Place names in Ireland

Welcome sign at Ballickmoyler, County Laois - the letter i is written dotless as it is in Gaelic script

In the Republic of Ireland, both Irish and English names have equal status and are displayed on road signs. However, in the Gaeltacht, the English/anglicized names have no official status and do not appear on road signs.

During and after the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922, some English names were returned to their Irish form. In most cases, the Irish Gaelic name became the only official one (for example Kingstown became Dún Laoghaire in both languages). In other cases, the English name was changed for another (for example King's County became County Offaly, which comes from the Irish Uíbh Fhailí). Although most of the changes were accepted by the wider public, some did not catch on and were eventually undone. The Local Government Act 1946 allowed locals to petition for a name change.

The following places were officially renamed:

• Bagenalstown → Muine Bheag (1932)
• Charleville → Ráth Luirc (1920s) → Charleville (1989)
• County Donegal → County Tirconaill (1922)[20] → County Donegal (1927)[21]
• Edgeworthstown → Mostrim (1935)[22] → Edgeworthstown (1974)
• Kells → Ceannanus Mór (1929)[23] → Kells (1993)[24]
• King's County → County Offaly (1922)
• Kingstown → Dún Laoghaire (1922)
• Kingwilliamstown → Ballydesmond (1951)[25]
• Maryborough → Port Laoise (1929)
• Navan → An Uaimh (1922)[26] → Navan (1971)[27]
• Newbridge → Droichead Nua (1930s)
• Newtownbarry → Bunclody (1950)[28]
• Parsonstown → Birr (1890s)
• Philipstown → Daingean (1922)
• Queen's County → County Laois (1922)
• Queenstown → Cobh (1922)

Pursuant to the Official Languages Act, 2003 and the advice of the Coimisiún Logainmneacha (Place-Names Commission), the Placenames (Centres of Population and Districts) Order 2005 was issued, listing the equivalent in the Irish language of place-names specified in the Order with its English form. The Irish words then had the same meaning and same force and effect as the place-name. This order lists a little fewer than 2,000 place-names, many of which were changed from the Irish form used since independence, e.g. Bray went from Brí Chualann to Bré and Naas changed from Nás na Rí to An Nás.

Beyond the Gaeltacht, only English placenames were officially recognised (pre-2004). But further placenames orders have been passed to enable both the English and Irish placenames to be used. An example of present inconsistency is the village of Straffan, designated variously as An Srafáin, An Cluainíní and Teach Strafáin. In the 1830s John O'Donovan listed it as "Srufáin".[29] The nearby village of Kilteel was "Cill tSíle" for centuries, meaning "The church of Saint Síle", but since 2000 it has been shown as "Cill Chéile", which does not carry the same meaning.

Irish vehicle registration plates are bilingual: the county of registration is shown in Irish above the plate number as a kind of surtitle, and is encoded from English within the plate number. For example, a Dublin plate is subtitled Baile Átha Cliath and the plate number includes D.

Welcome sign at Newry - in Modern Irish the primary meaning of cathair is "city"

In Northern Ireland, the new recognition of the status of the Irish language does not extend to bilingual roadsigns — it is down to individual district councils to decide to place them. Some towns in Fermanagh, Strabane and Derry, Omagh, Armagh, Moyle, Magherafelt, Newry and Mourne and Cookstown council areas display bilingual names on some welcome signs (e.g. "OMAGH" An Ómaigh).

Irish-language street signs may be erected at the request of locals, provided there is enough support.[30][31]

There are four provinces in Ireland, three of which derive their English name from a mixture of their ancient Irish provincial name with the Old Norse term for land/territory/place; staðr.[32][33]

• Connacht, sometimes anglicised as Connaught, is derived from the Connachta dynasty, which means "the descendants of Conn". In modern Irish it is called Connachta or Cúige Chonnacht.
• Munster, derived from Irish: Mumhan + Old Norse staðr, meaning "land of Mumha". In modern Irish it is called an Mhumhain or Cúige Mumhan.
• Leinster, derived from Irish: Laighin + Old Norse staðr, meaning "land of the Laighin". In modern Irish it is called Laighin or Cúige Laighean.
• Ulster, derived from Irish: Ulaidh + Old Norse staðr, meaning "land of the Ulaidh". In modern Irish it is called Ulaidh or Cúige Uladh.

