Sliabh in Irish Place-Names Paul Tempan Queen’s University, Belfast SNSBI Autumn Day-Conference, University of Chichester, 25th October 2008 The word sliabh is one of the most common generic elements in Irish hill and mountain names. Along with binn, cnoc, cruach and mullach, I made it the object of study for a Masters dissertation submitted to QUB in 2004. I delivered a paper summarizing the main findings of this dissertation to the Society at the Annual Conference at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra last year, and an article is forthcoming in Ainm. Concerning sliabh, I noted that it is found widely throughout all 4 provinces of Ireland and that its association with peaks of medium altitude, as proposed by Éamonn de hÓir De hÓir 1970, 3., is not borne out by the evidence, since there is no correlation observable between generic element and height in this set of five elements. As a common noun, sliabh is the word most likely to be found in English-Irish dictionary as a translation for ‘mountain’, and it forms the basis for a number of compounds, e.g. sléibhteoir, ‘mountaineer’, sléibhtiúil, ‘mountainous’. However, these simplistic statements disguise the remarkable complexity of the word in terms of its wide range of meanings and problematic etymology. In the dissertation I found that it was semantically and structurally the most complex of the 5 elements studied. This in itself is sufficient reason to examine the element sliabh in Irish place-names in some detail. Furthermore, sliabh has engendered no small amount of debate and controversy in Scottish toponymy, primarily because of a theory concerning early Gaelic settlement in South-West Scotland proposed by John MacQueen and developed by W.F.H. Nicolaisen. “Of all Scottish place-name elements”, according to Simon Taylor, “it is probably the most oft-quoted and overworked by early medievalists of all disciplines”. Taylor 2007, 99. Since this theory relies heavily on an analysis of Irish names in sliabh which has, in my view, rightly been challenged by Taylor, it is no harm, also for the benefit of Scottish place-name studies, to review the available Irish evidence for this element. It is rather dismaying to see Broderick, as recently as 2008, adding another storey to this house of cards by suggesting Manx slieau as a possible pre-Scandinavian element in the place-names of Man on the basis of a very questionable interpretation of the Scottish and Irish evidence (Broderick 2008, 171-76). However, in this paper, I will limit my remarks mainly to the Irish names. Sliabh (gen. sléibhe, pl. sléibhte) is defined in Dinneen’s Irish-English Dictionary as ‘a mountain or mount, a range of mountains; a mountainous district, a heathy upland or plain, a piece of moorland, oft. low-lying; in Anglo-Irish, a piece of a “mountain”, cf. S. an tSiorraidh, Sheriffsmuir (Sc.). Ó Dónaill gives three different meanings: 1) mountain; 2) moor; 3) a euphemistic interjection, as in dar sliabh, ‘by Jove’. The Royal Irish Academy’s Dictionary of the Irish Language adds that it can refer to cotton-grass or bog down in botanical names. Now a masculine noun, sliabh was once neuter (now obsolete as a separate gender), and like other neuter nouns it caused eclipsis or urú of the following word, e.g. Sliabh gCuilinn (Slieve Gullion in Co. Armagh) or Sliab nOchel (a historical form for the Ochils in Perthshire, Scotland). Names which have retained the eclipsis in their anglicised form are generally older than those without, e.g. Slieve Gullion (< Sliabh gCuillinn) can be taken to be an earlier form than Slievekirk (< Sliabh Circe). However, the eclipsis was often pronounced but unmarked in spelling in Old Irish, e.g. OIr. Sliab Cua (pronounced essentially the same as Modern Irish Sliabh gCua). A variation in root vowel quality between ía and é is seen in the declension of sliabh. In Old Irish, the breaking of the Proto-Celtic ē into a diphthong ía is only seen in the nom./acc. sing. slíab, since breaking is conditional on a following neutral or u-quality consonance [= consonant (group)?]. In Modern Irish terms, one may say that this breaking occurs when the long vowel was followed by a Proto-Celtic broad consonant. Since this condition is only fulfilled in the nom./acc. sing. form *slēbos, whereas in the other case forms the root is followed by –es– (gen. sing. *slēbesos, dat. sing. *slēbes, nom./acc. pl. *slēbesa, gen. pl. *slēbeson, dat. pl. *slēbesobis), the original long ē is preserved in all the other case forms (gen. sing. slé(i)be, dat. sing. sléib, nom./acc./gen. pl. slé(i)be, dat. pl. slé(i)bib). Thurneysen 1946, 215, §337. The precise origin of the word sliabh is uncertain. In a recent article entitled “On the Provenance of the Early Irish Topographical Lexicon”, Liam Mac Mathúna sees Old Irish slíab as a thoroughly Celtic and Indo-European element. In a table covering a range of early words for heights, he ticks columns headed “Has Celtic cognates”, “Has close western IE links” and “Has IE root”. I am less certain of the words Celtic and Indo-European credentials. Scottish and Manx Gaelic aside, it has no certain cognates in other languages, although it appears to be cognate with the root of Welsh llwyfan, ‘platform, raised floor, stage’. Walde/Pokorny Walde 1927, 363. and Vendryes Vendryes 1987, S-131. both mention the word in connection with an Indo-European root (s)lei- meaning ‘to slide’, ‘slippery’, but Vendryes sees this link as semantically problematic. This root is found in a number