by Dan Keane
Moyvane
| Ahalahanna: | Átha Leathana The Broad (or Wide) Ford. |
| Aughrim: | Áth Tirim The Dry Ford. All Aughrims are given as ‘The Ridge of the Horses’ , but I am going by the old people I knew as they have been proved right in other cases. |
| Barragougeen: | Barra Gabhagán (pronounced guígán or guagán). It means ‘Top of the Small Cleft’ (Dinneen). Fóidín Gáig is the Irish term for a little sod pressed up by the cleft hoof of an animal. |
| Claar: | Clár A Level Plain. |
| Clounbrane: | Cluain Bréan Meadow of the Evil Odour. The name comes from steeping flax. I have also seen Cluain Braon “Meadow of the Drops”. |
| Clounprohus: | Cluain Pruis (or Pluais) Meadow of the Fox’s Lair. |
| Cuss: | Cos A measurement of land -the grass of five cows. A cos is a quarter of a gníomh. |
| Darrigone: | Dearg Mhóin Red Bog. |
| Dromurhur: | Drom Muig Airthir Ridge of the Eastern Plain (see Murhur). |
| Gleanlea: | Gleann Liath Grey Glen. |
| Glenalappa: | Gleann na Leapacha Glen of the Beds (Quarry Flags). O’Connors of Carrigafoyle had a castle here once. |
| Gortdromosillihy: | Gort Drom na Saileacha Garden of the Ridge of the Sallows. |
| Inchamore: | Inse Mór Large Inch or River Meadow. |
| Kilbaha: | Cill Beithe Church of the Birch. The Church was in the middle of Kilbaha; the churchyard became a burial ground. People who died during the famine were buried there. |
| Leitrim: | Liatroim Grey Ridge. |
| Moher: | Mothar A Ruin, A Thicket, or A Wooded Swamp. |
| Moyvane: | Magh Mheadhoin Middle (or Central) Plain. |
| Murhur: | Muigh Airthir The Eastern Plain. Over the years there was a lot of conjecture about the name. It is west of the middle plain (i.e. Moyvane): apparently they have no connection name-wise. Some figured it was Múr Thoir; The Eastern Rampart or Wall believing it to have some connection with Rattoo, as there was a church where Murhur churchyard is situated. An eighth century document gives the above (Muigh Airthir: The Eastern Plain) so the old people were correct. There is also a reference to a Bishop Faelán who resided in Murhur. |
| Shronegragra: | Srón na Gr´igre Nose of the Cackling (birds). It was once a wooded area. Also in the vicinity is Tobar na Gaortha, The Well of the Thicket. |
| Tubbertoureen: | Tobar Tuirín The Well of the Little Bleaching Field. |
| Craugh: | Currach A Marsh (in Kilbaha). |
| Douglas: | Dubh Ghlaise Black Stream. It flows through Moinvionlach bog and consequently contains bog water. It divides Moyvane and Knockanure from Listowel parish and joins the Galey River at Clounprohus. |
| Galey River: | Abhainn na Gáile River of the Gaille, a tribe who lived along its banks. |
| Garra na hAbhann: | Garrdha na hAbhann Garden of the River. (In Moyvane-Clarr area). |
| Meenaclaar: | Mín an Chláir Smooth Patch of the Level Plain. |
| Newtownsandes: | The name “Newtownsandes” has no Gaelic root. It is named for the Sandes family, landlords and land agents. The Creamery took its name when the name “Newtownsandes” prevailed. It was changed to “Moyvane” in 1939 on the initiative of Fr. Dan O’Sullivan who was Parish Priest at the time. Long before that the name Magh Mheadhoin was on the Post Office. |
| Owenamoy: | Abha na Magh River of the Plain. It crosses the Moyvane-Knockanure road at Clounbrane. |
| Poul: | Poll an Easa Pool of the Waterfall. The Poul Line runs through Poul and links Leitrim and Inchamore. |
| Poulacroe: | Poll na gCró The Hole (or Hollow) of the Cattle. |
| Poulagower: | Poll a’ Ghabhair The Hole ( or Hollow) of the Goats. |
