in this video you're going to learn how closely connected the irish language is
to place names in ireland because i'm going to share with you a list of towns & villages from
a to z based on their english name and i'm going to explain
how these towns and villages acquired their name in the vast majority of cases you'll see that
their name is basically an anglicization of their original irish name let's begin
so athenry is first up this name comes from the irish baile átha an rí the ford of the kings
bangor is next this comes from the irish word beannchar which means peaked hill
or a large curve or it could also mean cliffs perhaps beannchar. Next is the dublin suburb of cabra
this comes from the irish word cabrach cabrach which means bad or unsuitable land, next is the
beautiful town of dingle in county kerry daingean this means fortress or stronghold daingean
Enniskerry is next in county wicklow áth na sceire that means ford of the rocky place
next we have the dublin suburb of finglas fionn ghlas- which means a bright or a clear stream
next we have gorey in county wexford guaire which means sand bank guaire
moving on to howth in north county dublin this actually comes from the danish word hoved which
means a head but the irish version is Binn Éadair which means the peak or the cliff of Éadair, not
too sure who Éadair was he may be an ancient celtic figure Binn Éadair, next we have inish free which is
an uninhabited island in lough gill county sligo this has been immortalized by WB Yates in his poetry
Inis Fraoigh which means the island of the heather, johnstown is next and you'll find this
all over ireland for example it's in county kilkenny but it's also in county kildare baile eoin
the town of john dedicated to saint john the baptist moving on to knock in county
mayo this is a literal translation from the irish word cnoc which means a hill or a small mountain
next loughrea in county galway baile locha riach which means the town with the grey lake
mayglass is next this is a rural village in south county wexford magh glas
literally means the green plain naas is next in county kildare nás which can mean a fair but
is probably more likely to mean an assembly or a meeting place nás, ovens is next in county cork
uamhanna this means caves and it's in reference to the great limestone caves in this area
Portadown is next in county armagh port an dúnáin- that means the bank or the landing place of
the little fort quilty is next in county clare quilty is a fishing village there
comes after the name coillte which just means woods or woodlands ring is next
this is a small gaeltacht village in county waterford rinn point of land or a headland rinn
spiddal is next in county galway this comes from spidéal and that in turn comes
from ospidéal which is the irish for a hospital so this must have been a place where an important
hospital was a long time ago spidéal, thurlas is next in county tipperary durlas
which means a fort or a stronghold, urlingford is next urlingford is a town in county kilkenny
áth na nurlainnwhich means the ford of the shafts or the place of the slaughter
ventry is next this is a beautiful village in county kerry not too far from dingle
made famous by the legendary kerry footballer and manager Páidí Ó Sé - Fionntrá
which literally means the white strand fionntrá, wateresk is next up in county down
uachtar easc this just means the upper channel and finally we have youghal in
eastern county cork, Eochaill which literally means the yew wood.
so if you found this video useful & you enjoyed it please give it a like & i'll be back very soon with another video
I want to say a special thank you to all my patreon supporters & until next time slán go fóill.