I came across a promotional brochure when I was staying in Sligo (The place names of Bréifne) in which Irish townlands were very aptly described
Almost all place names throughout Ireland have their origin in the Gaelic language. A soft rich and descriptive language, Gaelic has its roots in the long process of interaction between Ireland, England and north-western Europe. The language was in widespread use throughout Ireland from the fifth century and it is from this time that many of Bréifne's place names originate.
The Gaelic language provided a highly descriptive set of place names and this is clearly reflected in Braine. Descriptions of religious sites battle sites, flora and fauna folklore beliefs, geographic features, history and legend are all frequently seen in the names of towns and villages. For instance Art Cabban (Cavan) means The Hollow and is suggestive of the drumlin country of east Bréifne: Inis Ceithleann (Enniskillen) means Ceithlen's Island - Ceithleann was the wife of Bator of the Mighty Blows, a local chieftain. Cnoc na Riabh (Knocknarea) is the Gaelic description of The Hill of Stripes - probably a reference to fissures on the side of the mountain. The anglicised names in common use in Ireland nowadays are mostly derived from a combination of direct translations of the Gaelic description. Some names are very patchy translations, some have no direct connection at all and small numbers of others can trace a connection to Viking influences and Norman-French influences.
Understanding the place names in Bréifne opens up a whole new way of appreciating the landscape. If you go beyond the anglicised version to the original Gaelic description a greater sense of place is suggested. In place names of Gaelic origin the descriptions of natural features are the most common. These include sliabh or mountain (for example: Sliabh Da Chon - Mountain of the Two Dogs outside Fermanagh), Cnoc or hill (for example Cnoc an Bhiocaire Knockvicar in Roscommon), gleans or glen (for example Gleans Ghaibhle - Glen of the Fork, Glangevlin in Cavan) and loch or lake (for example loch Mac nEan - lake of the Sons of Ean in Cavan-Fermanagh)
Others signify ownership or act as commemoratives. These include elements such as habitations or forts, ecclesiastical buildings, monuments or tombs, villages or towns, fords, weirs or bridges, roads, mills and kilns and so on. Then there are a number of place names linked with historical or legendary origins such as events, people, early saints, legends, fairies, customs, occupations, and agriculture and land divisions. While no apparent Viking place names survive in Bréifne, Milltown, Florencecourt, Riverstown, Rockingham, Hazelwood and Manorhamilton are all examples of English names, probably introduced by the Anglo-Norman landed gentry.
The largest category of Gaelic place names belongs to the 62,205 Irish townland names. The unique Irish concept of a townland originated in Early Mediaeval Ireland (c.500-1200 AD) and represented a basic landholding. Each county and parish was divided into townlands (called tates or balliboes in parts of Ulster), a pattern surviving to this day. Each townland averages 350 acres - an area large enough to contain a number of farms whose owners were kin related and who traditionally co-operated to work the land.
Between 1834 and 1841 the Ordnance Survey, mainly through the work of the great linguistic scholar and historian, John 0'Donovan. standardised and researched administrative place names and formed the anglicised versions we see most frequently used today. Shortly after the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921, the Gaelic language was encouraged and places revived their Gaelic names today most signposts throughout Bréifne display both the anglicised name of a town and its original Gaelic name.
In a December, 2011 edition of the Fermanagh Herald, it was reported that the Council proposed moves to replace the old 'townland only' address system.
Fermanagh was the only county in Northern Ireland to have maintained the townland use in addresses in preference to road names but there is a proposal to fall in line with the rest of Northern Ireland.
The naming of roads was initially refused by Fermanagh District Council, resulting in a solution (unsatisfactory to some) of a postcode being assigned to each townland.) but now the Council is proposing to introduce a new postal address system using new road names and numbers, similar to the rest of the Province. Those against this proposal think that when road names supercede townlands, it will lead to the townland names being forgotten about. It could lead to confusion when duplicated townland names and people with the same name live within the same area. I for one would locate a person by their road name and but not never forget to include the townland in the address if at all possible. One interesting thing to note is that Ordinance Survey, in their newer 1:50,000 scale maps of Northern Ireland, include a chart showing townland boundaries on the reverse side.
In the Irish Republic traditionalists believe that postcodes would undermine the use of historic townland names. (Royal Mail in the UK approached the problem of postcodes in rural Northern Ireland by naming previously unnamed roads after the townlands through which they passed, and assigning numbers to houses.
Those who would be in favour of an Irish postcode system in the Irish Republic point out that many people living in rural (and even some urban) areas share the same postal address, particularly confusing when there are people with the same surname living at different addresses within the same rural townland. This also creates problems for people unfamiliar to an area trying to find an address such as delivery drivers, the emergency services, and visitors (especially since in such areas it is rare for roads to be named or houses to be numbered, and there is limited signage indicating where townlands begin and end).
A legacy of the Plantation - the rate of immigration into Ulster during the first 20 years of the Plantation increased gradually. Many native Irish still remained on the estates and in 1621 it was decided that 25 per cent of them the undertakers' estates could be set aside for Irish tenants, The existence of townlands, such as Shantavny Irish and Shantavny Scotch in the uplands near Ballygawley, Scotchtown and Irishtown in the Owenkillew Valley near Gortin, Lisnaragh Irish and Lisnaragh Scotch to the north of Plumbridge all testify to this segregation.
The Northern Ireland Place-Name project - http://www.placenamesni.org/index.php
On a local instance - Shantavny Irish - Seantamhach "old field", divided in half AD 1666. The descriptions "Irish/Scotch" or "Upper/ Lower" were added later (18th-century) to distinguish the halves by name.
More on Irish townlands here - http://www.proni.gov.uk/local_history_series_-_01_-_the_townland.pdf