TOWNLAND TALES: Knocking around Kilmeena

Out on my walk around Cloonmonad and the Demesne recently, I bumped into Seán Fahy tending to the shrubs inside the Quay entrance to Westport House. Seán mentioned he lived in Kiltyroe, near Fahy, down in the parish of Kilmeena. The translation seemed simple enough, Coillte Rua means the ‘Red Woods.’ However, I could tell from Seán’s reaction that there are not many old forests nowadays in Kiltyroe, not to mention evidence of California Redwoods!
When I paid a visit on the August Bank Holiday, I stopped at the farm of Jimmy and Jane Hastings and met their son, Kieran, who gave me a grand tour of the district. Kieran pointed out at least three ‘fairy’ forts (lios/rath) to me and he took me to the nearby Blue Bridge on the Owennabrockagh River (Abhann na Brocaigh, or Badger River). The ‘blue’ comes from the limestone used to construct the bridge.

Age fluidity
The 1847-64 Griffiths Valuation lists three surnames, O’Donnell, Gibbons and Moran, and the map from that period shows no evidence of trees.
According to the 1901 census, only one family lived in Kiltyroe back then. The head of the family was a shepherd named Patrick Corcoran, and his wife’s name was Mary. Curiously enough, their ages went from 46 and 42, respectively, to 70 and 60, over the 10 years, to the 1911 census, whereas their children’s ages increased by 12, 11 and 10 years. This is not an uncommon observation when one compares the data for 1901 and 1911 and may be due to several reasons.
The most common reason for exaggerating ages arose from the introduction of the (UK) Old Age Pension in Ireland in 1908. In order to qualify, a person had to be over 70 years of age – so evidently Patrick Corcoran was determined to qualify, even though he was still under 60. The pension and the lack of civil registration of births before 1864 caused many Irish (and British) to exaggerate their ages in the Census of 1911.

Into the woods
The 1838 Ordnance Survey Namebooks states that Kiltyroe ‘contains 199a. 2r. 39p., 170 acres of which are cultivated, 5 acres uncultivated, and the remainder bog... one fort.’
Located in the north-east of the parish of Kilmeena, the plural form ‘coillte’ for woods is quite common in townland names; and it appears as the first element in more than 40 townlands – the majority of which are in the west and northwest of the country. Among other examples, see Coillte Mach, or Kiltimagh, in the barony of Gallen in the east of the county; Coillte Clogher, or Kiltyclogher, in Leitrim; and Coillte, or Quilty, in Clare.
It is curious how one townland can lead to another, but Kiltyroe is listed in the first volume of ‘Logainmneacha Mhaigh Eo 1 – The Barony of Burrishoole’, just ahead of Knockasproha, located across the parish, west of Kilmeena church.

Guessing at gelded
Knockasproha, (?)Cnoc an Sprochtha, ‘Hill of the Castration’. O’Donovan translates it as ‘Hill of Mutilation’, but Mac Gabhann offers a convincing argument in favour of the ‘castration’ meaning. The Irish word ‘sprochadh’ (according to Ó Dónaill’s dictionary) is an alternative version of ‘spochad’ meaning ‘the act of castrating, emasculating’.
Located west of Knockballagh, Cnoc Ballach, ‘(?)Speckled Hill,’ it comprises only 131.8 acres; situated in the south-west of the parish, just east of Money, An Muine, ‘The Thicket,’ where it is mentioned in the historical sources. There is a hill 52-metres high in the centre of the townland and there is a meadow on its southeast side.
Going on to speculate whether the second root word (in Knockasproha) might be a surname, as in Brew or Ó Brúgha’s hill, Fiachra Mac Gabhann discounts this and concludes that ‘it is likely that this placename was later reinterpreted to provoke, in late Irish.’
Whatever the original townland name intended to convey, it certainly lends plenty of ‘colour’ to the place.
With a total of 98 separate townlands and islands located in the civil parish of Kilmeena, just one more than Aghagower’s 97, there are plenty more to choose and examine in this column another day.
I want to acknowledge Seán for pointing me in the direction of Kiltyroe, an appropriate townland for a gardener to be living in. Also, I am grateful for the serendipitous way this led me to Knockasproha, the intriguing name of the Hill of Vastration.
Thanks also to Kieran for showing me around and for introducing me to Ailfie, his daughter Keeley’s lovely sheepdog.