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Celebrating Ulster's Townlands
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| 18. Early Churches in Place Names |
Ecclesiastical hillfort of Dunmisk, Carrickmore Co. Tyrone: EHS |
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Most of the terms for churches are borrowed from Latin. The commonest word for a church was cill, as in Killevy at the foot of Slieve Gullion in south Armagh Cill shléibhe “church by the mountain”. Cill often appears with the names of saints: Kinawley in Fermanagh which is “St Náile’s church”, Kilbride in Co. Antrim “St Brigid’s church”. | |||
| An early church on the old routeway
into Ulster was marked by a carved pillar stone at Kilnasaggart “church of the priests”. Ternoc whose name appears
on the stone is likely to be the saint in the Scottish name Kilmarnock “my Ernóg’s church”.
In Scotland cill was
later sometimes replaced by the Scots word Kirk,
as in Kirkcolm “St
Columba’s church”, and occasionally this happened in Ulster, as in Kircubbin
in the Ards. |
Circular graveyard of Donaghrisk, Co. Tyrone: EHS |
Kilnasaggart inscribed pillarstone, Co. Armagh: Keiran Clendinning
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The
earliest word was domhnach meaning “belonging to the Lord”. Traditionally all churches named Donagh were supposed to have been founded by St Patrick, like Donaghrisk
“church of the marsh”, and
Donaghmore “great church”
with its magnificent stone cross, in Tyrone. Other church terms were
Eglish
“church” and aireagal
“oratory”, as in Errigal
Keerogue, “St Ciarán’s oratory” in Tyrone. |
La Loo church and bullaun, Ballinderry, Co. Antrim: Keiran Clendinning |
Donaghmore Cross, Co. Tyrone: EHS |
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Saint's tomb at Banagher church Co. Derry: EHS |
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| Some
words were similar to those in Welsh. One, beannchar
appears in Wales and Co. Down as Bangor,
in the rest of Ireland as Banagher.
Another is lann, as in Lambeg,
lann bheag “little church”. La
Loo near Ballinderry, also Co. Antrim, was probably Lann Lua “St Molua’s church”, the saint who founded Lismore in
Scotland. Both beannchar and
lann refer to lands which were fenced off for church use. These
terms are not common in Scottish place-names. |
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At La Loo there is a hollowed stone or bullaun. These may have been used as fonts. Other notable features of the early Irish church were handbells and the tall towers from which they were rung. Lannaglug in Tyrone is Lann na gclog “church of the bells”, and there is Tullynaglug “knoll of the bells” in Fermanagh. A round tower and bullaun appear in the Antrim townland of Steeple, an English name for the early church site. Later the commonest word in Irish became Temple, as in Templepatrick “St Patrick’s church” Co. Antrim, and Templenaffrinn “church of the offering/mass” in Fermanagh. However names like Clones “Eos’s meadow” and Armagh "Macha's height" are a reminder that not all church sites had church names. |
Eglish cross and graveyard, Co. Armagh: Kieran Clendinning |
Round tower in the townland of Steeple, Co. Antrim: EHS |
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Map of Clones Co. Monaghan c.1591 from the State Paper Office no.458, "A Platt of Cloneys an Abbey in MacMahon's Countrey": Ulster Journal of Archaeology iii 1855 p.28. |
Graveyard and crosses, Errigal Keerogue Co. Tyrone: Kieran Clendinning |
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Church of Killevy, Co. Armagh: Kieran Clendinning |
Map of Armagh churches from the Escheated County map of Armagh barony, 1609 PRONI (note that on this map east and west are reversed) |
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