239 



should receive these names in all cases without alteration. Of the 

 modem townland names containing the four words just named, the sr 

 has been retained in less than half; in about forty or fifty, it has been 

 changed to sltr, and in all the rest it has been corrupted by the insertion 

 of a t. There are about 1 70 modern names commencing with sir, and 

 many more containing these letters intermediate. In all these, with 

 hardly an exception, the t is a late insertion ; for although we have 

 words in Irish commencing with str, there are no names derived from 

 them, except perhaps about half a dozen. The insertion of a t is one 

 of the expedients for avoiding the combination sr, which is found in 

 several languages, and which has been in operation from the earliest 

 times. We find it, for instance, in the 0. H. German stroum (Eng. 

 stream), and in the name of the well-known Thracian River Strymon, 

 both of which are derived from a Sanscrit root sru, meaning ft? flow* 



A few names will illustrate these remarks. In Srugreana in parish 

 of Killinane, Kerry (Spuc-^picmac, gravelly stream), and in Srananny 

 in parish of Donagh, Monaghan (Spac-an-ecmoug, the strath or holm 

 of the marsh), the initial sr has been retained. In Shrule (Spucaip), 

 the name of a town in Mayo, and of seven townlands in different coun- 

 ties, it has been changed to shr ; and also in Sbronagree, in the parish 

 of Skull, Cork (Spon-na-^-cpoi&e, the nose or point of the cattle). 

 In the following names, a t has been inserted. Stradbally is the name 

 of several townlands and villages; the Irish name is Spotobaile, i. e. 

 street town, from ppdit) and baile, and the word originally meant a 

 town consisting of one long street, undefended by either walls or castle. 

 Strancally on the Blackwater, in parish of Kilcockan, "Waterford, the 

 well-known seat of the Desmonds, is in Irish Sp6n-cailli5e, the hag's 

 nose or promontory. Ardstraw, in Tyrone, is Gpt>-ppaca, the height 

 of (or near) the srath or river bank; and Strabane, also in Tyrone, 

 Spac-bdn, white srath. Struell, in the parish and county of Down, is 

 Spucaip, a streamlet, but this word is more commonly anglicised 

 Shrule. 



This corruption — the insertion of t — is found more or less all over 

 Ireland, but it prevails more in the Northern counties than anywhere 

 else. In Ulster, the combination sr is scarcely admitted at all; of 

 about 1 70 townland names in all Ireland, commencing with these two 

 letters, there are only twelve in this province, and these are wholly 

 confined to Donegal, Fermanagh, and Monaghan. 



VI. Addition of d after n, 1, and r ; and of b after m. — The most 

 extensive agency in corrupting language is contraction, i. e. the omis- 

 sion of letters ; first, in pronunciation, and afterwards in writing. This 

 is what Max Muller calls phonetic decay, and he shows that it results 

 from a deficiency of muscular energy in pronunciation, in other words, 

 from laziness. There are cases, however, in which this principle seems 



* See Mr. Whitley Stokes's " Irish Glosses ;" and Dr. "W. K. Sullivan's Translation 

 of Ebel's " Celtic Studies." 