of British river-names, such as the Leven, and these were ably explored recently in a paper given by Alan James recently at the 1st Conference on the Medieval Toponymy of Ireland and Scotland held in Belfast. Walde/Pokorny (1927, 664-65) also gives another root *lei- (in which the e may be either short or long) meaning ‘pour, flow, drop’ and which may either be a separate root or may ultimately have the same origin as the slippery, sliding, slimy root. However, I would argue that its presence in the element sliabh, while thoroughly plausible, is less certain than in the British river-names. The question is two-fold: firstly, whether sliabh is really cognate with the root of Welsh llwyfan, ‘platform, raised floor, stage’; and secondly, whether either of these belong with IE *(s)lei- ‘slip, slide’. I do not have any definite answers at present regarding the etymology. I would merely comment that it seems a little unusual that the Welsh cognate of sliabh should not only be a word which is unproductive in place-names, but also one which refers solely to a man-made feature rather than a feature of the landscape. If sliabh and llwyfan have anything in common with each other semantically, it seems to be a sense of ‘elevation’ rather than ‘slipperiness’. Others have taken a more positive view of these possible relationships, such as MacBain, who links ScG. sliabh both etymologically and semantically with Eng. slip and its derivative slope. MacBain 1911, 327. Thurneysen is more explicit, suggesting that the literal meaning of OIr. slíab was ‘slope’, which he compares with Welsh llyfr, ‘sledge-runner’. Thurneysen 1946, 117, §188. Again, the fact that the cognate with the closest meaning is Germanic rather than Celtic is surprising, but thoroughly possible. Vendryes’ concluding comment for the relevant entry in LEIA is: “en somme, rien de sûr” and I would concur with this. It is not only in Brittonic that cognates for sliabh are elusive. The Proto-Celtic Lexicon available on the University of Wales website reconstructs a Proto-Celtic form *sleibos-, but this root is not attested in Gaulish. I would prefer *slēbos-, as long ē is the regular Proto-Celtic development of IE ei, and this in turn becomes ia in Irish. I have searched in vain in Dauzat, Deslandes and Rostaing’s Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Montagnes et Rivières en France for any French place-names that might preserve a Gaulish cognate. However, I note that Greek λείβηθρον (Leibethron) means ‘wet country or place’ and that this was also a name for a mountain district of Thrace inhabited by Orpheus and whose inhabitants were proverbially dull. Liddell and Scott 1940. The first element of this name has the same root as the verb λείβω, ‘I pour’, from which the English word libation also comes. ‘Wet country’ is one possible meaning for Ir. sliabh and it is noteworthy that the Greek name was also applied to a mountainous area, although this possible connection is rather speculative. I would now like to turn towards the range of meanings which can be discerned in the use of sliabh in Irish place-names: it is possible to distinguish between at least 3 different meanings of the element sliabh in Irish place-names: 1) a mountain or hill. 2) a range of mountains or hills, or an area of upland. 3) a moor or slope of a mountain. The first meaning can be further sub-divided into: 1a) a mountain or hill standing alone (e.g. Sliabh Liag, Slieve League, Co. Donegal) and 1b) a peak forming part of a range (e.g. in Mourne Mountains). 1a) Mountains and Hills standing alone Sliabh Mis, Slemish, AM, 438m. Sliabh Crúibe, Slieve Croob, DN 532m. Sliabh gCallann, Slieve Gallion, DY, 528m. Sliabh Liag, Slieve League, DL, 595m. Sliabh Sneachta, Slieve Snaght, DL (Inishowen), 615m. Sliabh Beatha, Slieve Beagh, FM/MN/TE, 380m. Sliabh an Iarainn, Slieve Anierin, LM, 585m. Sliabh Chairn, Slieve Horn, MO (near Kiltimagh), 258m (unmarked on OS 1:50,000 map). Sliabh Fothart, Forth Mountain, WX, 235m. Sliabh Calláin, Slievecallan, CE, 391m. Sliabh Cairn, Slievecarran, CE, 324m. Sliabh Eilbhe, Slieve Elva, CE, 343m. Sliabh Coimeálta, Keeper Hill or Slievekimalta, TY, 694m. Naturally, whether a mountain is considered to stand on its own or form part of a larger group is a question of degree of isolation, so assigning peaks to 1a) or 1b) is rather a subjective choice. Nevertheless, one can say that about half of the names in this category are from Ulster. One could also add Purple Mountain, Sliabh Corcra, KY, to this group, but it is almost certainly a back-translation from English into Irish by the Ordnance Survey, as the English name was coined by 19th century visitors to the Killarney area. To my knowledge, the word corcra is not used elsewhere in Irish place-names to describe the colour of landscape features. 