St. Patrick’s day, Giolla Phádraig, Maolphádraig and the personal name Pádraig Ballypatrick/Baile Phádraig “the (town)land of Pádraig/Patrick” (see logainm.ie #26454)
Date: 16/03/2026
As we approach 17th March and the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations, it may be timely to remind ourselves that the frequent use of Patrick, or its Irish form Pádraig, as a personal name in Ireland is a relatively recent phenomenon. It has already been noted in an earlier discussion of Bríd/Saint Brigit that saints’ names by themselves were generally avoided as personal names among those of Gaelic descent in medieval Ireland. The fashion was to add either maol “devotee, servant (lit. tonsure)” or giolla “servant” to the saint’s name to denote devotion, as in Maolbhríde and Giolla Bhríde, Maolphádraig and Giolla Phádraig, etc. Thus we find placenames containing personal names of this structure, such as the following two examples from Sligo: Rathmulpatrick/Ráth Mhaolphádraig “the ring-fort of Maolphádraig” (#45291) and Carrowgilpatrick/Ceathrú Mhic Giolla Phádraig “quarter of the son of Giolla Phádraig” (#44954) — of course Mac Giolla Phádraig does occur a surname, but this would be unlikely in a Sligo context. On the other hand, where we have placenames of a clearly ecclesiastical nature, such as the relatively common Kilbride/Cill Bhríde “the church of Bríd/Saint Brigit”, Kilpatrick/Cill Phádraig “the church of Pádraig/Saint Patrick” and Toberpatrick/Tobar Pádraig “the well of Pádraig/Saint Patrick”, we can be quite certain that the qualifying personal name refers to none other than the saint. However, when it comes to Patrick and its Irish version Pádraig, things are not quite as straightforward. Long after the arrival of the patron saint in the fifth century, the name Patrick was re-introduced into Ireland as a secular personal name by the Anglo-Normans. Although it would not take hold among the Gaelic Irish, it remained popular among those of Anglo-Norman descent. Within a few generations the vast majority of the colony had been thoroughly gaelicized, and Patrick became Pádraig. Thus where we find the personal name Pádraig in placenames which are not of an ecclesiastical nature, it can reasonably be presumed that the eponym (the person from whom the placename is derived) came from gaelicized Anglo-Norman stock. It should be no surprise that all of the following examples are located in areas heavily colonized by the Anglo-Normans and then subsequently re-gaelicized: Ballypatrick/Baile Phádraig “the town(land) of Pádraig/Patrick” in Kilkenny (#26454) and Tipperary (three examples); Boolypatrick in Cork (#9263) and Belpatrick in Louth (#33531) which both derive from Buaile Phádraig “the boley, cattle-fold of Pádraig/Patrick”; Careysville/Baile Mhic Phádraig “the town(land) of the son of Pádraig/Patrick” (#10073) and Downmacpatrick/Dún Mhic Phádraig “the fort of the son of Pádraig/Patrick” (#10908) in Cork. Somewhat counterintuitively, therefore, such an apparently simple Irish placename as Ballypatrick/Baile Phádraig “the town(land) of Pádraig/Patrick” not only indicates probable Anglo-Norman settlement in the first instance, but also the subsequent re-gaelicization of the area in question.
(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)