Clare Island Survey — Gaelic Plant and Animal Names. 4 1 1 



feicoj hist. Ramelina scopulorum Ach. — Clare Island. I am indebted to 



Miss Knowles for this name of obscure meaning applied to a well-known 



lichen, which is used in the island to produce a yellow or rather saffron 



dye. See Scjia. dloc. 



pit>eo5 Juncus effusus Linne, Soft Bush. — General in Clare Island. Also 



used in Connemara. 

 pLic or plic. Siellaria media Vill., Chickweed. — Clare Island. General in 

 Mayo and Galway. A name of very obscure sound in Gaelic. Given in 

 Threlkeld as pliub, and in Cameron asfliodh ovjtuth for West Scotland. 

 Perhaps connected with pUnc, moist or succulent. 

 poc&nriAn. Thistles hi general. — Applied in Clare Island to the three 

 common species, C'nicus lanceolatus, G. arvensis, and G. palustris. A wide- 

 spread name in Ireland, occurring with little or no change in Mayo, 

 Galway, and Kerry. The names "PeocAuAn and 1)e6^<yo&n, also widely 

 used in Ireland, are perhaps variants of "Poc&nAn. 

 ■p|\6.oc. Calluna vidgaris Linne and Erica cinerea Linne\ Heath. — General 

 in Clare Island and round Clew Bay, as it is throughout West Ireland. 

 No attempt appears to be made in Gaelic Ireland to distinguish 

 these two species by name. The term 1llinf-]i<soc, Kind or Soft Heath, 

 in common use in Clare Island, seemed to me at first to apply to a distinct 

 species, but further inquiry showed that it denotes merely the tender 

 young shoots of the heather which are eaten by cattle. 

 VH&ocog. Empetrum nigrum Linne, Crowberry. — This name or its variant, 

 ■pjA&oc^n, is the common Irish Gaelic for the Bilberry {Vaccinium 

 Myrtillus) ; but this species is rare and probably seldom fruits in 

 Clare Island, and the name is applied to the Crowberry, the fruit of 

 Empetrum nigrum, which is found on the higher slopes of Croaghmore 

 and elsewhere. In Tyrone the Crowberry plant bears the name p^oc 

 11 *s ■J-Y^ocoj, or Frocken Heath, as it may be rendered, using the Co. 

 Dublin word for the Bilberry. 

 pii6-n<Mi. Heracleum Spliondylium Linne, Cow-Parsnep. — Clare Island, 

 Belclare, and Boonah. The same form occurs in Boscommon ; Sui|u\n 

 in Dublin and U&n&n in Kerry. See ple&fg&n. 

 5^tt ^&icne&c, Foreign Fern ? Osmunda regalis Linne, Boyal Fern. — General 

 in Clare Island. It is not easy to account for the use of the adjective 

 5&tl, foreign, in connexion with so distinctly native a species as this is 

 in Ireland. In Iar Connaught the plant is called 1I&1 cue *c g^lbo^, 

 also meaning Foreign Fern. 

 5iolc&c. Arundo Phragmites Linne, Common Beed. — General in Clare 

 Island, as it is in Kerry and in Connemara. See Coi]'j;eA|^c. 



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