In Irish the provinces are known as cúigí, the singular of which is cúige. The word cúige originally meant "a fifth", as in one-fifth part of Ireland. This is because Meath, as seat of the High King of Ireland, was once a province in its own right, incorporating modern counties Meath, Westmeath and parts of surrounding counties. Meath was later absorbed into Leinster.

In Irish, the counties are known as contaetha, the singular of which is contae. Irish versions of county names only have official status in the Republic of Ireland.

Most of the counties were named after a town in that county (commonly referred to as a county town); usually an administrative centre. Some of these towns, such as Louth, have declined into small villages or have lost their county town status to other towns.

Counties named after their present or former county towns: Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow. The county of Londonderry is named after the city of the same name, though its county town was Coleraine until 1972 when counties were abolished as administrative units in Northern Ireland and replaced with unitary councils.

Some counties derive their names from ancient Irish túatha, kingdoms or people:

• Fermanagh, which is derived from Fear Manach meaning "men of Manach".
• Kerry, which is derived from Ciarraí, which is itself derived from Ciarraighe, meaning "people of Ciar".
• Laois, which is derived from Loígis, the name of a túath.
• Meath, which is derived from Mide, the name of a former province.
• Offaly, which is derived from Uí Failghe, the name of a túath.
• Tyrone, which is derived from Tír Eógain meaning "Eógan's land".
• Westmeath, which was formerly part of Meath until 1542, is likewise derived from Mide.

Some counties derive their names from geographic descriptions

In 1994, County Dublin was abolished as an administrative unit and replaced with three new administrative counties:

• Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, which is named after the town of Dún Laoghaire (meaning "Laoghaire's stronghold"); and the former barony of Rathdown (Ráth an Dúin in Irish, meaning "ringfort of the stronghold").
• Fingal, which is derived from the Irish Fine Gall, meaning "foreign tribe", referring to the Norse who invaded and settled the area.
• South Dublin, which is named after Dublin.

Many streets and roads in Ireland derive their name from that of the townland, settlement or parish it goes through or heads towards, many of which are of Irish origin. Other streets and roads derive their names from local buildings, manufacturies or people etc.

In Irish, a street is sráid, a road is bóthar (meaning "cow path"), a lane is lána, and an avenue is ascaill. A linear village is called a sráidbhaile ("[one]-street settlement")—this has been anglicised as Stradbally, which is the name of a number of villages on the island. Whilst Irish forms only have official status in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland district councils are allowed to erect bilingual roadsigns.

Origins of some streets and roads in Belfast, Northern Ireland[34]

• Antrim Road, takes its name from the settlement it leads to, Antrim town.
• Ballymurphy Road, derives its name from the townland of Ballymurphy, which itself is derived from the Irish: Baile O Muircháin, meaning "homestead of O'Murphy".[35]
• Crumlin Road takes its name from the settlement the road leads to, Crumlin.
• Donegall Square and Donegall Pass, both named after Lord Donegall, who opened six wide avenues also known as passes.
• Falls Road was originally called the Pound, however, it derives its present name from an older Irish name Tuath-na-bhfal, meaning "district of the falls" or "hedges".
• Hercules Street is named after Sir Hercules Langford.
• Mountpottinger and Pottinger's Lane both derive from the famous Pottinger family.
• Mustard Street is named after a mustard works.
• Old Forge and New Forge both derive their names from forges for smelting iron.
• Shankill Road derives its name from Irish: Seanchill meaning "old church", which is also the name of the local parish.

Origins of some streets and roads in Dublin, Republic of Ireland[36]

• O'Connell Street, formerly known as Sackville Street, it was renamed after Daniel O'Connell. Its Irish name is Sráid Uí Chonaill.
• Grafton Street, developed by the Dawson family, it is named after the Earls of Grafton who owned land in the area. Its Irish name is Sráid Grafton.
• Pearse Street, originally called Moss Lane, then Great Brunswick Street, it was renamed after Pádraig Pearse. Its Irish name is Sráid an Phiarsaigh
• St. James's Street takes its name from a Holy Well in the vicinity, dedicated to St James.

For a list of words relating to Place names in Ireland, see the Ireland category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Placenames Database of Ireland, Placenames Branch, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
• PlacenamesNI.org, Northern Ireland Place-name Project
• Placenames in the North of Ireland, Geography in Action, website for the Northern Ireland Geography Curriculum
• The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places Vol.1 (1912 ed.) Vol.2 (1922 ed.) Vol.3 (1922 ed.) by P.W. Joyce, on the Internet Archive: