ANTHROPOMORPHISM, the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to an object, in a real or imagined way, has given rise to a multitude of topographical names all over the country. Most body parts are to be found in Mayo placenames, and the natural features compared with, and named from them, are generally hills.
Two weeks ago, Townland Tales visited Mace townland, which gets its name from the Irish word ‘más’, meaning ‘thigh’, applied to a long, low hill.
This week, it is Bunanioo – Bun na nAeú, ‘Bottom-land of the Liver-Shaped Eminences’ – in Corraun, that is our focus.
Corraun is almost an island. Strictly speaking, it is an isthmus. I alluded to it briefly in a previous article featuring Belmullet and Achill (‘A tale of two isthmuses’, published September 20, 2022). Occupying roughly 99 square kilometres of landmass, surrounded by water on all sides, it is connected to the Mayo mainland by a narrow neck of land at Mulranny between Bellacragher Bay and Clew Bay. We have visited some of its townlands previously, when Bolinglanna and Belfarsad featured here.
Now, there are heart-shaped lakes and kidney-shaped islands, but this placename must be unique in its liver shape! Depending on how you look at it, a liver can resemble a wedge or a flat cone shape, so perhaps Corraun Hill and neighbouring Slieve Aghkerane can be described in this way.
The Irish word for kidney is ára, and it is believed that the Aran Islands take their name from this. The Irish expression ‘a dhuine na n-árann’, means ‘my dear friend’. Similarly, ‘ae’ is the Irish word for liver, and the expression ‘a chara na n-ae istigh’ also means ‘dearest friend’.
Hollows and pigs
WHEN I visited Bunanioo, on a cold, crisp January day, we traversed the ‘liver-shaped eminences’ and explored the plateau of the Corraun hills in some detail.
Leaving the main road in Bolinglanna, we took the first bog road to the right that leads uphill in the direction of Loch Ard, the High Lake, found a convenient parking space, and then headed towards the eminences.
Our first target was the top of Slieve Aghkerane. At 541 metres it is the highest point in the area, 17 metres higher than Currane Hill. From the edge of the summit plateau, we had good views into An Choire Dhú, the Black Corrie, and we took a short break to consider our best option for a safe descent route through Rothchoire Móra, ‘Ring-shaped Mountain Hollow’. The northern slopes get the least amount of sunlight and tend to be the most slippery, so care was needed.
After crossing Fiodán an tSraha Móir, ‘Stream of An Srath Mór’, we arrived at the remains of a booley village, named Bothóg na Muc, ‘Little Hut of the Pigs’, on our map. Our next objective was to scale the northeasterly-running spur from Curraun Hill, directly in front of us, and having regained some height, it was time to stop for lunch. We now had clear views of Achill Sound and Michael Davitt Bridge to the northwest and Coire Liath, Grey Corrie, to the south.
Splendid scenery
AFTER our break in the wintry sunshine, it was time to head for the top of 524-metre Curraun Hill, Cruach a’ Chorráin. We were duly rewarded for our efforts with some splendid views of Clew Bay and Clare Island, with Achillbeg in the foreground, and the whole of Bunanioo townland below.
The two principal centres of habitation, or ‘villages’, in Bunanioo are Glasoileán (literally, ‘Green Island’) and Cnoc na Mónadh, ‘Hill of the Moor/Bog’. It has been suggested that the name ‘Bunanioo’ originally referred to the place where there is a pier, and a small group of tiny houses called Bunanioo, just southwest of the townland itself, in Gubnahardia (now part of Bolinglanna).
The more difficult part of the name Bunanioo is the qualified element. The official Irish form is based on the genitive plural of ‘ae’, ‘liver’. Variants of this word have been found in the names of other townlands, including Corr an Aobha or Corranewy in Monaghan. (It is a ridge or back of land that is imagined in such a context.)
As is often the case, there are other possible translations to ponder. The Irish word ‘naomhóg’, is sometimes rendered ‘nae’ in the feminine version, meaning ‘boat’ (or currach/canoe) possibly giving Bun na Naeú, ‘Bottom(-land) of the Boats’. The Dingle Peninsula’s Cuas na Nae, which has been translated as ‘Canoe Cave’, is another example of such a placename.
Dr John O’Callaghan is a mountain walk leader who has organised and led expeditions both at home and abroad. He has served on the board of Mountaineering Ireland and is currently on the Irish Uplands Forum board.
TOWNLAND TALES: There’s something offal in Corraun
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13.03.2024
ANTHROPOMORPHISM, the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to an object, in a real or imagined way, has given rise to a multitude of topographical names all over the country. Most body parts are to be found in Mayo placenames, and the natural features compared with, and named from them, are generally hills.
Two weeks ago, Townland Tales visited Mace townland, which gets its name from the Irish word ‘más’, meaning ‘thigh’, applied to a long, low hill.
This week, it is Bunanioo – Bun na nAeú, ‘Bottom-land of the Liver-Shaped Eminences’ – in Corraun, that is our focus.
Corraun is almost an island. Strictly speaking, it is an isthmus. I alluded to it briefly in a previous article featuring Belmullet and Achill (‘A tale of two isthmuses’, published September 20, 2022). Occupying roughly 99 square kilometres of landmass, surrounded by water on all sides, it is connected to the Mayo mainland by a narrow neck of land at Mulranny between Bellacragher Bay and Clew Bay. We have visited some of its townlands previously, when Bolinglanna and Belfarsad featured here.
Now, there are heart-shaped lakes and kidney-shaped islands, but this placename........
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