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ment, and it has been perpetuated in the names of Conwal, a parish in 

 Donegal, Conwal, in parish of Rossinver, Leitrim ; Great Connell in 

 Kildare, Cunnagavale* in the parish of Tuogh, Limerick, and other 

 places. With nua (new) prefixed, it became Nuachongbhail, which 

 also exists in several parts of Ireland, in the forms of Noughaval and 

 Nohoval, and in Meath, in the form of Navan.f This word Nuachongbhail 

 is the only example of a topographical term I can point ont as having 

 lost the n, it being supposed that the proper word was Uachongbhail, 

 and n merely the article. In this mutilated state it exists in the 

 modern names of at least three places, viz : Oughaval, in parish of 

 Kilmacteige, Sligo ; the parish of Oughaval, in Mayo, and Oughaval, in 

 parish of Stradbally, Queen's County; this last is called by its correct 

 name Nuachongbhail, in the " Martyrology of Donegal." 



The word Uachongbhail occurs in the " Pour Masters" at A. D. 1197, 

 and this is the only instance I can adduce of its occurrence in this in- 

 correct form in auy Irish document. There can be, I think, no doubt 

 that Nuachongbhail is the original word, for we have the express 

 authority of Colgan that nua not ua is the prefix, as he translates 

 Nuachongbhail by nova habitatio — indeed ua as a prefix could, in this 

 case, have scarcely any meaning, for it never means anything but " a 

 descendant." The separation of the n may be witnessed in operation 



* This place is called CunnagaMil in Irish, and it is worthy of notice, as it points 

 directly to what appears to be the true origin of Congbhail, viz., Congabhail. I am 

 aware that in O'Clery's Glossary, Congbhail is derived from Comhbhaile (Con + baile). 

 But in a passage in the "Book of Armagh," as quoted by Mr. W. Stokes in his Irish 

 Glosses, I find the word Congabaim used in the sense of habito. The infinitive or verbal 

 noun formation is Congabail or Congabhail, which, according to this use, means habitatio ; 

 and as Colgan translates Congbhail by the same word habitatio, there can be, I think, 

 no doubt that Congbhail is merely a contracted form of Congabhail. Congabhail lite- 

 rally means conception i. e. comprehending or including, and as applied to a habitation, 

 would mean the whole of the premises included in the establishment. 



f This name affords an instructive example of the manner in which " consonants 

 drop off in the course of a long march." Navan is called Novane in old Anglo-Irish 

 documents, but at present at least, history does not present us with any form of the name 

 approaching more nearly to Nuachongbhail than this. At first sight it might seem 

 almost incredible that this long name should shrink into Novane ; but all the different 

 steps in the process of reduction are strictly analogical, being nothing more than what 

 take place in many other Irish names. Nuachongbhail is pronounced noo-hong-vol, 

 which is softened down to Nougbaval and Nohoval, as mentioned above. A change of 

 I to n, as in Colloony from Cuil-Mhaoile, makes it Nohovan, which by merely omit- 

 ting the h in pronunciation, as in Drumlane for Drumlahan, Glenbeagh for Glenbeha, 

 Drogheda for Droghed-aha, &c, becomes Novan or Novane. 



But how is it known that the ancient name of the place was Nuachongbhail ? To 

 this there is a very satisfactory answer. Our annalists make frequent mention of a 

 place on the Boyne, called Nuachongbhail, and Colgan says that it "is a town (oppidum) 

 in Meath on the bauks of the Boyne, ten miles from Drogheda, and five from Trim." 

 Colgan's miles are often one-fifth longer than Irish miles; and bearing this in mind, any 

 person with a map before him, will see that Navan is the only spot answering Colgan's 

 description. It was O'Donovan, our greatest Irish topographer, that first identified 

 Navan with the Nuachongbhail of the annalists. 



