Ford place-lore in Irish tradition.

Tiziana Soverino, UCD, 9th April 2013.

FORD=‘A shallow place in a river or other water, where a

man or beast may cross by wading’.(Oxford English Dictionary). Person= more politically correct than man.

Ford= can be both natural or man-made; temporary or permanent.

FORDSOften underestimated; not many scholarly works about

them.

BUT in the middle ages they were ‘vital arteries of communication’ (Doran 2004, 64); villages and townlands developed around fords (as shown by their names).

Supernatural also= transitional in many ways: land and water, nature and culture, different banks of river/stream; this world/Otherworld. Supernatural beings met at fords, bridges, crossroads in oral tradition.

FORDS: LOCATIONS OF BATTLESBattles often took place at fords: documented both in

the Annals and in literary texts.

E.g. Annals of the Four Masters: ‘The Age of Christ, 524. The twenty-first year of Muirchertach. The Battle of Áth-Sighe [was gained ] by Muircheartach against the Leinstermen, where Sighe, the son of Dian, was slain, from whom Áth Sighe is called’ (O’Donovan 1856, 171).

BATTLE OF ÁTH SIGE, ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS3 points of notice:

a. battle taking place at fords: common (Doran 2004, 64; TBC)b. ford called after eponymous individual slain there: widespread naming pattern in medieval texts, including the Dindshenchas corpus (Sheeran 1988, 199) ;c. ford lending its name to townland and parish grown around it: Assey, Co. Meath > Áth Sige. Frequent pattern.

FORDS IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE:Battles often said to take place at or around

fordsFord names often associated with fighting,

e.g. TBC 18 ford names, of which 14 war-related; mostly commemorating the men slain in single combat by Cú Chulainn while defending alone the Ulster province against the men of Ailill and Medb; e.g. Áth Lethan (‘Lethan’s Ford’, O’Rahilly 1976, 30; ‘The Broad Ford’).

IRISH FOLKLORE COLLECTION QUESTIONNAIRE ON RIVER FORDS:

Sent in 1950.Answers=1950+1; found in MSS: NFC 1253-

4 + a few belated answers in NFC 1379 and NFC 1669.

Containing 2 specific questions about place-lore:

QUESTIONS ON PLACE-LORE IN IFC QUESTIONNAIRE ON RIVER FORDS:ENGLISH: IRISH: ‘What term was applied

locally to a river- or stream-crossing (áth, áthán, clochán, carra, ciseach, scairbh, ford, etc.)?

Give the name, if any, and the location (river or stream, townland, parish) of the local fords. When did they cease to be used, and why?’.

Cad é an ainm a tugtaí ar áth abhann nó srutháin id’ cheanntar-sa (áth, áthán, clochán, carra, ciseach, scairbh, 7rl.)?

Cad ab ainm dos na háthanna i t’áit féin (Áth an Daimh, Áth na Caillighe, Áth Sheáin Óig, 7rl.)? Cá rabhadar suidhte (ainm na habhann, baile fearainn, paróiste)? Cathain a héirigheadh as iad d’úsáid, agus cé’n fáth?’.

QUESTIONS ON PLACE-LORE IN IFC QUESTIONNAIRE ON FORDS:Question 1: generic words used for fords in the

locality.Question 2: specific ford names in the locality.But no specific question on HOW fords acquired

their names.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENGLISH AND IRISH TEXTS OF QUESTIONNAIRES:examples of ford names only given in the Irish version.

A VANISHING TRADITION:Questionnaire correspondents and informants=

regret about much lore about fords been lost at that stage (=early 1950s), because of CHANGES in lifestyle, construction of bridges, etc.

Common attitude in Irish tradition, e.g. Acallam na Senórach: ‘Dear holy cleric, these old warriors tell you no more than a third of their stories, because their memories are faulty’ (Whitley and Stokes 1900, ll. 297-9; English translation from Dooley and Roe 1999, 12).

2 TYPES OF PLACE-LORE IN REPLIES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE: Brief and circumstantial, often

opening window on past ways of life and beliefs. Very common.

