Glossary of Irish Archaeological terms.

slowburner

There is a wealth of unique terminology associated with Irish archaeological features. Many of these terms are also evident in placenames, Rathdown, Caherconnel, Cashel etc. and indicate the presence of structures or earthworks at some time.
It could be helpful to non-Irish readers to have a 'mini glossary' here.

Please join in by listing an Irish term and its translation.
Where possible, say a few words about how the term is generally used or applied and perhaps a little about its origins (where known). Links to Wiki will be unavoidable but may require further corroboration or expansion.
The seminal work on Irish placenames is still P.W. Joyce's The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places (1910)
The book can be read online or downloaded here:
http://https://archive.org/details/originhistoryofi01joycuoft

A clear, standardised format would be helpful when listing a term; for example,

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lios: 1. enclosed ground, 2. ringfort, 3. fairy mound

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lios

Probably no longer in vogue, Lios is interchangeable with many other descriptive terms - usually under the umbrella term 'enlosure' in contemporary reports.
Lios forms a part of the name of many Irish places and has several derivatives.

Lios. The words lios [lis] and rath were applied to the circular mound or entrenchment, generally of earth, thrown up both as a fortification and a shelter round the level space on which the houses were erected; and accordingly they are often translated atrium by Latin writers. But though this is the usual application of these terms,both and especially rath were,and are,not unfrequently applied to the great high entrenched mounds which are commonly designated by the word dun. These forts are still very numerous through the country, and they are called lisses and raths to the present day. Their great numbers, and the very general application of the terms may be judged of from the fact that there are about 1,400 townlands and villages dispersed through all parts of Ireland, whose names begin with the word Lis alone; and of course this is only a very small fraction of all the lisses in Ireland. The name of Lismore in Waterford affords a good illustration of the application of this word; and its history shows that the early saints sometimes surrounded their habitations with circular lisses, after the fashion of their pagan ancestors. Many local names are formed by the union of the term lios with a personal name; the individual commemorated being either the builder of the lis or one of its subsequent possessors.

The old form of this word is les, genitive lis; but in the modern language a corrupt genitive leasa [lassa] is often found. All these are preserved in modern names; and the word is not much subject to change in the process of anglicisation. Different forms of the genitive are seen in the following: Drumlish, the ridge of the fort, the name of a village in Longford, and of some townlands in the northern counties; Moyliss, Moylish,and Moylisha (Moy, a plain); Gortalassa, the field of the lis; Knockalassa (hill); Ballinlass, Ballinliss,
Ballinlassa, and Ballinlassy, the town of the fort; all widely-spread townland names. The two diminutives liosán and lisín [lissaun, lisheen], little fort, are very common. The latter is usually made Lisheen, which is the name of twenty townlands, and helps to form many others.

Joyce,P.W., 1910, The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places, Vol. I, London, pp. 271-4

Simon.d

This one took me by surprise the other day and seems to be peculiar to Irish Classifications

Embanked Enclosure: 1. Typically refers to a suspected henge site where no ditch is evident

tac foley

I have also found that the 1966 AA Illustrated Road Book of Ireland has been mighty useful in figuring out the actual meaning of place names in Ireland from a historical POV. I paid 20p for my copy in a yard sale.

Most place-names have their Irish original version there right alongside the present-day name, with an explanation/translation.

tac

Gee Bag

The placenames commision website www.logainm.ie translates most placenames with an explanation of their origin.

slowburner

Simon.d wrote: »

This one took me by surprise the other day and seems to be peculiar to Irish Classifications

Embanked Enclosure: 1. Typically refers to a suspected henge site where no ditch is evident

The scope note of archaeology.ie gives:

Embanked enclosure

A circular or oval, domed or hollowed area enclosed by a flat-topped earthen bank with a single entrance. The can range in diameter from 25m up to over 100m. These ceremonial enclosures can occur singly, in pairs or in a cluster of three and date to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (c. 3200-1550 BC).

See ME026-006 as an example.

Am I right in thinking that 'henge' has become more commonly used in an Irish context in recent years?

slowburner

Cromlech. An archaic term popular amongst antiquarians in the C19th used to describe portal tombs or dolmens. Although not an Irish word (it's Brythonic) it's a useful one to know - portal tombs are usually shown on the historic maps as Cromlechs or sometimes Giant's Grave.

Crom lech: crom/bent, llech/slab.

slowburner

Gee Bag wrote: »

The placenames commision website www.logainm.ie translates most placenames with an explanation of their origin.

Less fun than Joyce though

Mountainsandh

Wow thanks, I've been able to better understand my place name thanks to you guys.
There was an old romantic reference to what it could mean in a local Miscellany, but I think I verified thanks to that link that it was wrong.

It was said that it was the "place of all weathers" in the old miscellany (which I really liked and would have made a lot of sense)(part of the townland is up on a hill and looking onto a valley where the weather flows usually North-West South-East in a very obvious manner), but I discovered it is much more likely to be the "place of the wether", that is, a castrated ram.
There goes my Kate Bush impersonation up on my hill.

sorry, OT :o:o