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Ireland’s strangest place names

Have you ever been to Muckanaghederdauhaulia?

By
CONN CORRIGAN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, August 3, 2010, 7:43 AM
Updated Tuesday, August 3, 2010, 7:46 AM

 

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Kilbrittain, County Cork
Kilbrittain, County Cork

To be sure, in terms of bizarre place names, Ireland can’t match its British neighbor across the water: It’s hard to compete with, say, Butt Hole Road, Crapstone, Ugley, East Breast, and Penistone.

But nevertheless, as this list shows, Ireland does at least have a few wacky place names that are guaranteed to raise a few chuckles.

1. Muckanaghederdauhaulia, Co. Galway - the longest place name in Ireland. It’s a small village in the Connemara Gaeltacht between Camus and Carraroe, in County Galway. In Irish, this is Muiceanach idir Dhá Sháile – which literally means “pig-shaped hill between two seas”. It is also thought to be the longest name for a port in the world. The second longest place name in Ireland is Newtownmountkennedy in County Wicklow, at 19 letters.

2. Newtwopothouse, Mallow, Co.Cork - this is a small village 6 km outside of the Mallow, the Cork town. It's famous for growing the best grass in Ireland.

3. Muff, Co. Donegal - the source of endless crude jokes, especially since the installation of a diving board in this small seaside town. Apparently, the name derives from a mispronunciation of the Irish 'Magh', meaning plain.

4. Kilmuckridge, Co. Wexford - a small seaside town in Co. Wexford, just south of another rather morbidly named town, called Gorey.

5. Nobber, Co .Meath - derives from the Irish word “an obair," which means “the work.”

6. Hospital, Co. Limerick - acquired its name from the Knights Hospitaller, a Christian organization in the time of the Crusades. Ironically, the town doesn’t have any medical facilities.

7. Kilbrittain, Co. Cork - you would think that it might be political correct to change this name now that the conflict in Northern Ireland over, but the locals refuse to budge.

8. Cockhill Road, Stamullen, Co. Meath - there are a number of ‘cocks’ in Irish place names: Shercok, a town in Co. Cavan, and Kilcock in Co. Kildare, which is about 40 km of the Dublin suburb, Ballsbridge.

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12 Comments

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Posted by GeorgeDillon on Aug 09, 2010, 04:27 PM EDT
Yes, they're in Penna Dutch country if I remember correctly. I had a really excellent schoofly pie, that was the most enjoyable part of Intercourse for me.
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Posted by peterson on Aug 07, 2010, 06:21 PM EDT
Pennsylvania has a town named Intercourse and another - Bird In Hand !!! The signs are engraved stone to prevent theft !!
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Posted by jacersisityourself on Aug 04, 2010, 03:53 PM EDT
Say JamesMurphy, could you provide the pronounciation of that long Welsh name pls? Irish and Welsh are Celtic languages and sounds should be somewhat similar. As an example, if a Welsh person and an Irishperson (and even a Scots person) counted from 1 to 10 in their native languages, you'd be amazed at the similarity of sounds for the same numbers.
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Posted by mcdolan on Aug 04, 2010, 03:53 PM EDT
If you lived here you wouldn't find them strange at all! And I disagree completely that Graiguenamanagh (greg-na-manna) and Kilmacanogue (kil-mac-an-og)are unpronouncable -- you just need to break up the word by seeing the Irish origins. And I'm Irish-American by the way.
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Posted by JamesMurphy on Aug 04, 2010, 02:05 PM EDT
Ah, but can any place hold a shillelagh to Wales' Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?(Translation: The church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the church of St. Tysilio of the red cave). I strongly doubt it. The local people, an economically-minded lot, opt simply for Llanfair PG.
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Posted by Searlit on Aug 04, 2010, 11:55 AM EDT
You didn't mention that Cill Bhriotain means Church of Brittany. That's why the locals don't want to change it.
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Posted by Whitepark on Aug 04, 2010, 11:32 AM EDT
Regarding Village names in Co Mayo, How about Cloonagapoeg, adjacent to the Carnacon Parrish.
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Posted by mjkelleher on Aug 04, 2010, 10:44 AM EDT
What about Kilkenny, I love mentioning this town to my brother Ken.
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Posted by WoundedKnee on Aug 04, 2010, 09:00 AM EDT
There's nothing odd about the name Ballsbridge. I believe I was told that there used to be a guy called Ball (18th century, probably) who operated a toll across the little river there. The river must have been bigger back in the day as when I saw it was only an arroyo, as they say in Mexico. I got this info from an Irish doorman at Jurys Hotel in Ballsbridge some years ago. If I were to ask a hotel worker in Ireland now I wouldn't get any of that lore and culture, because he'd probably be from Poland or Russia. That's why the Irish are so stupid to give over their hospitality industry to foreigners, I used to love Irish hotels, now I dislike them as soulless cultureless places that might as well be in Warsaw or Lithuania.
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Posted by jacersisityourself on Aug 03, 2010, 07:16 PM EDT
LOLBMHATW -Ha-ha! Who could miss the double-entendres above! Kilmacanogue is easily pronounced in English: ‘Kill-ma-kanug’ (I honestly don’t know what a kanug is? Anybody?) It should be pron “Quill mock an oh’g” in Irish pronunciation. Or, really, “Coill mac an óg” meaning ‘Forest of the Son of the Young’ - more double-entendres allowed for laughs? Maybe ‘Young Sons’ Forest?? (No, not really a laugh in these days of child and sex abuse claims, like the man who wrote to a newspaper under the nom-de-plume of Phil Mc Cafferty). It really means what its ancient Irish meaning of the time means – deeply dark woodland where only brave young men would go to venture against its hidden dark ‘spirits’. Sparsely populated Ireland back then was buried under forests). Now Graiguenamanagh – hmmm - that’s a hard one... A whiskey-laden Scottish-spoken version of “grab you the mon-ay”? It’s pronounced in English ‘Grag-na-mana’. Graigue it’s an ancient Celtic version of ‘Creig’’, meaning Rock. So it might be Rock of Money. When can I start prospecting there? Nah, really: manach means monk, plural ‘manaigh’. So, given mis-spellings, Graiguenamanagh means Rock of the Monks, or simply, Monks’ Rock.
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Posted by pat52rk on Aug 03, 2010, 04:55 PM EDT
and ballsbridge
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Posted by JohnSmythGalway on Aug 03, 2010, 08:39 AM EDT
Can't believe that you forgot to include Hackballscross in co. Louth.
 


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