236 



not sounded at all, as in Fermanagh, Kilnamanagh, &c. In the middle 

 of words, its place is often supplied by h alone, as in Crohane, the name 

 of a parish in Tipperary, and of several townlands (Cpuacdn, a little 

 rick or hill) ; and in many cases it is represented by h or ck, as in Eoor- 

 kill in parish of Athenry, Galway (puap-coill, cold wood). 



But there is a more remarkable change which this aspirate under- 

 goes in common with three ofhers. In many names, the sounds of the 

 Irish aspirated letters c, 5, &, and c, are converted into the sound of /; 

 and this occurs so frequently as to preclude all supposition of mere acci- 

 dent. Ch is a hard guttural, as heard in the common word lough (loc) ; 

 5 or & (both which have the same sound) is the corresponding soft gut- 

 tural, but in the end of Irish words, these aspirated letters are not 

 sounded at all ; t is sounded exactly like English h. 



The sound of c is changed to that of / in the following names. 

 Knocktopher in Kilkenny, in Irish Cnoc-a-cocaip, the hill of the 

 togher or causeway ; Luffany, the name of two townlands in Kilkenny, 

 an pliucame, the wet land; Clifden in Galway, Clocdn, a stone 

 house : Lisnafiffy, the name of two townlands in Down, Liop-na-paicce, 

 the lis of the green. Colli, a wood, has the c usually aspirated when 

 the word forms the second part of a compound term, and in these cases, 

 it is often anglicised field, as in Cranfield, the name of a parish in An- 

 trim, and of two townlands, one in Tyrone, and the other in Down, i.e. 

 Cpearh-coill, wild garlick wood: Longfield, the name of 21 townlands 

 in different parts of Ireland, but chiefly in the North, most or all of which 

 are corrupted from the Irish Learh-coill, elm wood. So also the personal 

 name Murphy, which is in Irish O'TTlvjpca&a ; and it seems to be in 

 conformity with the same principle, that the Irish cpocca, an enclosure, 

 corresponds with the English croft, same meaning. 



In the following names, 5 or & has been changed to /. Bruff in 

 Limerick is properly bpu£, a mansion. The brugh, or mansion, that gave 

 name to this place, still exists; it is an earthen fort near the town, 

 called at the present day by the people, Lipfn-a-t>hpo§a, the little lis 

 of Bruff ; there is also a townland named Bruff in parish of Aghamore, 

 Mayo. Balief in parish of Clomantagh, Kilkenny, is t>aile-Gooa, 

 Hugh's town ; Muff, the name of two villages, one in Donegal, and the 

 other in Deny, and of eight townlands, all in the northern half of Ire- 

 land, mag, a plain. In some cases, instead of the hard labial/, it is 

 turned into the corresponding soft labial v, as in Lough Melvin, Loo 

 TTIeilge, Meilghe's lake; Adrivale in parish of Drishane, Cork, Gaoap- 

 gabal, between the [river] forks; Glasnevin, which is called 5^ a F" 

 Naoioen in Irish documents. 



In the following names, t has been changed to /. Kilclief, in Co. 

 Down, which is called in the " Annals of the Eour Masters," and other 

 Irish documents, Cill-cleice, the hurdle church, referring to the primi- 

 tive church made of hurdles; Tiscoffin, a parish in Kilkenny, "Cij- 

 Scoictn, Scoithin's house or church; Cloonascoffagh, in the parish of 

 Kilmacshalgan, Sligo, Cluam-na-pcocac, the meadow of the flowers. 



