Project to record field names starts in Taghmon

A project to record field names in Westmeath “is a really worthwhile because the names of fields are a valuable part of our local heritage”, said heritage officer Melanie McQuade.

“Since many of them have not been formally recorded they only survive in oral tradition. 

“Our field names are being lost as land changes ownership and as members of the older generations pass on, so it is important to record as many as we can now.”

At this stage the naming is a pilot project, starting in a few parishes this year and extending to other areas after that. 

“There is great enthusiasm among the volunteers who are recording field names in the Taghmon area and they have already collected quite a few names,” said Melanie.

The project is being co-ordinated by Aengus Finnegan, an Irish scholar and a placenames expert from Glassan.

“Field names can tell us much about an area – how people appreciated the physical landscape, its hills and hollows, streams, and bogs; but also, its history and traditions, from holy wells, to fairy forts, old settlements, and estates,” said Aengus. 

Together with Justin Ó Gliasáin, Aengus will collect and manage all the names recorded. 

The recorded names will be presented in a booklet and will be added to the website https://meitheal.logainm.ie/en/.

This pilot project has been initiated with the support of the Heritage Council and Westmeath County Council and will run until mid-November. 

If you are interested in learning more about the project or recording field names in your area, check out the website http://aengusfinnegan.ie/field-names/ or twitter https://twitter.com/NamesField.

During Heritage Week the work of the volunteers will feature in an exhibition in Clonkill GAA Clubhouse on Tuesday August 21, when Aengus Finnegan will give an update on how the project is progressing.

For details see https://www.heritageweek.ie/whats-on/events.

For more information on the project, contact Aengus Finnegan: fieldnames@aengusfinnegan.ie or heritage officer Melanie McQuade: heritage@westmeathcoco.ie.