscape Archaeology, 2016

Il Capitale Culturale: Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, 2015

Mountains and high ground are often venerated as special places. It is their enigmatic quality as high places, their prominence and permanence in both the mental and physical landscapes that draw us to them. In the Neolithic/Bronze Age mountain tops in Ireland were frequently used for ritual purposes, often indicated by the presence of various monuments such as passage tombs, cairns as well as enclosures. In a few instances large cluster of circular houses have been recorded in close proximity to these monuments. The two largest clusters, with some 150 houses each are both found on conspicuous, rather inaccessible summits in karst landscapes. This paper presents the methodologies used in recent surveys of these two sites. The role of these seemingly “domestic structures” in highly charged ritual contexts is also discussed. Montagne e rilievi sono spesso venerati come luoghi speciali ed e proprio la loro enigmatica caratteristica di luoghi elevati, la loro prominenza e permanenza nei...

Mountain Views website, 2020

A list of mountain passes and similar features extracted from the gazetteer "Irish Landscape Names". Please consult the full document (also available at Mountain Views, www.mountainviews.ie | More | Resources) for the abbreviations of sources, symbols and conventions adopted. The list was compiled during the month of June 2020 and comprises more than eighty Irish passes and cols, including both vehicular passes and pedestrian saddles.

Bulletin of the Ulster Place-Name Society 4, 1982, 29-38

Ossory Laois Leinster , 2022

Pronunciation of some Kilkenny placenames by native speakers in County Kilkenny, based on a correspondence in Irisleabha rna Gaedhilge, the Gaelic Journal.