Book Two Chapter Seven Some Irish Names and Their
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BOOK TWO CHAPTER SEVEN SOME IRISH NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS KILLAUN - This area and the lane foat carries this name are a part of the Barony of Eglish. The name is from foe Irish Coillea'n, meaning "underwood" and is intended to refer to a place of foe hazel or holly trees. It is sometimes spelled as Cullaun or Cullawn. It is about midway between Birre and Kinnity. KILLYON - this is a townland which was originally described as being of only sixty acres, and located at foe intersection of roads, a mile or so east of Killaun. It is marked principally by a pub, currently owned by Kavanagh, formerly by Corrigan, and before that, for many, many years by Grogan. Recent information had indicated that this townland may be greater in size than previously noted. The name is from the church of St. Liadhan (Leean) of Liedania, the mother of St. Ciaran of Ossory, not foe mother of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois. The church must have been located here, but I don't know its site. RATH - is a townland or parish located to the north of Kinnity and Birre. A cemetery is located at foe northeast corner of an intersection of roads there, on foe road that leads northerly out of the town of Birre.. In it, my father's brother, Joseph Hartnett lies with his wife, Josephine (Ryan) Hartnett and one of their sons, Kieran Hartnett. The name (Rath) identifies it as a place where an ancient settlement or fortification was located and, perhaps, held sacred by the people as a place where The Little People may have lived. BIRRE - is a market town and is foe largest one in the southern part of County Offaly. It means "the place of the waters". In the earliest of Christian times in Ireland, an important synod (ecclesiastic meeting) was held here to make decisions relating to a discrepancy between dates for the celebration of Easter and other important issues. A stone in Birr marks the meeting place of the Fenians, Ireland's standing army of the 3rd Century A.D. At one end on the main street, a column formerly held a statue of foe Duke of Cumberland, but it was destroyed by foe I.R.A. when Ireland's Twenty Six counties obtained their freedom. At the other end of the street, a small roundabout (traffic circle) contains a monument to the Manchester Martyrs who died for Ireland in 1867. One of them was Allan Larkin, a relative of Aunt Josephine (Ryan) Hartnett. The town name was changed by the English to Parsontown, named after foe English undertakers who were given ownership of it. The name was changed back to Birre by the Irish after independence was granted in the early 1920's. It has a rich and elegant history, and was the place of Saint Brendan of Birre, who left behind a famous book. He is not the same person as Saint Brendan the Navigator. Birre Castle - the name is from Biorra, an ancient abbey founded by Saint Brendan. There was a great battle there in the 3rd Century between Cormac, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles and foe people of Munster. That battle probably involved Eoghan Mor, who is the son of Neide, the progenitor of the Hartnett clan. The district was originally part of the area known as Ely O'Carroll. The castle was foe seat of the O'Carroll chieftains. KINNITTY - (See also below) This is a small farm village located at the base of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Its meaning comes from Cean Eitigh (or Etain) which means the head of Etech or Etain which was buried there. I don't know where the burial place of Etech's head is located. In the church at Kinnitty, after Owen Hartnett, my father, had attended a "Harvest Home dance, and had gone to attend an early Sunday morning Mass at Saint Joseph's Church in Kinnitty, that the Church was surrounded by Crown forces, and all of the young men were taken away in lorries for questioning to foe 3,000 man barracks in Crinkle, which is a part of Birre. It was done in foe usual manner, by torturing the young men to attempt to get them to provide information that might be useful in their domination of the area. Owen's father was notified of the happening, and he went to the barracks in Birre, and interceded to obtain the release of his son. Near foe town of Kinnitty, on foe roadway that leads northeasterly from the center of foe town, foe traveler will encounter the Walk River at the low point in foe road. Along foe south side of the river, and set back some hundreds of yards east from the roadway, Drumcullen Cemetery is