| Pound River: | Abha na Phóna River of the Pound (cattle pound). I don’t know where the pound was. The river rises in Barragougeen, crosses the Moyvane-Tarbert road at Leitrim and crosses the main Listowel-Tarbert road at Ahalahanna and joins the Galey. It is spanned by two bridges, the Pound Bridge and Leitrim Bridge. Between Inchamore and Coil is the canal which separates Moyvane from Ballydonoghue. Gabbett’s Bridge is actually in Ballydonoghue. Gabbett was the builder’s name. It spans a tributary of the Galey. |
| Sean Garra: | Sean Gharrdha Old Garden. (Old garden in Moyvane-Clarr area). |
Knockanure
| Ahavoher: | Áth an Bhóthair The Ford of the Road. The ford was on the Galey river and as far as I know there was some portion on the Moyvane side. The Galey river divides Moyvane and Knockanure and is spanned by Droichead Átha an Bhóthai1; Ahavoher Bridge mistakenly referred to as Gale Bridge. Ahavoher Burying Ground is in Knockanure parish and is likewise mistakenly referred to as Gale Bridge Burying Ground. |
| Banaraha: | Bán a’ Ratha Lealand of the Fort. |
| Beenanaspig: | Binn an Easpaigh Hill or Pinnacle of the Bishop. |
| Binnbrack: | Binn Breac Speckled Hill. |
| Brickeen: | Bricín Little Trout, speckled land on the River Galey. |
| Carrueragh: | Ceathrú Iartharach Western Quarter. |
| Coilagurteen: | Coill na Goirtín Wood of the Little Gardens. |
| Cooleen: | Cúilín Little Comer. |
| Derryvamane: | Doire an Bhearnáin Oak Wood of the Little Gap. |
| Farran: | Fearann Land, Field or a measure of land. |
| Glenruacan: | Gleann Racán Glen of the Revelry, tumult, or, perhaps, fighting. |
| Gortaglanna: | Gort an Ghleanna The Garden of the Glen. |
| Gortdromagowna: | Gort Drom na Gamhna The Field of the Ridge of the Milch Cows. |
| Keylod: | Caol Fhód The Narrow Sod, once known as Ceathrú an tSéin, Quarter of the Storm. O’Connor of Carrigafoyle had a castle there. |
| Kilmeaney: | Cill Mhaonaigh Meaney’s (or, more likely, Mooney’s) Church. Later a burying ground. |
| Kilmorna: | The name Kilmorna sounds Irish. I don’t know where they got the word or why they chose it. It was the occupants of the Great House whose influence was great at the time who put that name on the Post Office and Railway Station, both of which are in Duagh parish. O’Mahoney, when occupying the same Great House, gave it the name Kilmorna. On the road signpost the name appears in Irish as Cill Mhaonaigh, in English as “Kilmorna”. |
| Knockanure: | Cnoc an Iubhair Hill of the Yew is the parish name. There is no townland of this name. |
| Lissaniskea: | Lios an Uisce The Ford of the Water. |
| Trien: | Trian A Third. |
Miscellaneous Names (Knockanure)
| Bambury’s Fort: | This was adjacent to Gortaglanna Cross. I could not trace a name, but it was on Bambury’s land. |
| Banaraha: | See townland above. The Ordnance Survey gives it as part of Lios an Uisce. |
| Bell View: | On the verge of Moinvionlach there was a place referred to as “Bell View”. There were some lovely shrubs and flowers growing there. I could not figure out the name: no bell could be seen, but my information is that it was “Belle Vue” meaning beautiful scenery . |
| Bóithrín na gCorp: | Bóithrín na gCorp The Little Road of the Corpses. It leads up to the churchyard in Farran. |
| Bóthar na gCrann: | Bóthar na gCrann The Road of the Trees. It runs through Kilmeaney Wood. |
| Cloughboula: | Cloch Buala Stony milking ground (in Carrueragh). |
| Douglas: | Dubh Ghlaise Black Stream. Flows through Moinvionlach. Hence “the black stream”. It forms the boundary between Moyvane, Knockanure and Listowel. |