1b) Peaks forming part of a range Sliabh an Earra, Slieveanorra or Orra Head, AM, 508m. Sliabh na hAnachaine, Slievenahanaghan, AM, 405m. Sliabh an Ime, Butter Mountain, DN, 500m. Sliabh Bearnach, Slieve Bearnagh, DN, 739m. Sliabh Binneáin, Slieve Binnian, DN, 747m. Sliabh Coimhéideach, Slieve Commedagh, DN, 767m. Sliabh Martáin, Slieve Martin, DN. Crotshliabh, Crotlieve Mountain, DN, 347m. Fionnshliabh, Finlieve, DN, 579m. Corrshliabh, Corslieve, MO, 719m. Sliabh Meáin, Slievemaan, WW, 759m. Sliabh an Aird, Slieveanard, TY, 438m. Sliabh Mhacha Ré, Slievanea, KY, 670m. The English name seems to derive from an alternative name, perhaps an unattested *Sliabh an Fhia. Slievenagower, KY, 486m. The Irish name is Slí na gCorr on OS maps, so the English name may be a mistranslation of this. However, another possibility is that the name Slí na gCorr (‘way of the twists’) could properly refer to a winding track which climbs the mountain, rather than the mountain itself. If so, Slievenagower may be a perfectly appropriate anglicisation of a separate name applied to the mountain, probably of an unattested *Sliabh na nGabhar. Slievenalecka, An Starraicín, KY, 456m. The Irish name means ‘the steeple’. The English name appears to derive from an alternative Irish name *Sliabh na Leice. For further examples from the Mourne Mountains, see Ó Mainnín, 1994. This sense occurs most frequently in the Mourne Mountains of Co. Down. The local Irish pronunciation of sliabh is sleoo, similar to the slew names of Galloway and the Manx names in slieau, but this is not reflected in the anglicised versions in slieve- adopted by the OS, as their policy was to standardise all occurrences of the same element as far as possible. In sense 1b it is hardly to be found in Galway or Mayo. Here the word binn (usually anglicised ben) is the most prevalent element in mountain names. Sliabh is also infrequent in Cos. Wicklow and Dublin (except for some probable modern back-translations, which I shall deal with below). Sense 1b is not common in Co. Kerry, but there is a trio of names in sliabh on the Dingle Peninsula, namely Sliabh Mhacha Ré (anglicized form Slievanea), Slievenagower and Slievenalecka, all located just east of the Connor Pass. However, this is disguised by the fact that all three mountains have Irish and anglicised forms of different origin on the OSi Discovery map, and in two of these cases the Irish name given contains a generic element other than sliabh. If one were to take historical forms of hill-names into account, one could add many more peaks to this list, such as †Slievfinlehid, KY. This name was recorded by the Ordnance Survey while mapping Kerry in the 1840s. It appears to derive from an Irish name *Sliabh Finnleithid. Part of the mountain is within the townland of Derreenfinlehid. The mountain was later recorded as Buachaill Finnleithid, a name arising from the rock on its southern slope which is said to have been used as a look-out point by shepherds, or perhaps the rock itself is ‘the shepherd’. This is often shortened to Buachaill, Boughil. In the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains there are several peaks that one could add to this group on the basis that there are Irish forms in sliabh on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 map. These include: Ballineddan Mountain, Sliabh Bhuaile an Fheadáin, WW, mtn., 652m. Possibly a back-translation by the OS. Carriglineen Mountain, Sliabh Charraig Linnín, WW, mtn., 455m. Possible back-translation. Fananierin Mountain, Sliabh Fhán an Iarainn, WW. Possible back-translation. Kilmashoge Mountain, Sliabh Chill Mochióg, D. Possible back-translation. Kirikee Mountain, Sliabh Chíor Mhic Aodha, WW, mtn., 474m. Possible back-translation. However, since the English names of these peaks all contain the word mountain preceded by the name of a settlement or townland, rather than an anglicisation in Slieve-, there is a strong possibility that these are relatively recent back-translations into Irish by the cartographers. 2) Ranges of Mountains or Hills Sliabh Speirín, Sperrin Mountains, TE/DY, 678m. Has roughly the same reference as Sliabh Síos, an obsolete name for the mountains on the northern border of Tyrone. Sliabh Phartraí, Partry Mountains, MO/G, 673m. Sliabh Bána, earlier Sliab Badbgna, Slieve Bawn, RN, 261m. Badbgna was a Fir Bolg chieftain of this area. Bráidshliabh, Braulieve or Brauslieve, SO/RN. Bricshliabh, Bricklieve Mountains, SO, 322m. Corrshliabh, Curlew Mountains, SO/RN, 249m. Sliabh Gamh, Slieve Gamph or Ox Mountains, MO/SO, 545m. Ox Mountains is a mistranslation, based on the assumption that the Irish name is *Sliabh Dhamh rather than Sliabh Gamh. Sliabh Bladhma, Slieve Bloom, OY/LS, 526m. Sliabh Mairge, Slieve Margy or Slieve Margie, LS/KK. Sliabh Eachtaí, Slieve Aughty, G/CE, 376m; Sliabh Eibhlinne, Slieve Felim, L/TY, 541m; Sliabh an Airgid, Silver Mine Mountains, TY, 490m. Sliabh Ara, Arra Mountains, TY, 490m. These hills are named after the Ara Tíre, an early population group whose territory straddled the county boundary of Limerick and Tipperary, S.W. of Nenagh. Sliabh Mis, Slieve Mish, KY, 851m; Sliabh Luachra, Slieve Logher (anglicised form rarely used), KY, 437m; Sliabh Mioscais, Slieve Miskish, C, 488m; Sliabh Riabhach, Ballyhoura Mountains, C/L, 528m. Sliabh an Nóglaigh, Nagles Mountains, C, 428m; Sliabh gCua, Slieve Gua (anglicised form rarely used), WD. Name once applied to the Knockmealdown Mountains, but more recently used of a parish in the northern foothills. This sense of sliabh is found in Munster and Connacht, but is rare in Ulster and Leinster. A number of these names apply to areas that would better be described as upland areas rather than ranges, e.g. Sliabh Mairge, Slieve Margy and Sliabh Luachra. This meaning is found mostly in Munster and in areas bordering on Munster. Again one could add several ranges to this list which have historical forms in sliabh, such as †Slieve Grud or the Galtee Mountains, Sliabh gCrot or na Gaibhlte, L/TY, 919m. 3) Moors or Slopes of Mountains Slievenamona, AM Slieverush, AM Maolshliabh, Moolieve, DN Seanshliabh, Shan