located. A little further along the roadway, and off to the right, the shape of the Fairy Mound is an obvious landmark. If you proceeded a little further, a right turn will take you toward Knockbarron, and the second drive to the left should lead you to foe ruins of the old stone house, known locally as "Bernard's Castle", which is where foe Denis Hartnett lived. There is another Bernard's Castle of great magnificence, only a few miles away. Information about foe Kinnitty name is from a gloss in foe Felire of Aengus, which says that the head of Etech, an Irish princess, is buried there. She is written about in the oldest of the Irish writings. See The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans - Wentz, Pages 374 to 375. In the early years of Ireland, it was traditional for every subject of royalty to pay their respect by placing a stone at the site of the grave of each Irish princess, as they were all greatly revered. It is not known if that type of structure became the base for the "mott and bailey" that was constructed as a fortification near the town of Kinnitty, by the Anglo Normans to oversee, and to control the native Irish population. Now, we refer to the mott and bailey as the Fairy Mound, and we know that the fairies arise out of it at least once each year at Halloween, to met with the ghosts of Drumcullen Cemetery half way between foe two places to dance, and they frolic all night long. DRUMCULLEN -1 am not familiar with the precise meaning of this word, but it probably means the hill or ridge (drumlin) of the holly trees. It is foe area just outside of and northerly from Kinnitty where Saint John's Cemetery is located. It is famous in Irish history for a meeting that took place there with Saint Barron, in very ancient times. Also, the cemetery is the oldest one in Ireland. GRIFFIN - Gerald Griffin was born in Limerick in 1803. Griffin is an Irish name from the barony of Inchiquin, and from the northern and western parts of County Clare. There are members of the family found in Kerry and Limerick, too. Griffin is O'Griobhtha, pronounced as O'Greefa, and it has been Anglicized to Griffey, Griffith and Griffin. Gerald Griffin. I believe, wrote for "The Nation", which was Thomas Davis' nationalistic paper of the 1850's. Some of Gerald Griffin's writings are famous. KNOCKBARRON - The first part of the word, "knock" means "a hill". The second part obviously refers to foe famous visit to foe area of Saint Barron, which was probably in the 4th or 5th century. A stone outbuilding of Bernard's Castle at the edge of the town forest at Knockbarron is where my grandfather obtained a two life lease on a stone house foat remained occupied by family members until my uncle Kieran Hartnett passed away. Then, it reverted back to being a part of the town forest. SHINRONE - Suidhe-an-roin (Sheenrone) - Information from the Annals of the Four Masters, considered to be the best source of historical information available in Ireland, says foat it was the seat of foe ron, i.e. literally a seal, but figuratively, a hirsute or hairy man. It is where my grandfather, Denis Hartnett married his wife, Anne Corcoran. KIERAN - There were two Kierans who were very famous. They were: - St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois - Clonmacnois is now a collection of ruins dating to just after the time of Saint Patrick and located in County Offaly. In order of importance of Irish saints, this Saint Kieran is third, after Patrick and Columbkille (Columba). He founded an abbey from which thousands of Irish priests went forth to preach the Catholic faith. - Seirkieran is named after another Saint Kieran who is supposed to have been in Ireland before Saint Patrick arrived. He is also very famous. SLIEVE BLOOM MOUNTAINS - Sliabh-Bladhma (Slieve Blawma) - from the Annals of the Four Masters, it was the mountain of Bladh (Blaw), who was one of foe Milesian heroes. The Milesians were Celts that came from foe area northerly from Greece across Italy to Spain, where after about three hundred years, they invaded Ireland and defeated the Tuatha de Dananns, another Celtic group, who had ruled there for a hundred years. The Hartnetts line is directly related to Heber of the Milesians. A LITLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND Ireland, at its greatest, measures 302 miles by 304 miles. You can relate to it better by noting that it is about the size of the state of Maine. Northern Ireland is about the size of Rhode Island. For vacationing it averages 58 - 59 degrees in summer which is July and August and 40-41 degrees in February.