3 examples:a. burning lights for travellers (night + early morning), e.g. Áth a’ tsoluis (‘Ford of the Light’) , Co. Cork (NFC 1254: 74).b. Bringing sheep across, or washing it before shearing, e.g. Áth na gCaorach (‘The Ford of the Sheep’) Toberadora, Co. Tipperary (NFC 1254: 201).c. Water mills often near fords, e.g. Sruth an Mhuilinín (‘The Stream of the Little Mill’),Clear Island, Co. Cork (NFC 1254: 64).

Longer onomastic legends.

2 examples:a. Áth an Phuca, Kilfinnane, Co. Limerick: supernatural; b. Ballyleague, Co. Roscommon: Finn mac Cum(h)aill, giants, continuity with medieval tradition.

SPOTLIGHT ON THESE.

LEGEND NO. 1: THE FORD OF THE POOKA, KILFINNANE, CO. LIMERICK

Áth an phúca. On the south side of Kilfinane and about four miles distant there is a famous ford at the junction of a couple of mountain streams. This gives a name to a river from that point, ‘Ahaphuca’, a tributary of the Blackwater. (...). My informant (...) gave me a tale about the puca. It appears that this gentleman occasionally haunted the ford giving unwanted trips on his back to belated wayfarers. There was a man who used to do jobs such as colt breaking for farmers in the district. He was inclined to take a drop too much and on a night, when he was coming home late and taking a ‘rest’ near the ford, on comes the puka shaped like a big calf, tossed the traveller upon his back and proceeded to give him an acrobatic aerial display, over the hills towards Mitchelstown and the Glen of Aherlow. He shook the life almost out of our poor man whom he left almost dead at the ford towards morning. Our man meditated on the business and plotted revenge. He took a pair of leggings and fixed them up with a plentiful array of spikes and horse-nails in the sides and later on, one night, he hid them some distance from the ford on his way to a farmhouse. He came along late that night, near twelve o’clock and pretended to be very drunk having put on the leggings on his way. At the ford in the old spot he encountered his friend the puca who without delay tossed him up and proceeded with his gambols as before. Now, though, when they were over the hills our rider brought his leggings into play on the puca’s sides and ‘raddled’ him well. Farther on he ‘raddled’ him again and so on till the puca was glad to return and deposit our traveller at the ford again. The puca is supposed to have deserted the place and did not appear there since’.(NFC 1254: 141-3).

THE FORD OF THE POOKAPlace-name explained: Áth an phúca (‘The

Ford of the Pooka’) in the Kilfinnane area of County Limerick, after pooka, terrifying passers-by. 

The Ahaphuca River takes its name from this ford > Irish Abhainn Áth an Phúca (‘The River of the Ford of the Púca’), Townland of Tulla, Parish of Darragh, and Barony of Coshlea, Co. Limerick (Logainm.ie).

KILFINNANE,CO. LIMERICK

Kilfinnane, Co. Limerick

THE FORD OF THE POOKA, CO. LIMERICKSupernatural beings met at fords also associated with

place-lore: pookas, ghosts, fairies, supernatural lights.Pooka/ púca: elusive solitary fairy, shape-shifter:

animal(e.g. goat, horse,) or anthropomorphic(Breatnach 1993, 105).

Often represented as animal, which brings unwilling riders – especially drunkards – on unforgettable, terrifying journeys(Ó Súilleabháin 1942, 485-6). Narrative well-attested in Irish tradition, and it seems to be peculiar to Ireland (Breatnach 1993, 107).  

 

THE POOKA IN IRISH PLACE-NAMES:As with many supernatural beings, he is

associated with lonely, wild places, and frequently with place-names.

‘There are many places all over Ireland where the Pooka is still well remembered’ (Joyce 1869, 188), e.g. Pollaphuca (‘The Pool/Hole of the Pooka’, Co. Wicklow), a chasm over the Liffey; Carrigaphuca (‘The Pooka’s Rock’), near Macroom, Co. Cork; Castlepook (‘The Castle of the Pooka’), near Donerails, Co. Cork (Joyce 1869, 188-9).

