Gortnagriffin, County Fermanagh
Origin
Of uncertain origin
Background
The first element in this place-name gort 'field' appears frequently in Irish place-names where it can appear as an independent element,Gort 'field' which appears in the same form as the name of eleven townlands in Ireland (logainm.ie).
For the second element, the OSNB form suggests the family name Griffin, which is a Welsh relationship name from the personal name Gruffin, Griffin , a pet form of Middle Welsh Gruffudd (Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, s.v. Griffin). We should treat this form with some caution, however, as the linguistic evidence appears to indicate the definite article, which would normally rule out a proper name in final position.
We might suggest Gort na Graifne, containing grafainn which might mean‘horse race’, ‘group of horsemen, of running horses’, ‘alarming, menacing noise’ or ‘grunting, squealing, crackling sound’ (Ó Dónaill), although the first vowel of grafainn is not representative of the linguistic forms.
References
FK (2019)Additional Information
Historical name form
| Old Form | Ref. Date | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gortagriffin | 1817 | GJM M'stephana (OSNB) 54 B160 Clanawl |
| Gortagriffin | 1830c | Bnd. Sur. (OSNB) 54 B160 |
| ~Gort na Groifín ""field of the Griffins - people"" | 1834c | J O'D (OSNB) 54 B160 |
| Gortagriffen | 1835c | OSM xiv 87 |
| Gortagriffen td (prop Joseph Dunn of Dublin) | 1835c | OSM xiv 87 |
- Barony
- Clanawley
- Parish
- Killesher
- Parish in 1851
- Killesher
- Townland
- None
- Place name ID
- 13026
- Place name type
- T