Field Names?

AntrimGlens

I was walking the mountain with the nephew on saturday and i was telling him all the names of our fields and neighbours fields that we could see and he wanted to know why when i worked in farms in England we used field numbers and not names like we do at home. just wondering does everyone here have field names or when you have bought land do you give it your own name or call it what is was or give it some other reference point.
We had a field when i was little before we made it and a few others into a decent field which was called Reids Pairc but as a child i called it red spark.

pakalasa

All our fields would have names. Some would still have gaelic names, if not a little changed by now. Even talking to a neighbour there recently and he was surprised I knew the name of some of his fields. I suppose years ago, a lot more people worked in the fields together and everyone in the locality knew their names.

iverjohnston

Probably a paper to be written on the importance of Field Names as a historical record. We have a 3 cornered one called "The gusset"!
And only a few weeks ago I finally discovered why "Wood's Meadow" was thus called. After a family who had a cottage there back in the 20's.

munkus

Very important part of the history of any farm. All of ours have names too.

towzer2010

Ours have names and the origins usually date back generations. Quite a few old gaelic names as well.

Because a lot of farms were fragmented round here some of the fields are called after the previous owner.

Some are descriptive as well. A neighbour has a wet boggy field that was always called "the donkeys bottoms"

bogman_bass

there was a big project in Meath last year to record all the feild names. I dont think its been published yet though

dzer2

All the fields here have names some from the people who lived in them and others named by the nature of the field. Every farm around here has a field called the well field and the mares field. A lot of field in the farms have the same name the quarry field is very normal as the stone for all the buildings on the farm was quarried in these fields. My grand father done a lot of research and the fields that have names of people he tracked down when they were here and where they went. Its just bad luck that the 4 of them went to better land during the land league and re distribution of the 1870s onwards.

ford2600

Landleague(no idea), crossfield, wellfield,(obvious) orchard (3 types of wild fruit trees)
To name a few

bbam

I'm not sure if it's a uniquely Irish thing but most farms name their fields.

From the haggard to the rock field, the wee round hill to the big round hill. Some were passed down from the previous owner. I love the notion of named fields and I'm sure it's a reflection of the personal affinity many of us feel to our land.

Bizzum

bogman_bass wrote: »

there was a big project in Meath last year to record all the feild names. I dont think its been published yet though

http://www.meathfieldnames.com/index.php/common-field-names

Here's an interesting link from the Meath Field Name Project.

jp6470

there is three old stone houses in different parts of the farm and some fields get there names from the family's who lived there many years ago.

kevthegaff

theres a field near us let say had the familys name and a low lying area wet ground, it was called "ryans bottoms" had to be the funniest one ive heard:D

kowtow

bbam wrote: »

I'm not sure if it's a uniquely Irish thing but most farms name their fields.

It's common in England as well, at least in my experience - although to me there is something about Irish field names, starting with the ubiquitous Haggard, which makes them seem a more immediate part of life.

delaval

All ditches removed yers ago and all numbered, but all old nmes on a framed map few are Gay man's, Mass path, Hong Kong, Canada, Pairc na seoige, Ace of Hearts, Bush field, Kiln (kill) Field

moy83

delaval wrote: »

All ditches removed yers ago and all numbered, but all old nmes on a framed map few are Gay man's, Mass path, Hong Kong, Canada, Pairc na seoige, Ace of Hearts, Bush field, Kiln (kill) Field

Hong Kong ??? Now that is a good one , how did that name come on it ?

Sam Kade

The sandpit field, I have lots of sand loam under my fields. I made a roadway through the farm with it. The cunapouge is the name of a field on my brothers farm what is it in English? Not the exact spelling.

1chippy

A lot of farms round here with fields called "the splink" would it be common round the country or just round here?

slippy wicket

kowtow wrote: »

It's common in England as well, at least in my experience - although to me there is something about Irish field names, starting with the ubiquitous Haggard, which makes them seem a more immediate part of life.

Seems every farm has one of those.
Only found out recently that a haggard was a place where threshing was done.

pakalasa

Sam Kade wrote: »

.. The cunapouge is the name of a field on my brothers farm what is it in English? ...

Mad guess but 'cuan' is a bay and 'poige' is a kiss.

We've a field called pakalasa.:)

delaval

moy83 wrote: »

Hong Kong ??? Now that is a good one , how did that name come on it ?

It's the furthest from the yard. This is how it was explained when we bought farm

dzer2

slippy wicket wrote: »

Seems every farm has one of those.
Only found out recently that a haggard was a place where threshing was done.

