Reencaheragh Cottage

Portmagee, County Kerry

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The History That Surrounds Us - Part I

The History That Surrounds Us - Part II

History of County Kerry

Place Names in County Kerry 

            The names of places in Ireland provide a wealth of information about the Irish language, culture and history. As you can see from The History That Surrounds Us, Part I and Part II, there is a tremendous sampling of Irish history in Kerry. With that comes much of the local culture, including the language, stretching back hundreds of years. Here are some highlights of the many place names in County Kerry.

 Portmagee Area

           Our house is in the townland of Reencaheragh, near the village of Portmagee, a couple of miles from the town of Caherciveen. The names of each one of these places is representative of some of the different ways that Irish place names have formed over the years. 

Most place names in Ireland have origins in the spoken Irish language. When English began to take over the local language as Ireland's dominant language, English place names began to be used.  Those who first committed them to writing aimed at preserving the original pronunciation by spelling them phonetically as best they could, using English letters and structure.

 Reencaheragh           

A good example of a local place name of Irish language origin the townland of “Reencaheragh.” There are about 65,000 townlands in Ireland; they are usually about 1 square mile in size. As with many townland names, the origin of this place name is based on two words used to describe the physical features of the place. 

Reencaheragh is the Anglicized version of Rinn Chathrach. The first part, “reen” is the local pronunciation of rinn, which means a point of land, a promontory or headland. The second part is a bit more complicated. “Caheragh” is a form of “caher,” which in Irish is cathair and means a stone fort.  Caheragh is the English pronunciation of chathrach, which means “of the stone fort” in Irish. 

Thus, Reencaheragh means “point of land of the stone fort.” Indeed, there is a ruin of a promontory fort on one of the small peninsulas west of the house, in our townland of Reencaheragh.

 Portmagee 

            Other place names have either no Irish origin, or share an Irish name with a completely different English name. Portmagee is an example of the latter type. Portmagee, or Magee's Port as it was known for some time, is named after Captain Theobald Magee, who was a captain in Kings James's army at the Battle of the Boyne. Following the battle, Magee made his home here, running a merchant shipping business between Ireland, Portugal and France.

           It is rumored that Captain Magee traded in contraband spirits, textiles, tea and tobacco. Reportedly Mrs. Magee carried on the lucrative business with other family members after the Captain’s death in 1724. In any case, the Magee name stuck and hence it’s called Portmagee. 

Portmagee is also known as An Caladh, which means “the ferry” or “the landing.”A ferry service operated between Portmagee and Valencia island before the bridge was built.

 Cahersiveen 

            “Caher” (or cathair in Irish) was discussed above (stone fort). The second part of the name is the name of a person, Saidhbhín, which is pronounced “siveen” in English which later becames “Sabina.” Therefore, the town’s Irish name, Cathair-Saidhbhín, means “Saidhbhín’s stone fort.” This is an example of many place names in Ireland, where a person’s name is used to indicate the relationship to the place. In this way, we can learn the history of the place in the Irish language version of a place name. 

Coomanaspig Mountain 

            Similarly, place names can tell of people who inhabited a place long ago. For example, the mountain up the road from the house to the southeast, on the way to the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area at St. Finan’s Bay known locally as “The Glen,” has an interesting meaning. In Irish its Cúm an Easpoig, and the name is broken down this way: Cúm, pronounced “coom” in Irish, means “mountain hollow,” and Easpoig is pronounced “aspig” and means “bishop.” So the meaning is “mountain hollow of the bishop.”

             The reason for this is not exactly clear, but it is probably related to the holy well near the top of the hill. One local story is that the name of the hill is actually Cúm na nEaspog - hollow of the bishops - plural - and that there were nine of them. The well has been called Tobar na Naoi nEaspog, or “well of the nine bishops.” 

           Whether it’s one bishop or nine, the reason why any bishops would be associated with this well could have to do with the proximity to Skellig Michael, which became a very important site of pilgrimage after the monks abandoned the monastery in the 12th century. It is possible that a Kerry bishop had some land (and residence) in this area to facilitate travel to and from Skellig Michael.

Skellig Michael 

            Speaking of Skellig Michael, this mystical site of the local early Christian monastic settlement several miles offshore from Portmagee also has a name that combines a physical description with a personage’s name. In Irish, it is Sceilig Mhichil. Sceilig is “sea rock,” and Mhichil reflects the dedication of this rocky island to the Christian Archangel Michael.

 Valentia Island 

Just across the harbor from Portmagee is Valentia Island. It seems to have two different names, both based on the Irish language. First, the Irish name for Portmagee channel is Beal Inse, where beal means “mouth or entrance to a fjord,” and inse means an “island.” Beal Inse is pronounced “beel insha,” which became Valentia. The island is also known as Daibhre (pronounced “darrery”), which means “abounding in oaks.” A trip to Glanleam Garden on Valentia Island will confirm the reference to oak trees.