Slieve, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slievenabrock, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slievenaglogh, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slievenamaddy, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slieveanowen, DN Slieveban, DN Slievebane, DN Slievedermot, DN Slievegarran, DN (on Slieve Croob) Slievedivena, TE (nr. Slievemore) Sliabh Ard, Slieveard, TE (on Mullaghcarn) Sliabh na mBánóg, Slievenabawnoge, D (nr. Brittas) Sliabh Búrca, Slieveburke, G, tl. A townland in Connemara. Sliabh na Seasca, Slievenashaska, KY, tl. For further examples from the Mourne Mountains, see Micheál Ó Mainnín’s article ‘The Mountain Names of County Down’ in Nomina 17. Like category 1b, this sense occurs most frequently in Ulster, especially in County Down. However, there are examples from other areas, such as the townlands of Sliabh Búrca in Connemara and Sliabh na Seasca on the Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry. Here we can be fairly sure that the sense is one of ‘moor’ or ‘slope of a mountain’ as sliabh is not used for names of peaks or ranges in these areas. Sliabh as a qualifying element Sliabh also occurs in a number of names as a specific element in second position. Several of these are names of townlands or villages. I will give just three names as representative sample. Athea, Áth an tSléibhe, ‘ford of the sliabh’, L, vill. Athea nestles at the bottom of a valley and is surrounded by hills of moderate height. It seems that Áth an tSléibhe is an instance of sliabh in sense 3 as there is no single dominant peak after which the village is likely to be named. In Portrait of Limerick Seoige 1982, 83. the name is interpreted as ‘ford of the high moorland.’ Benlevy, Binn Shléibhe, G, mtn. Given that this mountain stands on its own and is not overlooked by any other major summit, the most likely interpretation of the second element is ‘moor’ or ‘bog’. The interpretation ‘peak of the mountain’, offered by a walker’s guide to Connemara, would be tautological unless one understands mountain in its Hiberno-English sense of ‘rough pasture’ or ‘moorland’. Gortatlea, Gort an tSléibhe, KY, tl. Gortatlea lies between Castleisland and Tralee in the valley of the River Maine, at the foot of the Glanaruddery Mountains. There is a hill reaching 88m in the townland, but since the townland is generally quite low-lying, the sense of sliabh in this name is likely to be ‘moorland’ or ‘bog’. Analysis Sense 1 (mountain, hill, peak in a range) More than half the examples of sliabh in sense 1 are from Ulster. It also occurs in clusters in N. Connacht, Clare and Meath. In sense 1b (peak in a range) it is especially common in Mourne. It is largely absent from Leinster (except Meath, and Dublin/Wicklow, see below), Connemara, Mayo south of Clew Bay, the Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry and West Cork. In some areas there are other terms which dominate mountain nomenclature, such as ‘mullach’ in the Sperrins, ‘binn’ in Connemara/S. Mayo and ‘cruach’ in S. Donegal. In Munster a variety of terms is used alongside sliabh: ‘binn’, ‘cnoc’, ‘cruach’ and ‘mullach’. Most significantly, ‘cnoc’ is used even for the highest mountains in Munster, e.g. Cnoc Bhréanainn ((Mount) Brandon, 952m), Cnoc an Chuillinn (958m), Knockaterriff (697m), Knocknagantee (676m). This contrasts with the usage in Mourne where sliabh is applied to the loftiest peaks, whereas the highest example of ‘cnoc’ is Knockshee (346m). Sense 2 (mountain range, upland area) sliabh in sense 2 is found mainly in Munster, the adjoining part of Leinster and parts of Connacht. It is absent from the rest of Leinster, Connemara and is scarce in Ulster. Other terms for ranges include beanna (plural of binn), e.g. Beanna Beola (Twelve Bens of Connemara) and Beanna Boirche (Mourne Mountains); cruacha, e.g. na Cruach Gorma (Blue Stack Mountains) and na Cruacha Dubha (Macgillycuddy’s Reeks); cnoic, e.g. Cnoic an Stacaigh (Stack’s Mountains). Sléibhte (plural of sliabh) is used for a number of ranges by the Ordnance Survey, e.g. Sléibhte an Chomaraigh (Comeragh Mountains), Sléibhte Dhoire Bheitheach (Derryveagh Mountains), but few of these have any local currency. In early texts sliabh almost always appears in the singular. This even applies to large mountain ranges in Europe such as Sliabh Alpa (the Alps) and Sliabh Piréin (the Pyrenees). This use of the singular form would be consistent with an underlying sense of an area of uncultivated land, rather than a mountain, as the singular number is appropriate regardless of the size of the area and the number of peaks it may include. It therefore seems likely that most of the place-names in sléibhte have been coined relatively recently by mapmakers. They are rarely found outside maps and official documents. This is well illustrated in Sléibhte Chnoc Mhaol Réidh (Mweelrea Mountains). The tautological use of sléibhte with cnoc points very clearly to a back-translation. In fact, local people do not use either element: Maol Réidh is quite adequate to describe both the massif and its summit. An imperative to put a name on every group of hills may be felt by the cartographer, the soldier or the climber, but for the hill-farmer the hills are simply an expanse of land for his stock to graze on, and the summits of the hills are not necessarily of greater importance than any portion of their slopes. This is not intended as a criticism of names created by the Ordnance Survey, as it is perfectly normal that new names should continue to be created for use by various constituencies. I merely wish to