More of a place where all the dirty work was done and dung stored and hay reek was built

Kovu

Ok, let me see, Tully's field, The Maring, LongAcre, Mass Rock field, The Shoring, Gubbs Meadow, Mahon's meadow, The Moors, Heifer Hills, Cassidy's hills, The far field, Scanlon's, The Garden, Orchard.......I know there's more but I can't think!

20silkcut

A neighbour of ours has a tiny little field about .2 of an acre which he calls the ranch.

Sam Kade

Western field, the 9/10s (9/10s of an acre), the 3 corner, the hilly field, the well field, dans field ( dan rented it for barley in the 60s) the soldiers field ( soldiers camped there during the troubles) the lawn.

moy83

The hole of water , munyar , the sandpit , the holly garden , the big field , the three corner garden , the garden above the road , the garden below the road , the bulls hill , the lawn , the sandpit

bbam

1chippy wrote: »

A lot of farms round here with fields called "the splink" would it be common round the country or just round here?

Near us a farm has one called "the mad hill". I've heard of the splink a few times.

Pat McArdle

There's a project similar to the Meath one in in Co Louth. This thread has just reminded me I have some calls to make. Well worth doing.

http://www.louthfieldnames.ie/

Good loser

Sam Kade wrote: »

The sandpit field, I have lots of sand loam under my fields. I made a roadway through the farm with it. The cunapouge is the name of a field on my brothers farm what is it in English? Not the exact spelling.

Probably 'Knockpogue' Cnoc being a hill. Póg is a kiss but it's hardly that!

Bodacious

nice thread

yep we'd have fields with old names and gaelic ones that we still use .. even non farming members of the family and neighbours would know immediately.... alot more subdivides now though so names like upper and lower hayfield and top and bottom of meadow

iverjohnston

The "splink" or "brae" would be common enough in hilly counties, rare in Meath I would imagine! Springwell Hill, Round Hill, The Rough field, The Barley hill, gatehouse hill, Pasture Meadow, Donnery's Hill, Bonhamns, The Planting Field, Bulls Field, Orchard meadow. One field we have is called after the neighbours , and their field across the ditch is called after us!

razor8

Peters' Roud, Whitehill, Sand Bank Field, Sand Bank Meadow, Flax Field, Haggart and The Bog!

Miley2

For the last few months they have been going by The Wet Field, the wetter field, the very wet field and the wettest field

pakalasa

Could be worst. At least you own them. Could be called the AIB field, the BOI field, the UB field.

jmrc

a few around us; over Peters, the far batten, the long ridges, the green, the holly gardens, over the well, the grey gate, the tang, the race field and the bush..

good to know but i remember the sisters fella listening to the father and myself describing where we left something and the thought we were speaking in tongues...

City fella.....

john_cappa

Every farmer that farms bad to fair lad has a ................"high field"!

zetecescort

Not field names as such, but my parents have a habit of calling neighbours farms after the families that lived there years ago.
"I have to go over to Murphy's in the morning" when the last of the Murphys died 20 years ago.

They do it for shops in town too

We have two that are named the riascies (near and far) - as far as I can tell it translates as the marsh.

http://www.focal.ie/Search.aspx?term=Riasc

KatyMac

We have the back field, bull's field, heathery hill, road field, below the road, pond field, green hill, ballindansa (I think this is dancing town!)

kowtow

pakalasa wrote: »

Could be worst. At least you own them. Could be called the AIB field, the BOI field, the UB field.

And how many are having to let "the site field" and the "planning permission" return to their older, more agricultural names

AntrimGlens

we have a field called the "stabbins" no idea of the spelling or the meaning of it, but there is a field beside it called the stable end and was wondering if its just an abbrevation or shortening of this. we have banns brae as the family that owned it were called magill but to be set apart from the other magill family one was the bann magills and the other the dubh magills.
the Craft, the grazing, felixs ground, archies field, dipper field, half field, rock field, springfield and more gaelic ones, doonameenoch, lagyveagh, lagycairn, lagybuoy,

Blue Holland

Had a guy in taking grass samples last week, they were goin to lab in the U.S, asked name of field "this one is the Black Paddy" without giving it a second thought, think we better just put BP on it.

nhg

Found this thread interesting so photocopied a map & got my mum to give me the names of the fields, affoley (towns land), bog, middle bog, furry bog, long loak, high field, o'dwyers(land that was owned by O'Dwyer family years ago that they swapped) paunfaun (not sure of spelling or meaning), road field & pond field - names seem to similar to previous posts.

jdmurf

We've a field called pakalasa.:)[/QUOTE]

We have one of these also..... its from pairc na liosa .. field of the liss