Cherryvalley, County Down

Background

On E outskirts of town of Comber

par: Comber bar: Castlereagh Lower

The name of the townland of Cherryvalley is first recorded as such in 1675 and there are other known instances of this name,  e.g. in the parish of Moira and, much closer to home, Cherryvalley (a road) in Knock townland near Belfast.  It is possible to grow cherries in sheltered places in Ulster, and this may explain the name; however, it may be that the name (being considered attractive) was transferred from elsewhere. Cherryvalley is given an alias in 1675: Cherivally alias Carrowcrossnemuckly; this suggests that the original Irish name for the place was Ceathrú Chros na Muclaí ‘quarter(land) of the cross of the piggery’. There is another townland called Crossnamuckley in Newtownards parish. The element cros in place-names most often refers to a cross which was associated with a church or which was erected to commemorate a religious event though sometimes it can refer to a crossroads or to a place in transverse position (Joyce i 327). There is no record of a cross in the townland of Cherryvalley and the element ‘cross’ may refer to a crossroads or perhaps to a transverse hill. The valley referred to in the English name is clearly that of the Comber River which bounds the townland on the south. The English name has been provided with a literal Irish translation Alt na Silíní in Gasaitéar na hÉireann (GÉ).

References

McKay, P. (2007): A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names, p. 40; P. McK, 2009; revised PT, MÓM 2012.

Additional Information

Historical name form

Old Form	Ref. Date	Reference
Alt na Silíní	1989	GÉ 6
Ceathrú Chros na Muclaí ""quarter(land) of the cros	1999	Dict. Ulst. PN 40
Cherryvally	1659c	Census 1659 87
Chirrivally als Carrowcrossnemuckley	1679	Montgomery MSS 268 n.37
Cherryvalley	1745	OSNB: gen. sources E 19
Cherryvally	1810	Wm. Map (OSNB) E 19
Cherry-valley	1823	Downshire Direct. 319
Cherryvally	1830c	Treas. Warrant (OSNB) E 19
Cherry Vale	1888	Sav. Ards 332

Barony

Castlereagh Lower

Parish

Comber

Parish in 1851

Comber

Townland

None

Place name ID

12017

Place name type

T