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(pron, gowleen), a little [river] fork, is properly anglicised Goleen (in 

 the parish of Kilmoe, Cork) ; but when it is made Golden (a village in 

 Tipperary), this is a corruption. 



To the general rule now stated, there is a remarkable exception of 

 frequent occurrence. In many names the original spelling is either 

 wholly or partly preserved ; — in other words, the modern forms are 

 derived from the ancient, not as they were spoken, but as they were 

 written. In almost all such cases, the names are pronounced in con- 

 formity with the powers of the English letters ; and so, whenever the 

 ancient orthography is retained, the original pronunciation is generally 

 lost. This may be illustrated by the word Rath, which is in Irish pro- 

 nounced raw. There are over 400 townland names commencing with 

 this word in the forms of Ra, Rah, Rata, and Ray ; these names are 

 derived from the spoken, not the written originals ; and, while the pro- 

 nunciation is retained, the spelling is lost. Eaheny, Eatoath, Eaphoe, 

 Eaheen, Eaymunterdoney, may be taken as examples. There are more 

 than 700 names commencing with the word in its original form, Rath, 

 in which the correct spelling is preserved, but the pronunciation is 

 commonly lost, for the word is pronounced rath to rhyme with hath. 

 It is worthy of remark, however, that the peasantry living in or near 

 these places, to whom the names have been handed down orally, and 

 not by writing, generally preserve the correct pronunciation ; of which 

 Eathmines, Eathgar, Eathfarnham, and Eathcoole are good examples, 

 being pronounced by the people of the localities, Ea-mines, Ea-gar, Ea- 

 farnham, and Ea-coole. 



The principal effect of this practice of retaining the old spelling is, 

 that consonants which are aspirated in the original names, are hardened 

 or restored in the modern pronunciation. To illustrate these principles 

 I have given the following short list of words that enter frequently 

 into Irish names, each containing an aspirated letter ; and after each 

 word, the names of two places of which it forms a part. In the first of 

 each pair, the letter is aspirated as it ought to be, but the original spell- 

 ing is lost ; in the second, the orthography is partly or wholly preserved, 

 and the letter is not aspirated, but sounded as it would indicate to an 

 English reader, and so, the proper pronunciation is lost. 1. Ath, a ford 

 (pr. ah); Adare (Q6-t>apa, the ford of the oak tree); Athlone (Gc-lucun, 

 the ford of Luan, a man's name). 2. Gaoth, wind (pr. gwee) ; Barna- 

 geehy (beapna-na-gaoice, windy gap) ; Balgeeth, (baile-na-gaoice, 

 windy town), the name of three townlands in Meath. 3. Euadh, red 

 pr. roo); Gortroe (Jopc-puafr, red field), the name of 17 townlands 

 throughout Ireland; Kilroot in Antrim, (CiU-pua6, red church). This 

 last place is called Kilrothe in the Taxation of Down, Connor, and Dro- 

 more, A. D. 1306. 4. Dubh, black, {pr. duv); Dufferin fOuibcpicm, 

 black third-part); Dublin (t)ub-linn, black pool). 5. Tamh, a plague 

 (pr. thauv) — Taimhleacht, a plague monument — a place where those who 

 died of the plague were buried ; Tawlaght and Tallaght, the names of 

 several places ; Tamlaght and Tamlat forming either simply or in com- 