emphasise that the names of ranges in sléibhte have a different status from most of those in sliabh, as they tend to be of modern coinage and their usage is limited to certain contexts. One important exception to this tendency to avoid the plural form in place-names is the simplex name Sléibhte, Sleaty (or Sletty) in Co. Laois, known for its early church, but the sense is clearly not ‘mountains’ in this name, owing to Sleaty’s position in the bottom of a major river-valley. Sense 3 (moor, slope of a mountain) Sense 3 is much more common than is generally acknowledged. Many of the settlement names in which sliabh is a qualifier have this meaning. As the word mountain has been widely used by map-makers and writers of guides to render sliabh in all its senses in English, even though inappropriate for sliabh in sense 3, the prevalence of this meaning has been obscured. Maulin Mountain near Kerry Head is barely 200m high and could better be described as a ‘moor’ or a ‘hill’. This is by no means an isolated case. Banna Mountain is a flat coastal townland near Tralee. This is an area of salt-marshes and much of the townland is barely above sea-level. The highest elevation is one of the sand-dunes reaching 24m. Sliabh sense 3 is particularly evident in Ulster, especially Mourne and North Antrim, where many examples are anglicised as slieve rather than translated. However the impression of a strong concentration in East Ulster may be slightly exaggerated by the high level of documentation and research in this area by the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project. The dual use of sliabh in both sense 1 and sense 3 in Mourne is similar to the use of the term ‘fell’ in Northern England, e.g. in the Cross Fell area of the Pennines. Within 12 miles of each other are expanses of moorland named Melmerby Fell, Ousby Fell, Skirwith Fell, Kirkland Fell, Knock Fell, Dufton Fell, Murton Fell, Hilton Fell, Burton Fell, Warcop Fell, Musgrave Fell, Helbeck Fell and Helbeck Low Fell. All are named after villages and hamlets at the S.W. foot of this escarpment. Most of the names do not appear to correspond to hills or mountain tops, if one can judge from their position on the map. The tops in the area have different names: Cross Fell, Great Dun Fell, Little Dun Fell, Mickle Fell, Little Fell, Meldon Hill, Backstone Edge. The moorland names apply to areas of commonage associated with the settlements whose names they bear. In some cases they are up to 5 miles away from the actual village, e.g. Skirwith Fell and Dufton Fell. The dual use of mynydd in Welsh place-names parallels this pattern. [give examples from South Wales] The pattern in Mourne is similar, though the names are not derived from settlements. For instance, Slievebane, Slievedermot, Slieveanowen, Slievefadda, Slievemeen and Slieveban are all areas on the slopes of Slievemartin above Rostrevor. Only Slievemartin itself could be classed as a summit, whereas the other names apply to areas of mountain pasture. Sléibhte (Sleaty, Co. Laois) would seem to belong here too, the name probably referring to a number of divisions of rough pasture. The sense ‘mountain pasture’ or ‘rough pasture’ could be regarded as a distinct fourth sense of sliabh. However, it would be very difficult to distinguish in place-name from sense 3, ‘moor’, ‘slope of a mountain’, since, whilst one reflects a geographical perspecitive and the other an agricultural view, the referent is often essentially the same. This agricultural sense can, however, clearly be seen in a section from the Irish Law Tracts in which land was categorized in 6 grades according to value. There were three arable and three non-arable grades. The 5th grade of land, antrenn is defined as ‘slíab fraích 7 aitenn i suidiu’ (‘heathery mountain and furze there’). This suggests pasture which was suitable for grazing. Only andomain (‘shallow ground’) was of lower value. This is described as ‘duibthír 7 móin’ (‘black land and bog’) and could not be used for grazing. It may have been used for turf or as a source of reeds for thatching and basket making, etc. Kelly 1997, 395. The use of the word sliabh in this context is consistent with its use as a farming term, which may have a bearing on its original meaning, or at least its essential meaning in the earliest stages of Irish. The agricultural sense of sliabh, when taken together with the evidence of Hiberno-English mountain, may reflect an underlying meaning of a tract of land which cannot be profitably cultivated, of which a mountain is just one example. Chronology I would now like to turn to issues of dating. Sliabh is undoubtedly a word of considerable antiquity since place-names containing it are amongst some of the earliest documented in Ireland: Sliabh Mis (Slemish, Co. Antrim) is mentioned in 771 A.D. In this year a battle on the mountain between elements of the Dál nAraide is recorded in The Annals of the Four Masters [i Slébh Mis]. Sliabh gCuilinn (Slieve Gullion, Co. Armagh) is mentioned in 830 A.D. [moninni Sleibi Culinn], as is Sliabh Liag (Slieve League, Co. Donegal) [i Sleibh Liacc]. The antiquity of sliabh seems to be confirmed by its occurrence as a generic element in close compound names with the structure NOUN + NOUN, such as Crotshliabh (Crotlieve Mountain, Co. Down). Tempan, ‘Close compound place-names in Ireland and Scotland’, forthcoming in Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster. Dónall Mac Giolla Easpaig, who has analysed this group in detail, argues that this structure