LEGEND NO. 2: BALLYLEAGUE, CO. ROSCOMMONThe questionnaire correspondent, from Lanesboro on the Longford-Leinster

side of the Shannon, often went to visit his uncle in Ballyleague, on the Roscommon-Connaught side, as a youth. A bridge built in 1844 connects both Counties and provinces. He came across a lock-keeper named Tom, whose job was to open and close the swing bridge, and who argued that Lanesboro was a recent name, as follows: ‘a shoneen named Lane got a title from the English and then he began to call “your side of the water” Lanesboro, but our name can go back to the Flood’.

‘The time I am going to tell you about is so far back that there wasn’t trace nor tidings of a bridge here and when people wished to cross they had to go on stepping stones and then only in summer-time. Look up there to Curreen [a townland located in the Parish and Barony of Rathcline, Co. Longford, LA] and you see another narrow part of the Shannon – well, people crossed

LEGEND NO. 2: BALLYLEAGUE, CO. ROSCOMMON (continuing)there too and when the river was deepened many a horse shoe I saw on the

banks taken from the bottom of the stream. Well, the biggest giant in Ireland Finn Mool (Finn Mc Cool) was crossing the ‘foord’ (ford) there at Curreen going to Ardagh Mountain [in Co. Longford] to claim the grandest princess in the land that lived there – a fairy one, you know. Now there was another giant, bigger and heftier than Finn who was determined to win the hand of the princess. Back there from Mayo – God help us – he came. Finn looked north and seen the river flooding its banks with the size of the monstrous giant, who at the same time was crossing the Shannon at the ford here where we now stand [at the bridge of Lanesboro]. He shook his big paw at Finn and waved to him to go back. But not a bit of a coward was in Finn – he swung his battle axe three times in the air and bellowed forth his fiercest challenge “We’ll decide now and in this very spot”. To each other they waded and there below at the end of the “spoil banks” they fought the whole day. When it was coming near sunset, Finn was feeling sore and tired, not only

LEGEND NO. 2: BALLYLEAGUE, CO. ROSCOMMON (continuing)with the fighting, but from the wounds and bruises. He felt a tremor all over him

but still he fought with all his might. From “Blue yard” [an area in Longford town] on the Longford side he heard a lovely song, and in seconds he seen the lovely princess all the way from Ardagh Mountain standing on the bank of the Shannon. “Here Finn” she cried “take this and give him a lick of it”. With that, she flung him a limestone rock. He grasped it, and a mighty one it was, and with the first mighty blow he laid the Mayo mountain man flat on the broad of his back kicking his life out, and in a few seconds the Shannon closed over him and he was never seen again. Finn got better of his wounds and lived happy ever after with his fairy princess. But ever since, and as late as last bonfire night [June 23rd, eve of Saint John’s Day], three girls dressed in white walk on them waters from Curreen to this bridge of Lanesboro wailing and wringing their hand and back again – and every year. And now you know how our Ballyleague got its name before ever Lord Lanesboro was heard tell of, and that it should be the name of the whole place east and

LEGEND NO. 2: BALLYLEAGUE, CO. ROSCOMMON (continuing)west of this bridge – béal-áth-liac – the town of the ford of the lick of the stone,

and that is how it got its name.(NFC 1253: 55-8).

PLACE-NAMES EXPLAINED:Béal-Áth[a]-Liac (‘The Mouth of the Ford of the Stone’), Co. Roscommon ;

Lanesborough, Co. Longford.

Lanesborough, Co. Longford

- Named after George Lane, Viscount of Lanesborough, who was granted land by the English in the 17th century.

LEGEND NO. 2: BALLYLEAGUE, CO. ROSCOMMON (discussion) Double etymology of Ballyleague: liac (‘stone’) perhaps humorously,

Anglicized as ‘lick’, but also translated as ‘stone’. Béal-Áth[a]-Liac :explained as ‘The Town of the Ford of the Lick of the Stone’.

Antiquity of this local place-name’s origin, and its link to ancient stories about Finn mac Cumhaill: cherished by the lock-keeper.

Rivalry between the two sides of the Shannon : Ballyleague: Roscommon, Connacht, vs. Lanesbourough, Longford, Leinster, called after 17th-century landowner George Lane.

Local identity, political dimension.

