quinheritagroup@gmail.com

We all know the name of our local river to be the Rine River (Abha an Rinne). We also know of its several different names as it travels from its source to entering the Fergus. Did you know that it hasn’t always been known (and recorded) under this name? Thomas J Westropp was a frequent visitor to this area and has documented his observations on many of our historical and archaeological features. Ancient names for our river are dealt with here.

We may briefly note that Lower Bunratty nearly corresponds to the ancient Tradree (Tradraighe) and is clearly marked by the two streams – the Rine or Gissagh flowing into Latoon creek to the north and the Owennagarnagh or Raite to the east.

In a note to the above, he further adds the following:

The name is “Misagh” in MSS., R.I.A. 24D 10, a poem “on the Franciscan Monastery (Quin) on the Misagh”. The stream is the “Gissagh at Quin” in Hugh Norton’s account of Clare, 1695, MSS. T.C.D., I.41, 2, p.235. He calls the Sixmilebridge river “the Kney”. The “Gossogh” and “Gosseogh” appear in early seventeenth century maps.

Thomas J Westropp ‘Pillars, Dolmen and Cists in the Eastern Half of County Clare’

Hugh Brigdall, in his Description of County Clare 1682 (see The Other Clare, Vol.22 p.56) describes it as the Gilsagh river.

There is an Irish word used in placenames which is Gisha/Gishagh and is a derivitive of gCiseach used to describe a wicker/wattle bridge or causeway. We know that the main route from Limerick to Galway passed through Quin because it was the location of the river crossing. It is possible that this name was applied to the river arising from the presence of this very type of bridge being located here!

A photo taken in the early 2000’s shows the river as it leaves the village bridge. A photo from the Lawrence Collection c1900, appears to show works being carried out or completed to straighten and reinforce the banks of the River Rine before entering the bridge.

This local river was named in some early maps as the Quin River. Fed by a number of streams originating in the hills around Maghera and also the Affick River, which in turn collects from Slieve Aughty, The Kiltannon (Abhainn Cill tSeanáin) begins its life near Tulla. From here it meanders on contentedly for 2km until it reached Newgrove/Ballyslattery Bridge directly west of Tulla when it becomes the Tomeen River (no translation available, is it derived from the nearby Tome, meaning bush). It is fed by a few more streams but 2.5km south it has another name change and is now the Boolyree River (Abhainn Bhuaile Fhraoigh) at Dangan Bridge. After another 2km it meets up with the Hell River (Abhainn an Ifrinn) close to Magh Adhair. It then passes through Quin as the Rine (Abhainn na Rinne). When it reaches the Ardsolas Bridge it becomes the Ardsollus River (Abhainn Áth Solas). It soon reaches Blackweir Bridge where it reaches its senior years and becomes the Latoon Creek (Crompán Latúin). It is now tidal as a result of linking up and emptying itself into The Fergus River (An Forghas).

In Quin we have the townlands of Rineen and Rine, in Tulla there is also a Rine townland and in Shannon where the Fergus dumps its load, there is the townland of Rineanna (the original name of the airport). Did the townlands inspire the current river name or did these townlands derive their names from the nearby river?

Rine, rinn, a point of land or a headland

Rineanna, rinn éanaigh, the point or headland of the marsh

Rineen, rennín, a small point of land

Our local river, the Gissagh, Gilsagh, Gossogh, Gosseogh, Misagh, Quin or Rine, runs like a spine through the village and parish in which we live. It once provided sustenance to the monks, friars and locals. It powered mills and even a small electricity generator at one time. Let’s not turn our backs to this lovely feature. It’s amenity potential surely needs more attention and focus by our community in the years ahead.

What did the Anglo Normans ever do for us?

We are well aware of the impact of the Anglo-Norman invasion on our history, the undermining of Gaelic society and the replacement of our native structures. Poor old Diarmuid MacMurrough takes a lot of blame for all of this, despite the fact that Henry II in England had already sought and had been given approval by Pope Adrian to invade and civilise us. Henry was just waiting to finish his war in France before sorting us out!

Anyway, in they came, conquered, settled, married and eventually becoming more Irish than even ourselves, ‘níos gaelaí ná na Gaeil féin’! But besides building towns and castles, robbing our women (and probably taking our jobs!), what did the Anglo-Normans do for us – if anything?

Well, for one, they gave us a whole new suite of names, both forename and surname, to choose from.

The Norman influence on Irish surnames

Following the invasion of 1169, a large number of Anglo-French first and last names entered into Ireland. Many, such as Power, Browne, Fleming, Joyce, Burke, Barry, Costello, Nagle, Nugent, D’arcy, Roche and Walsh/Welsh/Wallace, are nowadays considered Irish and are commonly found in Clare. So, too, are those with the Fitz prefix such as Fitzmaurice, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon and Fitzpatrick which most people would regard as Irish as the shamrock. Fitz, meaning ‘son of’, can be considered the Norman version of Mac (it derives from the Latin/French ‘fils de’, meaning ‘son of’). Burke came from de Burgh, Roche from de Roiste, Power from de Paor.

In 1366, a law was passed that “Every Englishman do use the English language, and be named by an English name, leaving off entirely the manner of naming used by the Irish.” This was introduced to dissuade the settlers from adopting Celtic prefixes or forms of surname. It didn’t have much affect as many settler families added Mac or ‘O’ and Norman names evolved into an Irish form (eg McHenry, McArthur).

In 1465 a law was passed enacting “that every Irishman that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen in the County of Dublin, Myeth, Vriell, and Kildare … shall take to him an English Surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colour, as white, blacke, browne; or arte or science, as smith or carpenter; or office, as cooke, butler ….”