was unproductive by the Early Christian era and may have ceased to yield new names as early as 400 A.D. Mac Giolla Easpaig 1981, 152. The only other mountain-name element found in this structure, to my knowledge, is ais, ‘back, ridge’, occurring just in An Mhucais (Muckish, Co. Donegal). However, it should be noted that none of the attestations for sliabh in this structure are as early as those cited above. A clearer indication of antiquity is given by the qualifying elements with which sliabh is found. In several names sliabh is combined with names of pagan deities, e.g. Sliabh Eibhlinne (from the name of the goddess Ébliu Ó Maolfabhail (eag.) 1990, 248.), with figures from mythology, e.g. Sliabh Bladhma (from the name of a Milesian invader), with early Irish historical figures, e.g. Sliabh Dónairt (named after a saint contemporary with St. Patrick), and early population groups, e.g. Sliabh Ara (in the territory of the Araidh Tíre). See Tempan, ‘Towards a Chronology of Topographical Elements in Irish Place-Names: Some Strategies for Establishing Relative Chronology’, forthcoming, for more on the structures associated with sliabh and the element’s dating. An analysis of names whose first element is sliabh was carried out by Alan Mac an Bhaird while working for the Place-Names Branch of the Ordnance Survey in Dublin during the 1970s. I have been given a copy of this work, but it remains unpublished. In his study of this element, Mac an Bhaird found that, of the 330 names which he collected, 57 were recorded before 1200 A.D. Given the large percentage of Irish mountain names which are not recorded before the making of the six-inch maps by the Ordnance Survey between 1825 and 1841, this figure is remarkably high. Although no equivalent statistics are available for the other 4 most common hill-name elements to enable an accurate comparison, it is beyond doubt that none of them would approach this figure. The relative dating of the various meanings of sliabh is more problematic, but certain observations can be made without fear of controversy. All of the early names in sliabh which I have just cited belong either to sense 1a, ‘a mountain or hill standing alone’, or to sense 2, ‘a range of hills or mountains or an upland area’. Liam Mac Mathúna has drawn attention to the fact that the attestations given in the Dictionary of the Irish Language for the sense ‘moor’, our sense 3, are very late, coming from the later phase of what is termed Early Modern Irish, for example from the late sixteenth century of Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn. Mac Mathúna 1988, 44-45. However, he presents good reasons for supposing that sliabh already had the sense ‘moor, moorland, mountainous land’ in Old and Middle Irish, such as the botanical name cánach slébe, ‘cotton-grass’ or ‘bog down’, where sliabh is better understood as ‘moor’ or ‘bog’ than simply ‘mountain’. It seems to me that it is essential to find this meaning in the early stages of the language if one supports MacBain’s and Thurneysen’s idea of a semantic and etymological link with Eng. slope and a broader Indo-European link with slippery, sliding words in lei- or slei-, for the sense ‘moor’ is closely allied with the sense ‘slope of a mountain’, and the MacBain/Thurneysen view that the original meaning of sliabh is ‘slope’ implies that our sense 3 is the primary meaning, whilst sense 1 and 2 must be secondary developments. This scenario is possible, but there seems to be little in the place-name evidence to support it, since sliabh so clearly has the sense of either ‘mountain’ or ‘mountain range’ in the earliest names. The semantic shift from ‘slope’ to mountain would need to have taken place before the onset of Irish literacy and the recording of the earliest place-names. Furthermore, we have seen that there are certain regions of Ireland, such as Iveragh in Co. Kerry and Connemara in Co. Galway, where sliabh is only found in sense 3, and I suggest it is more economical to see these townland names referring to moorland as part of a later expansion of sliabh in a secondary sense than as early names in an original sense. There is, however, one important name which offers important evidence for the early presence of sliabh in sense 3, and that is Sléibhte (Sleaty, Co. Laois), the site of an important early church. In the Additions appended to Tírechán’s compendium of Patrician churches in the Book of Armagh there is a quasi-legal document which records how the church of Slébte placed itself under the jurisdiction of Armagh (Ó Cróinín 1995, 156). The events recorded in this document took place in the late seventh century and the Book of Armagh itself is dated to the early 9th century. Conclusions To sum up, we have seen that sliabh has at least three meanings in Irish place-names, with further connotations being possible, and that there is some evidence for all three principal senses from the earliest times. The senses ‘a mountain or hill standing alone’ and ‘a range of hills or mountains or an upland area’ are best attested in early names, but we cannot say with certainty that these senses are primary. Furthermore, the use of sliabh in an agricultural context gives some support for an underlying meaning of ‘land which cannot be cultivated’. The element is widespread throughout Ireland, though some of the senses are restricted to particular regions. Regarding the word’s etymology, there are differing views, but an original meaning of ‘slope’ at the Common Celtic stage is possible, as is an etymological link with the English words slip and slope within a wider Indo-European framework. Abbreviations AH Armagh AM Antrim C Cork CE Clare CN Cavan CW Carlow D Dublin DL Donegal DN Down DY Derry FH Fermanagh G Galway KE Kildare KK Kilkenny KY Kerry L Limerick LD Longford LH Louth LM Lietrim LS Laois MH Meath MN Monaghan MO Mayo OY Offaly RN Roscommon SO Sligo TE Tyrone TY Tipperary WD Waterford WH Westmeath WW Wicklow WX Wexford mtn. mountain tl. townland vill. village † archaic/obsolete form or a ‘lost’ name * unattested form Italics are used to denote the Irish form of a name, e.g. Sliabh an Iolair. References Broderick, George. 