BALLYLEAGUE ONOMASTIC LEGEND POSSIBLY BASED ON MEDIEVAL TRADITION:

ÁTH LÍAC FIND: Dindshenchas texts: RDinds. 139, Met. Dinds. iv, 36-43 (2 poems). Same ford giving its name to Ballyleague, Co. Roscommon (Stokes, RDinds. 139).

- Met. Dinds. IV, 36-9 (translation from Gwynn: see following slide):

ÁTH LÍAC FIND I, medieval poem:

 Āth Liac Find—whence comes it ? wherefore does no shanachiedeclare ? what forgetfulness has made it dim, since Find left thestone there ?When there fell—great was the fight—thirty nines and fiftyfighting round the three doughty sons of Cerb, who came alongthe stream from the north-west :When there fell in the ford four Conalls, two Colmans, fourSuibnes, two sons of Brecc, four Dubthachs, two Diarmaits :Flathgus, Find's henchman, turned his face toward the cry ofone o'er-matched : there fell by his hand, where he stood at bay, four fours and

two nines.When Fland son of Eochaid Red-brows assailed the ford from

ÁTH LÍAC FIND I, medieval poem (continuing):

the north he slew fifty—famous meeting—that strong wolf-headof conflict.When he told the tale . . . the loss of the son of Conna fromMag Lir, whom Find slew that morn, cast the host into a stuporof dismay:When Setna uttered thereafter his word . . . that the faith offair fight should be broken against Umall's son of the Leinstermen: When Sinand came thereafter, Mongan's daughter, from thefairy dwellings, she gave a stone with a chain of gold to Find, sonof long-limbed Umall. Thereupon Find put out his hand for the strong triple-edgedstone and pledged the head that was on the shoulders of Guaire

ÁTH LÍAC FIND I, medieval poem (continuing):

Goll who carried it.That he would not use aught but spear or sword or brand—fierce his onset : it was one of his gessa afterward that his sideshould touch the ground.Then he hurled the stone into the ford when his battle-wrathcame to him : so that there perished thereby Senach, Senchánand Bran.So it found rest thereafter in the full wide grey pool, till itbe cast upon the shore on a Sunday at the hour of matins.A maiden will find it then at morn, whose name is Bé Thuinne:she will set her straight leg upon the hoop of red gold.It is seven years' space from then till the brink of JudgmentDay: never have I been found astray: that is the story of the ford.

THE FORD OF BALLYLEAGUE: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ONOMASTIC TRADITIONSBasic story plot unchanged in the Dindshenchas and

in recent oral tradition: Finn gets into trouble while fighting an opponent, he is helped by a fairy woman, and wins, thanks to the supernatural stone that she gives him. The ford is called after that stone. Place-name also explained similarly.

Áth Líac Finn:‘The Ford of Finn’s Stone’; Ballyleague, Béal-átha-liac : ‘The Mouth of the Ford of the Stone’.

Both places called after stone (liac). Third element

THE FORD OF BALLYLEAGUE: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ONOMASTIC TRADITIONSof Áth Líac Finn dropped in modern place-name Béal-

átha-liac; perhaps because of ‘Béal’.

THE FORD OF BALLYLEAGUE: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ONOMASTIC TRADITIONS. DIFFERENCES:

1) in the oral legend,the fight between Finn mac Cumhaill and his opponents has been

simplified to a single combat between Finn and another man;

2) both Finn and his rival have been transformed into giants (giants often linked to landscape formation and naming);

3) the two parties fight to win the hand of the woman (Finn: womaniser).

THE FORD OF BALLYLEAGUE: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ONOMASTIC TRADITIONSNarrative not well-known in popular

literature.Possible survival of tradition from 10th

century to 20th century.Or at least (re)-introduction and adaptation of

onomastic legend from medieval times in local folklore.

CONCLUSIONS: Ford names most often accompanied by no or brief explanation in the replies

to the IFC questionnaire on river fords: many traditions lost or forgotten. Longer onomastic legends found, however, not only in Irish-speaking, but

also in English-speaking areas of Ireland. Onomastic legends show a deep sense of place; links with the supernatural

(e.g. pooka) and with characters from the literature (Finn mac Cumhaill), and occasionally continuity or analogies with medieval tradition (Ballyleague).