Irish Gaelic Placenames Quiz | Languages

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Ennis" or "inish" means "island". Which of these island names means "the Big Island"?

Answer: Inishmore

Enniskillen is "Kathleen's Island". Inish-bo-fin is the "island of the white cow". Gaelic "bo" is related to Greek "bous" and Latin "bos-bovis". Inishmaan is the "middle island" (see Aran Isles). Muck-inish is the "island of the pigs".

2. "Kil" means "church" and there are plenty of churches in Ireland. Which of these placenames refers to a group of little churches?

Answer: Killybegs

"Ard-kill" is a "church on a high spot". "Kill" may be related to "coill" ("wood"). "Kyle-more" means "large wood". Saints' names are very frequently combined with the prefix "Kil-". Kilmainham means "Church of Saint Mainen". Kilmihil is "St. Michael's Church".

3. "Knock" ("cnoc") is "hill" in Irish. "Knockalough" is a "hill near a lake". "Knockatober" is a "hill near a well". Which of the following coloured hills is a "red hill"?

Answer: Knockroe

Knockglass is a "green hill". Knockbane is a "white hill". Knockgorm is a "blue hill". And there are more "Knock-words": Knockacullen, "the hill of the holly"; Knockmoyle, "the bald hill"; Knock-na-gaul, "the hill of the foreigners". To the Irish Celts the Celts from Gaul were foreigners. Later "Gaul" was used to refer to the English.
Knock-na-glogh is the "hill of the stones". Compare: "Clochan- na- bhFomharaigh", the "stepping stones" of the Fomorians or .."the Giants' Causeway" in Ulster.
Knockboy is not "a boy on a hill" but a "yellow hill". Adjectives follow their substantives in Gaelic.

4. "Dun" often occurs in combination with person's names such as in Dundonald, Duncannon ("Conan"), Dun Aengus (a Celtic God originally), Dundalk ("Dalgan"). It means the same as "Doon" in Doondonnell and in Lisdoonvarna. What is the nearest equivalent in English for "Dun" or "Doon"?

Answer: Fortress

The meaning "dune" occurs in Dunkirk, but that's not a Celtic word at all. "Down" in Downpatrick is not a "dune" either. It happens to be a variant form of "Doon" or "Dun". The name Downpatrick must be understood as "the fortress near the church of St. Patrick". Dundrum is the "fortress on the ridge".
Dunmor: the big fortress.
Lis-doon-varna literally means the fortresss of "the fortress with the gaps". "Lis" ="fortress" and Doonvarna derives from "Dun" (fort) "bhearnach" (with gaps).

5. "Bally" (from "baile") is a "town". Which of these Bally-names means "black or dark town"?

Answer: Ballyduff

"Brannagh" is related to "Breatnach" and means Briton, Breton or Welshman. "Duff" is related to "Duibh-linn" ("dark pool"), the more recent name of "Baile Athe Cliath" ("town at the ford of the hurdles"). Also compare with "Roisin Dubh" ("Dark Rosaleen").
Other "Bally"-words: Ballyglass, which means "green town"; Ballyknock which stands for "town on the hill".
Ballycastle: "town with castle".
Ballard(from Baile-ard) is a "town on a high spot".
Do not confound with the Ballagh-names such as Ballagh-boy, Ballagh- keen, Ballagh-more, Ballagh-derreen in which "Ballagh" means "road".
"Keen": beautiful. "Derreen": little oak wood.

6. "Clon" is a meadow. Which of these "Clon"-words refers to a "honey-meadow"?

Answer: Clonmel

"Mel" is related to French "miel". Clonfert is the "meadow with or near the grave". Clonmacnoise is the "meadow of the sons of Noise".
Clongill is the "meadow of the foreigners" (by which term in many cases the English were meant). "Cloon" is a variant of Clon; e.g. in Cloonfinlough: the "meadow near the clear lake".

7. Some Gaelic words can be understood in more than one way. A "curragh" as in the "Curragh" of Kildare can be a race-course. In some placenames "curragh" may mean marsh. Which of these "curragh"-names refers to a "yellow marsh"?

Answer: Curraghboy

Also "ros" is a word that may occur in different meanings. Ros-common means "Conan's wood". In Muck-ross, the meaning is not "wood", but "peninsula". In this case: "of the pigs". "Tor" may refer to a "tower", but also to a "tall, towerlike rock". By the way: "Tara" also has a link with "tower": "Teamhair" or "Tawar" is indeed Gaelic for a "residence or elevated spot with panoramic view".

8. Some Gaelic words show clear links with other languages. Monasterboice is quite easy to understand as "Boethius' Monastery". Even Shan-kill ("old church") shows a clear link with Latin "senior", etc. Which of these names can be translated as: the church of the "monachoi" (Greek for "monks")?

Answer: Kilmanagh

Fermanagh means the "Fir" or "men of Manach". Killadysart refers to a "church" and to a "desert", but not to "monks". Slievenamon (from Gaelic "Sliabh-na-mban") has no link at all with "monks" or "monachoi", but is the "Mountain of the Women". By the way: Slieve-snaght is a "snow-capped mountain".

9. To the observer who keeps an eye on Latin and Greek, one of these "Drum" ("ridge")-words should be identifiable as the "ridge of the cow(s)". Which one?

Answer: Drumbo

"Muck" refers to pigs. Drumgoose is not the "ridge with the geese", but the "ridge of the 'cuas' or 'caves'". Drumbane is the "white ridge". Drumnacross would be the "ridge with the cross". Drombeg is a "small ridge", Drumderg a "reddish ridge", Drumduff a "dark ridge", etc.
Another word for a "high spot" is "Ard" which occurs in Ardglass, Ardbeg,Ardpatrick,Ardkill and of course in "Ard-Macha",(Queen Macha's Hill), which became modern "Armagh".
"Ben" is also a word for a "peak", and may occur in the form: "Pin" as e.g. in the "Twelve Pins".

10. Some French and English names were adapted to Gaelic, often in a way which is hardly transparent to the non-Gael. Of which of these non-Gaelic girl's names might you find an adaptation in part of the placename "Cahersiveen"?

Answer: Sabine

In the same way Irish names often become completely unrecognizable when adapted to English. The name of a well in what is now a park in Dublin was originally "Fionn-Uisg". The English did not understand the name and rebaptised the well as "Phoenix"! The normal Gaelic form for Katherine is "Catriona". Cahersiveen in Kerry stands for "Cathair-Saidbhin": "Sabina's stone fort".

Source: Author flem-ish

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Matve before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Irish Gaelic Placenames Trivia Quiz

For many of us Gaelic placenames are about all the Celtic we need. But do we understand them?

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