Powkk — Place-Names and Antiquities of S.E. Cork. 3 



or most of them, we shall find incorporated in the place-names of the region 

 with which we deal. A gneeve (Gniomh measures, roughly, ten acres; a 

 sesseagh is equivalent to two gneeves ; a hallybo (Bailebo) is thrice as 

 extensive again, while a seisreach or carrow (Ceathramha) equals 120 acres, 

 and a bally betagli (Baile-biadhtaigh) contains four seisreachs. The Tricha- 

 Cet (Triocha-cead), which became the modern barony, contained thirty 

 ballybetaghs. 1 According to Keating the Baile contained twelve Seisreacha. 

 The truth seems to be that the Baile (and, proportionately, the Seisreach) 

 varied somewhat in area, according to the period and the population, as indeed 

 also did the acre, according to the stock it could carry. , 



Up to the forties of the last century some of the lesser sub- 

 denominations were recognized as official sub-divisions, but, since the 

 Ordnance Survey, all divisions below townlands have been discarded, 

 and the term "townland" is now applied to every official sub-denomination, 

 whatever its area. The parisli is, in its origin, a purely ecclesiastical divi- 

 sion. In course of time, however, it came to be recognized for various civil 

 purposes. Generally speaking, the parish name is taken from the townland 

 in which stood the ancient parish church. Sometimes, however, the church 

 (e.g. Kilshanahan, Killaspugmullane, Templeusque) gives name to the parish. 

 Needless to add, the parishes of the present paper are not the modern, but 

 the ancient, ecclesiastical divisions, now often styled civil parishes. These 

 are, from the point of view of the local historian and the antiquary, the most 

 important divisions of all. Unfortunately the new Ordnance maps omit 

 them entirely. 



In collection and interpretation of the place-names here recorded, my 

 primary care has been to get the name from the lips of a local speaker cf 

 Irish. Observance of this precaution is a matter of vital importance, for 

 nothing, except the authority of an ancient document, can replace the native, 

 traditional pronunciation. To neglect of it most of the " howlers " in popular 

 place-name etymology are traceable. A fact which it behoves the student 

 of this subject to keep well before his mind is that the place-name is nearly 

 always a very simple thing. When first applied the name was intended as 

 descriptive merely. Hence, in its invention, there was no conscious striving 

 at effect, and there is much less poetry latent in our local names than 

 irresponsible local histories and fatuous guide-books would have us believe. 

 There are, of course, occasional flashes of fancy, but they are based, as a 

 rule, on resemblances, more or less apparent, to some object or animal. 



'Harding, "On MS. Mapped Townland Surveys of Ireland," Proceedings K.l A.. 

 vol. viii, pt. 1 ; Windele MSS., R.I. A. ; MacNeill, "Early Irish Population Groups," 



Proceedings R.I. A., vol. xxix, pp. 102, &c. 



[1*] 