2008. ‘Pre-Scandinavian Place-Names in the Isle of Man’, in O. J. Padel and David N. Parsons (eds.), A Commodity of Good Names – Essays in Honour of Margaret Gelling, 165-84. Dauzat, Albert, Gaston Deslandes & Charles Rostaing. 1978. Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Rivières et de Montagnes en France (2nd ed.). Paris. de hÓir, Éamonn. 1970-71. ‘Roinnt nótaí ar sliabh, binn, cruach in ainmneacha cnoc.’ Dinnseanchas iv, 1-6. Dinneen, Patrick S. 1927. Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla – Irish-English Dictionary. Dublin. Hogan, Edmund. 1910. Onomasticon Goedelicum, an index, with identifications, to the Gaelic names of places and tribes. Dublin. Kelly, Fergus. 1997. Early Irish Farming. Dublin. Liddell, Henry George & Robert Scott. 1940. A Greek-English lexicon (2nd edn., revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Robert MacKenzie). Oxford. Mac an Bhaird, Alan. ‘Logainmneacha dár Céad Eilimint Sliabh.’ Unpublished notes. Mac Giolla Easpaig, Dónall. 1981. “Noun + Noun Compounds in Irish Placenames,” Etudes Celtiques xviii, 151-63. Mac Mathúna, Liam. 1988. ‘Old Irish heights and word-field potential.’ Studia Hibernica 24 (1984-88), 29-50. –––. 2007. ‘On the provenance of the Early Irish topographical lexicon’, in Mícheál Ó Flatharta (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium of Societas Celtologica Nordica Uppsala Universitet, 33-52. Nicolaisen, W. F. H. 2001 (2nd edn., 1st edn. 1976). Scottish Place-Names. Edinburgh. Ó Mainnín, Mícheál. 1994. “The Mountain Names of County Down”, Nomina 17, 31-53. Ó Maolfabhail, Art (eag.). 1990. Logainmneacha na hÉireann, iml. I, Contae Luimnigh. Baile Átha Cliath. Pokorny, Julius. 1959. Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2 vols., Bern and Stuttgart. Seoige, Mainchin. 1982. Portrait of Limerick. London. Taylor, Simon. 2007. “Sliabh in Scottish Place-Names: its Meaning and Chronology”, Journal of Scottish Name Studies 1, 99-136. Tempan, Paul. 2004. ‘Five common generic elements in Irish hill and mountain names: binn, cnoc, cruach, mullach, sliabh.’ M.A. dissertation presented to Queen’s University, Belfast. Article summarising findings forthcoming in Ainm. –––. Forthcoming. “Close compound place-names in Ireland and Scotland.” To be published in Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster, Islay, 2006. –––. Forthcoming. “Towards a Chronology of Topographical Elements in Irish Place-Names: Some Strategies for Establishing Relative Chronology.” To be published in Proceedings of ICOS XXIII, York University, Toronto, 2008. Thurneysen, Rudolf (transl. D.A. Binchy & O. Bergin). 1946 (original German version: Heidelberg, 1909). A Grammar of Old Irish. Dublin. Vendryes, J. 1959-96. Lexique étymologique de l'irlandais ancien, 7 vols. (3 vols. prepared by E. Bachellery and P.-Y. Lambert, 1 vol. by P.-Y. Lambert), Dublin. Walde, Alois. 1927. Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen, ed. and rev. Julius Pokorny. 3 vols. Berlin and Leipzig. http://www.logainm.ie/ Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann – Placenames Database of Ireland http://www.ucc.ie:8080/cocoon/doi/locus Online version of Hogan’s Onomasticon Goedelicum http://www.pointer-ni.gov.uk Pointer database hosted by OSNI, with place-name data supplied by Northern Ireland Place-Name Project http://www.wales.ac.uk/resources/documents/pcl-moe.pdf Proto-Celtic Lexicon on University of Wales website http://www.dil.ie Electronic version of the Royal Irish Academy’s Dictionary of the Irish Language (Old and Middle Irish). Sliabh in Irish Place-Names Paul Tempan, Queen’s University, Belfast, p.tempan@qub.ac.uk SNSBI Autumn Day-Conference, Chichester, 25th October 2008 Definitions Sliabh (gen. sléibhe, pl. sléibhte), defined in Dinneen’s Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla – Irish-English Dictionary as ‘a mountain or mount, a range of mountains; a mountainous district, a heathy upland or plain, a moor, a piece of moorland, oft. low-lying; in Anglo-Irish, a piece of a “mountain”, cf. S. an tSiorraidh, Sheriffsmuir (Sc.). Ó Dónaill: 1) mountain; 2) moor; 3) a euphemistic interjection, as in dar sliabh, ‘by Jove’. Dictionary of the Irish Language: can also refer to cotton-grass or bog down in botanical names. Grammar and Morphology Old Irish slíab, originally an –s stem neuter noun (causing eclipsis), now masculine, e.g. Sliabh gCuilinn (Slieve Gullion in Co. Armagh), Sliab n-Ochel (a historical form for the Ochils in Perthshire from Tract on the Mothers of Irish Saints, (versions in Book of Ballymote and also Book of Lecan, see Watson 1926, 209n). Plural: OIr. slébe, with dental plural sléibte appearing in Middle Irish. Etymology IEW (Walde-Pokorny, ii, 391) and LEIA (Vendryes, S-131) discuss a possible derivation from an Indo-European root *(s)lei- meaning ‘to slide’, ‘slippery’, but conclude