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Thursday, October 05, 2006
Long-lost names will put Kerry region on the map
By: Eve Kelliher
KERRY County Library has opened a new chapter in preserving the county’s cultural heritage.
Already a mine of information for local historians, it is now home to the first ten volumes of the Kerry Placenames Survey.
The initiative was rubber-stamped on Friday when the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, launched a placenames survey at the library. “For Kerry County Council to secure the County Library as a home for the Kerry Placenames Archive is very significant,” said Mayor of Kerry, Cllr Ted Fitzgerald.
“Over the years we have seen a major growth in interest in local history and Kerry County Library has been to the fore in gathering information and records in the local studies section.”
At the Tralee event, Minister Ó Cuív also launched a placenames in the community survey for the period covering 20-06 to 2008.
To date, the Kerry Placenames Survey, spearheaded by Dr Éamon Lankford, has collected and mapped over 60,000 names on a townland by townland basis, since the project began in 1999.
“These are placenames which have often existed for hundreds of years and have defined a particular location,” said Mayor Fitzgerald. “There is no doubt that a number of factors have led to the threat of some of these placenames dying out, whether through rural de-population and the decline in those speaking the Irish language. However, the hard work put into the survey has ensured that the placenames, will be mapped and recorded, giving future generations a better sense of where they come from.”
Minister Ó Cuív also welcomed the creation of the archive. “The valuable work being carried out here in Kerry shows the benefits of organisations working in partnership for the benefit of Kerry’s cultural heritage,” he said.
He praised the work of Áitainmneacha Chiarraí which is a voluntary organisation which collects, records, researches and maps the minor oral placenames of the county. This drive aims to preserve the placename heritage and linguistic forms enshrined in the placenames of each townland before they are lost forever.
The thoughts, ideals, folklore, genealogy, religion, daily life and work of those living on and interacting with their landscape is revealed by the placenames study, which also provides an insight into the climate, flora and fauna of the region studied. “Placeneames are a valuable source of knowledge about the past.
They give meaning to the landscape and they define the relationship between a community and its physical environment,” Dr Lankford explained.
“The historical and cultural profile of our towns and townlands, parishes and counties can be given greater depth and richness through study of the etymology of placenames.”
The Kerry placenames in the community survey is directed at community development associations and individuals that will assist with the collection and mapping of the placenames of their home area. Survey maps will be available to everyone willing to participate in this heritage preservation drive.
Worryingly, Kerry’s placename heritage is in danger of extinction, partly due to changes in agricultural and fishing practices urban spread, housing schemes, afforestation, rural depopulation and road building.
Experts point out that some 200,000 names in Kerry have been lost due to these causes in recent years.
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