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Featured themes 01/08/2024

More strands, translations and rocky foreshores
Beach/An Trá (logainm.ie #8347).

Date: 01/08/2024

The theme of strands and beaches in townland names has occupied us for the last while, and as we enter the month of August, which is the first month of autumn in the traditional Irish calendar, we will be hoping to remain on the strand for at least one or even two more weeks should the sun still shine.
With this in mind, we can look at some strands which give rise to English townland names such as Beach/An Trá (logainm.ie #8347) next to Bantry in County Cork. There is a slim chance that this Beach might be a loose translation of feorainn “riverside or shore” (FGB s.v. feorainn), but there is not enough evidence to say for sure. Strandhill/Cnoc na Trá, next to Cong on the Mayo–Galway county border, is certainly an English creation (logainm.ie #34878), whereas Strandsend in County Kerry is without doubt a translation of Ceann Trá “head (i.e., end) of (the) strand” (logainm.ie #22057).
Strandhill as found in the townland name Lecarrow or Strandhill/An Leithcheathrú “the half-quarter (of land)” on the shores of Lough Allen in County Leitrim is another English creation (logainm.ie #30006), as is the more famous name Strandhill in County Sligo (logainm.ie #45373). The official English name of the latter townland is Larass or Strandhill, in which anglicized Larass is derived from the original Irish name, An Leathros “the half-promontory, -headland”. Unlike the Irish name, Eng. Strandhill obviously refers to the hill rising from Strandhill Strand, a well-known beach for tourists and surfers alike.
However, the beach from which the English name Strandhill derives is actually depicted on Ordnance Survey 6ʺ and 25ʺ maps as Trabaun, revealing its original name An Trá Bhán “the white strand” (logainm.ie #1404363). Due to the natural colour of sand found around most of Ireland it should probably come as no surprise that An Trá Bhán “the white strand, beach” is the original name of quite a number of other strands around the country, such as Trabane in County Kerry (logainm.ie #101430; #1395016) and County Donegal (logainm.ie #1397338; #1397339; #1397340); Trabaun in County Kerry (logainm.ie #1416191); and Trawbane in County Sligo (logainm.ie #1418908). Note also that some of the examples of White Strand are not English creations at all, but rather translations from an original Irish An Trá Bhán: see for example White Strand in Counties Donegal (logainm.ie #111479) and Kerry (logainm.ie #1417655).
Finally, it is interesting to note that on the northern end of Trabaun/An Trá Bhán at Strandhill, County Sligo, we find a rocky area named Claddaghnaman depicted on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey 6ʺ map. Although the evidence for this placename is poor, the spelling is almost certainly intended to represent Irish Cladach na mBan “the rocky foreshore of the women”. This is a reminder that trá “strand, beach” is not the only word that refers to the seashore in Irish placenames. Indeed cladach “shore, rocky foreshore” is occasionally found in townland names and quite commonly in minor placenames and even village names, such as the Claddagh/An Cladach (logainm.ie #1418170) on the bank of the River Corrib beside Galway City which gave its name to the famous rings. It is also interesting to note that some of these examples are situated inland, such as Claddagh/An Cladach (logainm.ie #45532) in County Sligo, Clodagh/An Cladach (logainm.ie #13169) in County Cork and Gortaclady/Gort an Chladaigh (logainm.ie #64342) in County Tyrone (see also placenamesni.org s.n. Gortaclady), reminding us that the word cladach clearly had meanings beyond “shore, rocky foreshore” (see Ó Dónaill s.v.; cf. ‘stony shore’ eDIL s.v. 2 cladach (with unlenited d)).

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)