Many of the trades of the early medieval period such as Archer, Butler, Cooper, Carpenter, Draper, Skinner, Tanner found their way into our surnames. Other introductions from this period came from the mercenary soldiers who accompanied the Norman invasion: Walsh (meaning Welsh), Joyce and Fleming (from Flemish mercenaries) are examples.

Incidentally, the Normans usually took their surnames from the place of their family origins. So, D’arcy originates in Arcy in Normandy. De Clare originates in Clare in Suffolk where the Anglo-Norman family were based. While De indicated their place of origin, Le was used to describe them, eg Le Poer meant ‘a poor person’.

De Burgh – Burke – from a placename in Suffolk, France

Le Botilier – Butler – Occupation bottle steward

De Barra – Barry – from an estate in Wales

Le Waleys – Walsh – the Welshmen

De Angulo – Costello/Nangle – from Nangle Pembrokeshire

What of their influence on forenames?

 Many of the Normans forenames introduced here were of a biblical or European saintly origin.

 In 1922, Reverend Patrick Woulfe wrote extensively on the topic of Irish name origins as follows:

In the same manner Norman and English names became current in Irish families during the thirteenth and subsequent centuries. These have now almost completely supplanted the old Gaelic names. The names borne by the Normans and by them introduced into Ireland, were of three kinds :

 (1) names of Scandinavian origin which their ancestors had carried with them to Normandy ;

(2) names of Germanic origin which the Frankish conquerors had brought across the Rhine and which had ousted the old Celtic and Latin names from France ; and

(3) Biblical names and Latin and Greek names of saints,, which the Normans began to adopt about the beginning of the eleventh century.

Together with these came in a few Celtic names from Brittany, a small number of Anglo-Saxon names, some Danish and Norse names from England, and one or two British or Welsh names. These were nearly all very rare and most of them soon died out. Of the Anglo-Saxon names, only two, Edmund and Edward, survived. Alfred has been revived in recent times. At the period of the Invasion, Frankish names were by far the most popular among the Normans, but Biblical and saintly names were coming rapidly into favour.

The following is a list, in order of frequency, of the more common names borne by the early Anglo- Norman invaders, the Biblical and saintly names of Latin and Greek origin being printed in italics :

William, Robert, Richard, John, Walter, Roger, Ralph, Adam, Hugh, Henry, Thomas, Nicholas, Gilbert, Geoffrey, Elias, Peter (Piers), Osbert, Reginald, Jordan, Simon, Alan, Stephen, Philip, David, Arnold, Alexander, Laurence, Baldwin, Herbert, Martin, Maurice, Godfrey, Andrew, Alfred, James, Samson, Turstein, Warin, Ailward, Daniel, Edward, Gregory, Bernard, Benedict, Hamon, Matthias, Michael, Gerard, Gervase, Lambert, Wilkin, Patrick, Edmund, Edwin, Hubert, Ivor, Joseph, Oliver, Mark.

 The following in alphabetical order were rare :

 Abraham, Adelard, Ailmer, Antony, Augustine, Brian, Clement, Constantine, Estmund, Eustace, Everard, Gocelin, Isaac, Leonard, Luke, Matthew, Miles, Milo, Odo, Osbern, Osmund, Pagan, Ponce, Randulf, Redmund, Rodulf, Silvester, Turold, Ulf, Vincent.

 The following names only came in, or at least became popular, at a later period :

Bartholomew, Christopher, Francis, Gerald, George, Paul, Roland, Theobald.

 Women’s names among the Normans were nearly all of the Biblical or saintly class:

 Agnes, Alice, Amelina, Anastasia, Annabella, Catherine, Cecily, Christina, Dorothy, Egidia, Eleanor, Evelyn, Frances, Honora, Isabella, Johanna, Matilda, Margaret, Susanna.

 The name Mary does not seem to have come into use in Ireland before the end of the16th century. Brigid only began to be used about the same period.

 

Extracted from ‘Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall’, Patrick Woulfe 1922

Out with the old, in with the new

The Anglo-Normans also brought with them new animal species such as the rabbit and fallow deer, new foods such as wheat, orchard fruits, mutton and farming practices such as hay-making. They introduced us to continental European religious saints and practices of the Roman Church. European religious orders soon followed such as the Franciscans, Augustinians, Cistercians, Dominicans etc. These replaced the structures of the native Irish Christian Church.

Up to then, the Irish natives did not adopt the name of saints as they considered this to be placing themselves on a par with the saint. Such naming convention was reserved for those of higher status in the monasteries. This was circumvented by use of the prefix Maol or Giolla meaning follower or servant. The Normans changed all of that and it was now acceptable to be called Peter, James, Michael, John, Mary, Brigid or Margaret.

Very few of us to this day do not have either a forename or surname that is not of Norman origin. Eventually, arising from the Gaelic Revival in the late 19th century, new Irish language versions of these forenames appeared such as Séan, Seamus, Peadar, Máire, Bríd, Mícheál, Cathal and many more appeared.

The Irish Church did not condemn the practice of slave-trading by the Irish until the invasion by the Anglo-Normans and the encroachment of the Roman Church. The story of Patrick (Patricius, son of a Roman administrator), which was introduced here after the Norman conquest, presents the native Irish as uncivilised pagan slavers who needed to be brought to heel. So the Normans inadvertently gave us our native saint and a forename for a good chunk of our population for generations following.

Out with the new, in with the old

Children are rarely given these European saint names today. Authentic Gaelic forenames are much more popular. We are nevertheless, unlikely to see the demise of the Anglo-Normans surnames that were introduced here. But all of us Mikes, Jimmies, Johnnys, Paddys, Kittys, Cathys, Maggies and Bridies can thank the Normans for what they brought us!