 Other Local Townlands 

There are of course a number of townlands in the vicinity of Portmagee. Here are the English names and our best guess based on the Irish (where available): 

Road from Portmagee towards Cahersiveen 

Foilnageragh - Faill Na gCaoireach, “cliff of the sheep”
    - hill to the right of road heading up to Coomanaspig
    - this is also the site of the Dromgour (Drom Gabhar, “goat hill,” 
      pronounced “drum gower”) promontory fort 

Doory - Dúire, “watery place”
   - bottom half of portion of hillside to the left of road to 
     Coomanaspig, above Portmagee and including the football pitch

Lomanagh - An Lománach, “bogland” or “bare land” 
   - upland to the left of road to Coomanaspig, above Doory

Lateeve - An Leataoibh, “half side of the hill”
   - next portion of hillside above Portmagee, when heading away 
      from Portmagee at sharp  left turn 
   - site of a holy well and souterrain (underground hiding place) 

Pound - An Póna, “cattle pen”
   -  upland on other side of hill heading away from Portmagee, 
       adjacent to Lateeve  

Gortreagh - Guirt-riabhaigh, “gray field” (guirt = field)
   -  lowland along harbor after Portmagee 
   -  standing stone 

Kilkeaveragh - Cill Chaomhrach, “Keevan’s church” but possibly 
   “church in the ______ - nice place, marshy (or mossy) place, place 
   of large trees, narrow plain, or long grass
   -  lowland along harbor below Pound 
   -  site of small oratory and burial ground 

Knockeenawaddra - Cnoicín Mhadraith, “little hill of the dogs”
   -   next portion of lowland along harbor below the road from 
        Portmagee, just after the first bridge

Garrane -  An Garrán, “gorse land”
   - upland above Knockeenawaddra

Aghagadda - Achadh Gheadaigh, (with apologies to our neighbors) 
     “field of the thieves” 
   - but possibly “long field,” “bare field” or “field of the streamlet”
   - along road and down to harbor, after Knockeenawaddra

Aghanboy - Athán Buí, “yellow ford”
   - along road and down to harbor, after Aghagadda
   - site of holy well

Cappawee - An Cheapaigh Bhuí, “yellow tillage plot” 
   - upland above Aghagadda and Aghaboy
   - souterrain and hut sites

Emlaghpeastia - Imleach Péiste, “marshy area of the 
      serpent/monster”
   - next townland along harbor, peat bog area
   - contains pre-bog field systems and a souterrain site

Ardcost - Ard Costaidh, “bottom of the height”
   - next townland along harbor
   - souterrain and ceallúnach (children’s grave site)

Killoluaig - Cill ‘O Luaigh, “church of O’Luaigh”
   - townland above Emlaghpeastia and Ardcost, along road to 
      Ballinskelligs
   - early ecclesiastical site 

Dereen - An Doirin, “little oakwood”
   - to right of road after second bridge on way to main road to 
      Cahersiveen 

Boola - An Bhuaile, “dairying place” or “cattle pen”
   - on left side of road, opposite Dereen 

Oghermong - Eochair Mong, “edge of swampy place”
   - to left of road after turn onto main road to Cahersiveen
   - standing stone 

Over Coomanaspig mountain to The Glen

Ballynabloun - Baile Na bhFlann, “home of the Flinns”
   - steep hillside from Coomanaspig to The Glen
   - has early ecclesiastical site (Templecashel) and a ceallúnach 

Moyrisk - Maoroisc, “bare moor” or “marshy/wet flatland”
  - south-facing hillside after right turn off of steep road from 
     Commanaspig

Glanearagh - “glen” or “gray glen”
   - hillside at end of peninsula, down the hill from Moyrisk

 Ballynahow - Baile Na hAbhann, “town of the river”
   - above the pier and along mountain stream

Lehid - Leithead, “wide plot of land”
   - upland above and northwestwards of Ballynahow  

Coomakeoge - Cúm Cheoigh, “foggy hollow” or “little/narrow 
      hollow”
   - upland above and northwestwards of Lehid along stream 

Rathkieran - Ráth Ciaráin, “St. Kieran’s fort”
   - hillside above village in The Glen
   - standing stones, raths, souterrains, possible ringfort, holy wells, 
      Killemlagh (medieval) church

 Cloghanecanuig - Clohán Ceannúigh, “head of the ruin of the stone 
      fort”
   - but possibly “stone fort of the purchase” or “Cannon’s stone 
      fort”
   - lowland along water below Rathkieran, including strand-         
      promontory fort

 Keel - An Chill, “narrow place”
   - village area in The Glen 

Killabounia - Cill Buaine, “St. Bonan’s church”  
   - along road from village in northwesterly direction towards main 
      road
   - early ecclesiastical sites 

Aghort - Athgort,  “field of the ford”
   - along southerly route from village to Ballinskelligs 

Killonecaha - "church of O’Cahan/Kane” 
   - but possibly “church of the showery mountain,” “church of the 
      winnowing area,” of “church of the place of the battle”
   - left turn toward Ballinskelligs along southerly route from village 

Tooreen - Tuairín, “sheep-grazing place” or “night field for cattle”    
   - along southern peninsula of The Glen 

Allaghee More - Alachaí Mor, “large field/hillside by the cliffs”
   - along southern peninsula of The Glen

Ducalla - Duibhchealla, “Duff’s meadow”
   - but possibly “dark meadow” or “meadow of the black cows”
   - end of road along peninsula after Allaghee More

 Sussa - Sosadh, “resting place”
   - on road up the valley from Keel towards main road

 Fermoyle - Formaeil, “round hill”
   - hilltop area on road up the valley from The Glen towards main 
      road