| Feale: | The river Feale flows between Knockanure and Duagh and is said to gave got its name from Fiail, a woman who was drowned in the river. |
| Pools in the Feale: | All pools are given in Duagh place names. There is one down close to Bunagara. |
| Field of the Waves: | Páirc na dTonnta is the Irish, and the name I heard used. It comes from the wavelike rises in the field (in McMahon’s land, Gortaglanna). |
| Glasha an Ruine: | Glaise na Rún Stream of the Secrets. It is said to have got its name from the whispering sound of its water. It is on the Kerry/Limerick boundary between Knockanure and Athea. |
| Goulding’s Fort: | This was in Goulding’s land at the back of the new church. I could not trace a name. It is now levelled . |
| Juggy’s Orchard: | This was a fort in the Kilmeaney Estate. In Irish it would be Abhall Ghoirt Uí Dhiarmada – Jerry’s Orchard. The name came from a man who could not pronounce “Jerry” and used to refer to him as “Juggy”. |
| Kelly’s Leap: | Léim Uí Cheallaigh is the Irish for Kelly’s Leap. There was a law forbidding an Irishman from owning a horse worth more than £5. Kelly got an order to hand up his horse. He saw men coming and knew their mission. He mounted his horse and rode away. He was pursued by the enemy horsemen but only Kelly’s horse leaped the chasm. Kelly lived in Keylod. The chasm was somewhere close to Lios a’ Loin. |
| Lissafarran: | Lios an Fhearainn Fort of the Land. (in Farran on land now owned by the Clancys). |
| Lissaknock: | Lios an Chnoic Fort of the Hill (in Carrueragh: in Sean McMahon’s land). |
| Lissaluin: | Lios a’ Loin Fort of the Bird (in Keylod: in Flynn’s land). |
| Lissaniskea: | See townland: Lios an Uisce, Fort of the Water (in front of Jack Leahy’s old house. The land is now owned by the Clancys). |
| Lissaphona: | Lios an Phóna Fort of the Pound (in Carrueragh: Maurice Stack’s land). |
| Lisscoolimrick: | Lios Cúil lmris Fort at the Comer of Contention (in Carrueragh: in Willie Stack’s land). |
| Lissindonal: | Lios Uí Dhomhnaill O’Donnell’s Little Fort (in Kilmeaney area: near Trien road, in McMahon’s land). |
| Lissnabro: | Lios na Bró Fort of the Quern or Hand Mill. In Gortaglanna in McMahon’s land. |
| Lissnakillawinna: | Lios na Cille Mhaonaigh Fort of the Church of the Meaneys (or Mooneys), near where the burying ground was. |
| Lissrua: | Lios Rua The Red Fort (in Bambury’s land, at Gortaglanna. Partly gone; beside the monument at Gortaglanna where Dalton, Lyons and Walsh were shot by the Black and Tans on May 12, 1921.) |
| Moinvionlach: | Móin Mhíonlaigh Bog of the Grassy Sward. Móin is bog; Míonlach (or Mínleach) means grassy sward or a stretch of grassland in a barren area. Prior to the making of roads, this was an unbroken stretch of bog from the Feale River to the Galey. It was said to have an acre for each day of the year, i.e. 365 acres. There was a story that when the area was wooded, English soldiers were lured in by music and were slaughtered, and their moaning gave the bog its name. Stories can be colourful if not always factual. Death wailing is éagcaoin. |
| Páirc an Cheartan: | Páirc an Cheartan Field of the Forge in Gortdromagowna. A smith once lived there. |
| Poulfearnog: | Poll na bhFearnóg Pool of the Alders. |
| Tailor’s Bridge: | Droichead an Táilliúra is the Irish term. The tailor was a man by the name of Griffin. This was always the local name, though on maps it appears as “Coilagurteen Bridge”. It spans the Douglas River. |
| Tobereendoney: | Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh King of Sunday’s Well, a blessed well in Gortdromagownagh. |
