Place names as geographic clues (floods)

blue onion

With the recent floods place names can often provide a clue to places that might flood here's 2 as an example;
Cork = Marsh (Corcaigh)
Marsh meadows in New Ross

Please add more

looksee

Bath Street in Waterford was flooded...

Stavros Murphy

Noahs Park.

Eeden

Flood Street, Galway. Can't get much more obvious than that.

Femme_Fatale

Blackpool and Riverstown in Cork tend to get the worst affected when there are floods. Self fulfilling prophecy names I guess.

Míshásta

You really have to go to the Irish language roots of our placenames and you'll find a great many examples.

Some of the places in the news lately because of flooding.

Athlone = Áth Luain = Luan's Ford.

Clonmel = Cluain Meala = Honey meadow ( meadows are often found on low lying land beside rivers.

Kinsale = Cionn tSáile = Head of the tide (still subject to flooding during very high tides.)

Bandon = Droichead na Bandan = Bandon Bridge.

etc. etc.

So if you're checking out a house in an unfamiliar locality, find out the local placename. Avoid roots meaning bog, marsh, ford etc.

angelfire9

Seafield in Quilty... And they were surprised they flooded!

kneemos

Míshásta wrote: »

You really have to go to the Irish language roots of our placenames and you'll find a great many examples.

Some of the places in the news lately because of flooding.

Athlone = Áth Luain = Luan's Ford.

Clonmel = Cluain Meala = Honey meadow ( meadows are often found on low lying land beside rivers.

Kinsale = Cionn tSáile = Head of the tide (still subject to flooding during very high tides.)

Bandon = Droichead na Bandan = Bandon Bridge.

etc. etc.

So if you're checking out a house in an unfamiliar locality, find out the local placename. Avoid roots meaning bog, marsh, ford etc.

Waterford is definitely out of the question then?

dodderangler

What bout WATERFORD?
Kinda in the name

Kneemos damn you

Muise...

Míshásta wrote: »

You really have to go to the Irish language roots of our placenames and you'll find a great many examples.

Some of the places in the news lately because of flooding.

Athlone = Áth Luain = Luan's Ford.

Clonmel = Cluain Meala = Honey meadow ( meadows are often found on low lying land beside rivers.

Kinsale = Cionn tSáile = Head of the tide (still subject to flooding during very high tides.)

Bandon = Droichead na Bandan = Bandon Bridge.

etc. etc.

So if you're checking out a house in an unfamiliar locality, find out the local placename. Avoid roots meaning bog, marsh, ford etc.

Be sure to check out the original townland/parish name though - not those randomly-generated names you see carved in old irish script on rocks in corners of new estates - like Árd na Gréine, where the sun never shines, or Radharc na Mara where the sea is visible only from the top frame of the bathroom window in the corner house.

My favourite meteorological parish name: Tón na Gaoithe, Mayo

THall04

looksee wrote: »

Bath Street in Waterford was flooded...

And Bath St is next to Miller's Marsh......which is now built over with several very large buildings and car parks........

goldenwonder

Dolphins barn?

olly_mac

The evidence is definitely there in the old Irish names of areas. One that springs to mind is Tolka. It is derived from an Irish term for 'liable to flood'. A couple of years ago, the new apartments built along the Tolka valley got underground swimming pools by default...

I was working as an archaeologist just before and during the so-called boom. We were excavating in areas that screamed "flood", and even brought this to developers' attention. Their attitude was usually along the lines of "... sure people will buy anyway!!" Planning sections of local authorities were too lax in this regard.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Eeden wrote: »

Flood Street, Galway. Can't get much more obvious than that.

Only it is named after a man named Flood and not the fact that it is liable to flooding.

Knasher

Dublin is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, which means "black pool". Baile Atha Cliath means "town of the hurdled ford".

olly_mac

Knasher wrote: »

Dublin is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, which means "black pool". Baile Atha Cliath means "town of the hurdled ford".

And note that the original settlements were built up on the ridge of boulder clay, well above the river Them auld Vikings knew a thing or two...

goldenwonder

There's river st
Killinaule

notnumber

BallyLough..town of the lake

looksee

The ford bit of waterford is fjiord, which would not suggest too much flooding in spite of the water. The water part has variously been translated from Vardre (and various similar spellings) which mean either 'windy' or 'elbow'(the bend in the river), so apart from the fact that there is a river, not really flood related at all.

goldenwonder

looksee wrote: »

The ford bit of waterford is fjiord, which would not suggest too much flooding in spite of the water. The water part has variously been translated from Vardre (and various similar spellings) which mean either 'windy' or 'elbow'(the bend in the river), so apart from the fact that there is a river, not really flood related at all.

Impressive bit of information there
Cheers

WilyCoyote

Lia Breezy Bag wrote: »

Only it is named after a man named Flood and not the fact that it is liable to flooding.

Yeah, I know that. But wasn't your man Flood called after a flood?

Míshásta

WilyCoyote wrote: »

Yeah, I know that. But wasn't your man Flood called after a flood?

Lardy

How about Mount Misery in Waterford... Just behind the train station that was under water last night! :P

Fratton Fred

Take your kids to the water's edge in Dalkey and your wife will rip your Bullochs off.