234 



II. Interchange of 1, r, n, m. — The interchange of these letters is 

 common in most languages ; it would be easy, if necessary, to give ex- 

 amples from every language of Europe. Tor instance, the modern name 

 Bologna is a corruption of the ancient Bononia; Palermo ofPanormus; 

 Amsterdam of Amstel-dam (the dam of the River Amstel) ; Rousillon 

 of Euscino, &c, &c. 



The substitution of these letters, one for another, is also exceedingly 

 common in Irish topographical names : and since this kind of corrup- 

 tion prevails in Irish as well as in English, the names were altered in 

 this particular respect, quite as much in one language as in the other. 

 L appears to have been a favourite letter, and the instances are parti- 

 cularly numerous in which it is substituted for the letter r. The word 

 Sruthair, a stream, forms the whole or part of many names ; and gene- 

 rally — but not always — the r has been changed to I, as in Shrule, 

 Shruel, Struell, Sruveel, Sroohill, Sroolane, Commeenshrule, Abbey- 

 shrule, all names of places in different parts of Ireland. In Abbey- 

 strowry, the name of a parish in Cork, the r has been retained. Biorar, 

 watercresses, is now always called in Irish biolar, in which form it 

 enters into several names, as for example Aghaviller, a parish in Kil- 

 kenny (Clca6-biolaip, field of the watercresses) ; in Toberburr, however, 

 in the parish of Einglas, Dublin, the original r is retained (Cobap- 

 biopaip, watercress well). Lough Owel near ]Vfullingar is written 

 Loch TJair in the Irish Annals, but in the modern Irish it is always 

 called Loch Vail, from which the present name has been derived. 

 Rathlin, the name of an island on the coast of Antrim, and of another 

 on the coast of Donegal, is corrupted from Beachrainn (which O'Donovan 

 translates sea rock) ; and Loughbrickland in Down was anciently 

 Loc-bpicpenn, the lake of Ericriu, an Ulster chief of the first century. 



N is also sometimes, though not often, changed to I, as in Lough 

 Ennell in "Westmeath, in Irish Loc-Ginninn, Ainninn's lake. Dingle 

 in Kerry is a corruption of Baingean, a fortress, the full name being 

 t)airi5ean-"Ui-Chuip, the fortress of O'Cuis; and Castleconnell near 

 Limerick is the castle of the O'Conaings, not of the O'Connells, as the 

 present form of the name would indicate. 



The change of n to r is one of frequent occurrence, an example of 

 which is the name of Limerick, in Irish Luimne, which was originally 

 the name of the lower Shannon, as t)uiblirm was the name of the lower 

 Liffey. Kilmacrenan in Donegal is properly Cill-mac-Nenain, the 

 church of the sons of Enan. Killery harbour in Connemara is 

 called at the present day in Irish, Cctolpaipe, from which the present 

 name is formed ; but it should be Caolpcnle, or, as it is written more 

 fully by the Eour Masters, Caolpaile-pua£>, i. e. the reddish narrow- 

 sea-inlet, a most appropriate name. In some of the Northern counties, 

 the Irish-speaking people cannot without difficulty articulate the. com- 

 binations cn and ^n, and in order to facilitate the pronunciation they 

 change the n to r. There are about 45 townlands commencing with the 

 word Crock, all in Ulster, except only a few in Connaught and Leinster, 