that it is semantically problematic. BUT 1) is sliabh really cognate with root of W. llwyfan, ‘platform, raised floor, stage’? and 2) do either of these belong with IE *(s)lei- ‘slip, slide’? Proto-Celtic *slēbos-, but root not attested in Gaulish. MacBain (1911, 327) links ScG. sliabh both etymologically and semantically with Eng. slip and slope. Thurneysen (1946, 117, §188): OIr. slíab, literally ‘slope’, cf. W. llyfr, ‘sledge-runner’. Meanings attested in place-names At least 3 different meanings of the element sliabh in Irish place-names: a mountain or hill 1a) a mountain or hill standing alone (e.g. Sliabh Liag, Slieve League, Co. Donegal) 1b) a peak forming part of a range (e.g. Sliabh Coimhéideach in Mourne Mountains) 2) a range of mountains or hills (in southern half of Ireland, e.g. Sliabh Bladhma, Slieve Bloom) 3) a moor or slope of a mountain (common in Ulster, e.g. Seanshliabh, Shan Slieve, DN, on Slieve Commedagh). The meaning ‘rough pasture’ or ‘mountain pasture can be inferred from early Irish law texts (Kelly 1997). 1a) Mountains and Hills standing alone Sliabh Mis, Slemish, AM, 438m. Sliabh Crúibe, Slieve Croob, DN 532m. Sliabh gCallann, Slieve Gallion, DY, 528m. Sliabh Liag, Slieve League, DL, 595m. Sliabh Sneachta, Slieve Snaght, DL (Inishowen), 615m. Sliabh Beatha, Slieve Beagh, FM/MN/TE, 380m. Sliabh an Iarainn, Slieve Anierin, LM, 585m. Sliabh Chairn, Slieve Horn, MO (near Kiltimagh), 258m (unmarked on OS 1:50,000 map). Sliabh Fothart, Forth Mountain, WX, 235m. Sliabh Calláin, Slievecallan, CE, 391m. Sliabh Cairn, Slievecarran, CE, 324m. Sliabh Eilbhe, Slieve Elva, CE, 343m. Sliabh Coimeálta, Keeper Hill or Slievekimalta, TY, 694m. 1b) Peaks forming part of a range Sliabh an Earra, Slieveanorra or Orra Head, AM, 508m. Sliabh na hAnachaine, Slievenahanaghan, AM, 405m. Sliabh an Ime, Butter Mountain, DN, 500m. Sliabh Bearnach, Slieve Bearnagh, DN, 739m. Sliabh Binneáin, Slieve Binnian, DN, 747m. Sliabh Coimhéideach, Slieve Commedagh, DN, 767m. Sliabh Martáin, Slieve Martin, DN. Crotshliabh, Crotlieve Mountain, DN, 347m. Fionnshliabh, Finlieve, DN, 579m. Corrshliabh, Corslieve, MO, 719m. Sliabh Meáin, Slievemaan, WW, 759m. Sliabh an Aird, Slieveanard, TY, 438m. Sliabh Mhacha Ré, Slievanea, KY, 670m. The English name seems to derive from an alternative name. Slievenagower, KY, 486m. The Irish name is Slí na gCorr on OS maps, so the anglicized name may either be a mistranslation of this or may derive from *Sliabh na nGabhar. Slievenalecka, An Starraicín, KY, 456m. The Irish name means ‘the steeple’. The anglicised name appears to derive from an alternative Irish name *Sliabh na Leice. For further examples from the Mourne Mountains, see Ó Mainnín, 1994. Historical forms in sliabh, e.g. †Slievfinlehid (OSNB), KY, apparently from *Sliabh Finnleithid. Mountain later later recorded as Buachaill Finnleithid, often shortened to Buachaill, Boughil. 2) Ranges of Mountains or Hills and Upland Areas Sliabh Speirín, Sperrin Mountains, TE/DY, 678m. Has roughly the same reference as Sliabh Síos, an obsolete name for the mountains on the northern border of Tyrone. Sliabh Phartraí, Partry Mountains, MO/G, 673m. Sliabh Bána, earlier Sliab Badbgna, Slieve Bawn, RN, 261m. Badbgna was a Fir Bolg chieftain of this area. Bráidshliabh, Braulieve or Brauslieve, SO/RN. Bricshliabh, Bricklieve Mountains, SO, 322m. Corrshliabh, Curlew Mountains, SO/RN, 249m. Sliabh Gamh, Slieve Gamph or Ox Mountains, MO/SO, 545m. Ox Mountains is a mistranslation, based on the assumption that the Irish name is *Sliabh Dhamh rather than Sliabh Gamh. Sliabh Bladhma, Slieve Bloom, OY/LS, 526m. Sliabh Mairge, Slieve Margy or Slieve Margie, LS/KK. Sliabh Eachtaí, Slieve Aughty, G/CE, 376m; Sliabh Eibhlinne, Slieve Felim, L/TY, 541m; Sliabh an Airgid, Silver Mine Mountains, TY, 490m. Sliabh Ara, Arra Mountains, TY, 490m. These hills are named after the Ara Tíre, an early population group whose territory straddled the county boundary of Limerick and Tipperary, S.W. of Nenagh. Sliabh Mis, Slieve Mish, KY, 851m; Sliabh Luachra, Slieve Logher (anglicised form rarely used), KY, 437m; Sliabh Mioscais, Slieve Miskish, C, 488m; Sliabh Riabhach, Ballyhoura Mountains, C/L, 528m. Sliabh an Nóglaigh, Nagles Mountains, C, 428m; Sliabh gCua, Slieve Gua (anglicised form rarely used), WD. Name once applied to the Knockmealdown Mountains, but now denotes southern foothills. 3) Moors or Slopes of Mountains Slievenamona, AM Slieverush, AM Maolshliabh, Moolieve, DN Seanshliabh, Shan Slieve, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slievenabrock, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slievenaglogh, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slievenamaddy, DN (on Slieve Commedagh). Slieveanowen, DN Slieveban, DN Slievebane, DN Slievedermot, DN Slievegarran, DN (on Slieve Croob) Slievedivena, TE (nr. Slievemore) Sliabh Ard, Slieveard, TE (on Mullaghcarn) Sliabh na mBánóg, Slievenabawnoge, D (nr. Brittas) For further examples from the Mourne Mountains, see Ó Mainnín, 1994. Abbreviations AH: Armagh; AM: Antrim; C: Cork; CE: Clare; CN: Cavan; CW: Carlow; D: Dublin; DL: Donegal; DN: Down; DY: Derry; FH: Fermanagh; G: Galway; KE: Kildare; KK: Kilkenny; KY: Kerry; L: Limerick; LD: Longford; LH: Louth; LM: Leitrim; LS: Laois; MH: Meath; MN: Monaghan; MO: Mayo; OY: Offaly; RN: Roscommon; SO: Sligo; TE: Tyrone; TY: Tipperary; WD: Waterford; WH: Westmeath; WW: Wicklow; WX: Wexford. mtn.: mountain; tl.: townland; † archaic/obsolete form or a ‘lost’ name; * unattested form.