LET us WANDER ROUND IRELAND : So wrote the topographer, John O'Dugan, five hundred years ago, when beginning his poetical description of Ireland, and so I address my readers to-day. The journey will be at least a novel one; and to those who are interested in the topography of our country, in the origin of local names, or in the philosophy of language, it may be attended with some instruction and amusement. The materials of this book were collected, and the book itself was written, in the intervals of serious and absorbing duties. The work of collection, arrangement, and composition, was to me a never-failing source of pleasure; it was often interrupted and resumed at long intervals; and
if ever it involved labour, it was really and truly a labour of love.
I might have illustrated various portions of the book by reference to the local etymologies of other countries; and this was indeed my original intention; but I soon abandoned it, for I found that the materials I had in hands, relating exclusively to my own country, were more than enough for the space at my disposal.
Quotations from other languages I have, all through, translated into English; and I have given in brackets the pronunciation of the principal Irish words, as nearly as could be represented by English letters.
The local nomenclature of most countries of Europe is made up of the languages of various races: that of Great Britain, for instance, is a mixture of Celtic, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman French words, indicating successive invasions, and interesting and valuable for that very reason, as a means of historical research; but often perplexingly interwoven and difficult to unravel. In our island, there was scarcely any admixture of races, till the introduction of an important English element, chiefly within the last three hundred years—for, as I have shown (p. 105), the Danish irruptions produced no appreciable effect; and accordingly, our place-names are purely Celtic, with the exception of about a thirteenth part, which are English, and
mostly of recent introduction. This great name system, begun thousands of years ago by the first wave of population that reached our island, was continued unceasingly from age to age, till it embraced the minutest features of the country in its intricate net-work; and such as it sprang forth from the minds of our ancestors, it exists almost unchanged to this day.
if ever it involved labour, it was really and truly a labour of love.
I might have illustrated various portions of the book by reference to the local etymologies of other countries; and this was indeed my original intention; but I soon abandoned it, for I found that the materials I had in hands, relating exclusively to my own country, were more than enough for the space at my disposal.
Quotations from other languages I have, all through, translated into English; and I have given in brackets the pronunciation of the principal Irish words, as nearly as could be represented by English letters.
The local nomenclature of most countries of Europe is made up of the languages of various races: that of Great Britain, for instance, is a mixture of Celtic, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman French words, indicating successive invasions, and interesting and valuable for that very reason, as a means of historical research; but often perplexingly interwoven and difficult to unravel. In our island, there was scarcely any admixture of races, till the introduction of an important English element, chiefly within the last three hundred years—for, as I have shown (p. 105), the Danish irruptions produced no appreciable effect; and accordingly, our place-names are purely Celtic, with the exception of about a thirteenth part, which are English, and
mostly of recent introduction. This great name system, begun thousands of years ago by the first wave of population that reached our island, was continued unceasingly from age to age, till it embraced the minutest features of the country in its intricate net-work; and such as it sprang forth from the minds of our ancestors, it exists almost unchanged to this day.
