4 6 Proceedings of the Royal Irish A cademy. 



natural system ; another, in which the English popular names come first in 

 alphabetical order ; and a third, alphabetical like the second, hut with the 

 Irish Gaelic names set first. The third scheme has been adopted here as the 

 most convenient for students of language and folk-lore, who are far more likely 

 to consult the lists than professed botanists and zoologists. For the benefit of 

 the more scientifically minded, an index of the Latin binomials has been 

 appended, and to cure the defect inseparable from an alphabetic arrange- 

 ment — the separation of different names or variants of names referring to 

 the same object — frequent cross-references have been given. The individual 

 entries are thus arranged : — (1) Irish Gaelic name ; (2) meaning, if ascertained ; 

 (3) scientific name ; (4) English popular name ; (5J distribution of native name 

 in Clew Bay area ; (6) general remarks, including notes on the general distri- 

 bution of the name and its variants. Throughout the lists but scanty reference 

 has been made to the literature of the subject, so that the great bulk of the 

 matter here given is from sources hitherto unpublished. For a revision of 

 the Gaelic orthography of the names, and for some valuable suggestions as 

 to their derivation, I am indebted to the Bev. William Colgan, of Ballinlough, 

 Co. Koscommon. 



II.— Gaelic Plant Names. 



Atn5e6.T> lu6.cn*, Silver of Bushes ? Spiraea Ulmaria Linne, Meadow-sweet. — 

 On Clare Island and on the mainland shores of the bay, as at Belclare, 

 Achill Sound, and Mulranny ; also general in Ireland from Donegal to 

 Kerry. In the island the root is used along with copperas to yield a 

 black dye ; at Cloghmore, Achill Sound, for scouring milk churns as a 

 " sweetener." 



AiceMin, Ulex europceus Linne, Whin, Gorse, Furze. — Clare Island, where 

 the flowers are said to be used for producing a yellow dye. This name is 

 general throughout Ireland, and its meaning is made clear by the Welsh 

 form, eithin (aithin), prickly. 



b&c*u<Nu. Menyanthes trifoliata Linne, Bog Bean. — The name is generally 

 used in Clare Island, but I have no note of its occurrence elsewhere in 

 Clew Bay, though I have it from Claremonis, Co. Mayo. Threlkeld gives 

 the variant p&c^u&n for Connaught. 



blioi'CAn. Potentilla Anseriiui Linne, Silver-weed. — General on the island, 

 also on the mainland, as at Boonah, Mulranny, and Achillbeg. This 

 name in one or other of its dialectic forms is widespread in Ireland. In 

 Kerry, in Connemara, and in Clare the form bjuo]'5l<Mi is the 

 prevalent one; this is shortened to b^mpc in Louth (Omeath) and 

 Dublin, and to b|uo]-c<sn on Lough Bee, Co. Longford. In Boscommon 



