Lisleen, County Down

Background

The earliest recorded spelling of Lisleen is Ballilissline in 1605 and the name is recorded as Lisleyn in 1623 and as Ballelisleene in 1644. The most satisfactory interpretation of the place-name appears to be Lios Lín ‘fort of (the) flax’, as suggested by John O’Donovan in the Ordnance Survey Name Book of c.1834. The Ordnance Survey Memoir records the presence of a flax mill in the townland in 1837 and it also remarks that ‘the cultivation of flax appears to have been more attended to in the parish of Comber than in any other parish in the county and the soil is well cultivated for it (OSM vii 30, 41). According to Joyce (ii 328), linen made from flax was manufactured in Ireland from the earliest times and the element líon ‘flax’ is quite common in place-names. Examples are Coolaleen in Limerick (Cúil an Lín ‘corner of the flax’), Crockaleen in Fermanagh (Cnoc an Lín ‘hill of the flax’) and Killyleen in Monaghan (Coill an Lín ‘wood of the flax’, L. Log. Mhuineacháin 13). There is now no trace or record of a fort in the townland.

References

Additional Information

Historical name form

Barony

Castlereagh Lower

Parish

Comber

Parish in 1851

Comber

Townland

None

Place name ID

12005

Place name type

T