BEGINNERS' BLAS 5
LOGAINMNEACHA/ PLACENAMES

Lisburn nó Lios na gcearabhach

Over the past number of weeks I have been taking you to some of our major towns and cities in Ulster looking at where exactly they got their names from. Agus ní eisceacht ar bith é an tseachtain seo ach an oiread- you’ll find that this week is no exception.

Now from previous editions of blas na bhfoghlaimeoirí I told you that place-names nó logainmneacha in an awful lot of occasions come from early Irish names for hills, lakes, rivers or from physical human structures and are still very much in use today. An tseachtain seo bheirfidh muid sracfheachaint ar / we'll have a quick glance at Lisburn nó Lios na gcearabhach- which translates as ‘the ring-fort of the gamblers’, which has recently been denoted a city. Lisburn was known in English as Lisnagarvey, which is closer to the Irish, Lios na gCarabhach until the fort of the gamblers.

The word tends to crop up in a lot of placenames nó logainmneacha ‘Lios’ can also mean dwelling house which is usually located by a rampart, but in the case of Lisburn nó the old name Lios na gCearrbhach this particular lios refers to the old fort sites north-east and north-west of the town. We often see this term in many other Ulster placenames- such as Lisnaskea Lios na Scéithe Co Fhear Méanach the fort of the shield. Lios Liath, the grey fort, Co Ard Mhacha, Lisnagelvin Condae Dhoire Lios na nGealbhán- fort of the sparrows….so there are numerous examples of these lios-named sites speckled all around Ulster.

Lisburn was known as the fort of the gamblers as it was believed that local gamblers would gather together secretly in secluded areas of this densely wooded settlement to play cards. The later addition and second part of the name ‘Búirn’ is of uncertain origin, but it has been suggested that it may derive from the Gaidhlig na hAlban or Scottish word for streamlet……… so there you have it Lios na gcearrbhach the fort of the gamblers………

Ar an tseachtain seo chugainn, we’ll be having a look at Omagh, nó an Omáigh Co Thir Eoghain, which means ’the plain’……….go dti sin slan go foill

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