The Name Beal Atha Seanaigh BY T. S 0 l\il:AILLE, Ph. D. It is ddiffWcu.1t to aicc,e1pt as factual j with the me1an1:n.:g of, 'hHlsil.de, slo!Pe, the story that the namie1 Beaz Atha sl·opdng ground•.. :At Bally.shannon Seanaig'h ds d•erd.rved from the name thei slop~ng grorund is qu!te si:gof S1ean~h. 4-5·th century. kdng of ntl'1e.aµt, risl.ing a.$ · it. dQ~s, . from the Uls1ter, who iiS sa:id to have be1en kill- north banik of tih?: river, at .the· .s.ite ·2d ne1ar tlhe ford on the Erne, pre- of the brrudge, and s.treitch~ng some V!iously caHed Ath Cro, and buried distanrce ieast and west of the town. nearby. Fatail1.Uiies of the lk!ind, as · The Engl1.sh forms of the name;3 e·JQJ>lanati01I11S for p]ace and rivi.:~r off,er no 1ba.s>is for .in:v-es.tigation,. but n:ames, iln .the Dindshenclws . and ortJlogra.phiicalllY the Irish fnr·µis siimUar sources, are too llJU.mierorus for l€1ave room · for speiculia.tion. The cried·ence. The s,tory of the d•eiath of speUimg Seana.i·Yh for the third ele8'eian1ach j;s rathe1· apocryphal, not me1nt qf the naime is by no m~anis haivin.g 1bc·en1 record1eld in any o:f the I undtform in MS. sources, as s.hoiwn by Annals, ·and 1a:pp1arently oeictM'rlng in the ·2xamples quoted . in § II be-low. t:wQ souroes only, themselves dif- .. II . fering ~lil! d e t a i L i Silgnif- I. Tille T.C!D. ·copy of the·· Annals icant, a.IBo, as the time lag b3~ of Ulste•r (H I 19) has se.(a)naigh, tween t1he death of seaniach, in the passim; compare § 111, 4, below. fifth centucy, and the use of the 2. In 'the 0'C1!ery MS. of. the An:- name Ath Seanaigh in th2 Armals; nals of the FQUJ." Masters (23 P 6 and the eru.-1:.est lilns!tance I have no~d is 23 P. 7, R.I.A. ), u~<i by O'Donovan ·A.O. 1247, in the AnnalJS of. tlhe- Four 1n his eclition. of . the work, we find Masters, Aninals of Connacht., and I se(a)aigh where the wo.r<:l ts wr~tt~n Annails of LO•Clhi iOe: Prevdious to in full, but analbbrteJV!ilati.oni, se(a)n-, t.hat date, happrenings in the location or ser(a)n-, is shQwn in the entries concrernied ar1z ref:erred to Eas Ruadh, at the years 1419, 1421, 1490; -1522. or Ass.a.roe. 3. The printed edlt:on of the It seems to m1e, that. the abov~ Annals Of Oonn1a:eht shows senuigh name·, :i.nstetad of berng de;rived from in one e:ntry (A.O. 1522); all t.ha a p2rS10nal name, ts rather based on qt.her e:ntrie:s have senaigh, ·axcep>t a topogr3d)h:cal dc~r:iption, and that for t:he. ea.rli'est occurrence of the the correct form should be Beaz Atha name, at A.D. 1247, where· we read · Seanaidh 'mouth of the ford of the Beol Ada Senaid. · · s.l!oipe'. 4. The Academy and Trln:·ty Topograph!LcaUy, the n~me' su~ts Colleg~ MS. sourc€s of, the well perf~ctly.. ELsewhere,2 I haive put known Ulst€r J)<>em by Eoghan forward the. view that the· Midde Ruiadh Mac an · Bhaird, A bhean ITits:h noun seanadh (seanath), now fuair faill ar an bhfeart, have the 01bsole1te 1n sI>Qk!e'11 I~rl:s!h,. iJS stdll found following in quatra~n 23; (a)seanaigh wllidely dist.rUbiuted in place· names, (23 C 35, 150; 23 ·F l~, 24; 23 N 26, 499.
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