A-Z Placenames of the Three Sisters

My wife Deena and I have participated and/or coordinated an event for every year of Heritage week since 2005. For this years event we initiated an online project exploring the placenames along the Three Sister River network of the Barrow, Nore and Suir. The event ran from Saturday 15th with twice daily storys from guest authors and concluded on Sunday 23rd August, Water Heritage Day with a new webpage; An A-Z of Placenames of the Three Sisters.

The project was supported for Water Heritage Day by Local Authority Waters Programme funding.

These rivers have provided a vibrant artery and resource for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. Families were reared on the rivers and it sustained fishing, boating, recreation and transport. Each headland, bay and in many cases even rocks had/have names associated with their locations. What follows are the names I have managed to capture. I have no doubt that this will be added to in the coming months. Any feedback or ideas welcomed to tidesntales@gmail.com

As a follow up to this project I am adding to the list all the time, but I am also using you tube to try gather visual connections to the placenames to try retain what is a quickly fading knowledge. The map below is a work in progress. Completed on a voluntary basis, with no funding, this is something I hope to expand in the future, hopefully with some degree of funding to support the work.

A

• Arthurstown, Co Wexford.
• Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary – a beautiful village to visit at any time of year
• Athassel Abbey another magnificent Cistercian ruin in Tipperary on the Suir
• Athy, Co Kildare on the River Barrow

B

• Barrow Railway Viaduct which operated from 1906 – 2010. Ships enter and depart to the Port of New Ross through the opening span.
• Buttermilk Castle. The ruins of this once Norman era tower house are still to be seen upriver from Ballyhack on the Wexford shoreline.
• A little outside the three sisters, but a notable landmark nonetheless east of Tramore Bay – the Brownstown Towers
• Ballyhack, Co Wexford, hardly needs an introduction
• Ballycanvan located on the lower side of the Kings Channel on the Waterford side.
• Ballycanvan Tidal Salt Mill, on Jack Meades Pill
• Ballyragget Castle, Co Kilkenny on the banks of the River Nore
• Bennestsbridge, Kilkenny. Built on the River Nore.
• Booley Bay on the Hook Peninsula

C

• Clock Tower on Waterfords quays – dating to 1864 it could tell the time no matter where you stood on the quay, an important function when steam meant ships could depart to a schedule, rather than the wind or tide.
• Cheekpoint Quay
• Campile Village, Co Wexford
• Campile Pill
• Carrick Beg, Carrick On Suir
• Carlow Town on the River Barrow
• Crooke, Co Waterford
• Cuan-na-dTri-Uisce.  An ancient name associated with the harbour area, basically the harbour of the three waters or rivers.  While another was Cuan-na-Greinne, the harbour of the Sun
• Clashganny, River Barrow
• Clonmel, Co Tipperary
• Coolbunnia, a townland that is located below Cheekpoint on the Waterford side of the estuary
• Connors Bay – Hook Peninsula, Co Wexford

D

• Devils Bit – the origins of the River Suir
• Dunbrody Abbey lies along the Campile Pill and has been a placename and a landmark on the rivers since the 13th Century
• Dunmore East, one of the principal fishing harbours in the Irish state and built originally as the mail packet station for Southern Ireland
• Duncannon Co. Wexford, on the Hook peninsula
• Dunmore East Lighthouse
• Dollar Bay – Hook Peninsula

E

F

• Faithlegg House and Golf Course overlook the River Suir below Waterford City, and the Georgian mansion was built originally for the local landlord.
• Faithlegg salt marsh and Special Area of Conservation
• Falskirt Rock – a half tide rock off the Waterford coast west of Dunmore
• Farney Castle, Co Tipperary
• Foxes Hole – located below Waterford City on the kilkenny shoreline, close to Gyles Quay
• Ferrybank – on the Kilkenny riverbank of Waterford city and a historic name associated with travel

G

• Geneva Barracks, situated between Crooke and Woodstown in Co Waterford
• Golden, on the River Suir in Tipperary.
• Goresbridge, River Barrow
• Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, River Barrow
• Great Island Power stations
• Grennan, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny
• Green – Cheekpoint, Co Waterford

H

• The Hell Hole lies on the Hook Peninsula
• The Hospital is only a fishermans landmark now, an old quarantine hospital situated above Passage East on the Waterford shore
• The Hook lighthouse – stands at the entrance to Waterford Harbour

I Inistioge, Co Kilkenny

J

Johnny’s Lane – Crooke, Passage East, Co Waterford

K

• Kilmokea, Great Island, Co Wexford
• Kilowen, a quay and small community on the River Barrow on the Wexford bank
• Keyser’s Street – Waterford City

L

• Leighlinbridge, River Barrow
• Loch-dá-Chaoích, an ancient name associated with the habour area
• Lime kilns at Cheekpoint

M

• Maganey, Co Kildare. On the River Barrow
• Moran’s Poles, Cheekpoint. A breakwater and mud bank and traditional mooring point for fishermen and their craft
• Minaun – Overlooks the estuary at Cheekpoint, a prominent river landmark
• Metal Man – on Newtown Head, Tramore Co Waterford
• Mount Tower, Cheekpoint

N Nuke or spelled Nook by others lies on the Wexford side of the estuary, along the Shelburne Banks

O Ormonde Castle, Carrick On Suir, Co Tipperary

P

• Passage East – names associated with the village from the 1940’s
• Port Lairge. Gaelic name for Waterford; Port (Loch or lake to some) Lairge (tigh).  Some claim it to be the port of a chap named Lairge, including some speculations on our national loganim site. Most online sources say it’s a descriptive term of the shape of river and land at the city and its similarity to a persons thigh.

Q

R

• Ringville NS – Overlooking the River Barrow and Ballinlaw, Co Kilkenny
• Rochestown is a townland lying along the Kilkenny shoreline of the River Barrow
• Russianside, Cheekpoint. Situated below the river looking across to Nuke and Buttermilk Castle.
• Ryans Shore. The strand that stretches below Cheekpoint towards Passage East. Ryans Quay is also located along it and the home of the Ryans still stands, although it has seen many owners since.

S

• Salmon Ponds of New Ross – River Barrow
• Spit Light or Spider Light, a navigation beacon on the Passage East Spit bank
• Sheag Rock, Cheekpoint
• Snow Hill House and Quay. Only the quay and boathouse remain now of this once find georgian mansion
• St Dubhans Church – Hook Penisnsula
• St Mullins, River Barrow

T Meeting of the Three Sisters – the three rivers meet at Cheekpoint, Co Waterford and it was once a popular geographical attraction.

U Shanoon, Sean Uaimh – “Old Cave” Ok a bit of a reach, but I needed at least one U! Actually there are serveral cave placenames around Dunmore but the tend to be more along the coast as I understand it

V Vadrefjordr – the Norse name associated with Waterford

W

• Woodstown beach, Co Waterford.
• Woodstown Weir
• Woodlands, located on the lower side of the Kings Channel on the Waterford side.

X

Y

Z

Many thanks to a variety of people who have helped me with this project. Obviously its not completed, and perhaps such a project never can be. I really appreciate the assistance of Brian Forristal, a kindred spirit who loves the lower Barrow and writes beautifully about it. Thanks for the photos of Brian Walsh and Redmond O’Brien and those awsome videos of Mark Power. Ray McGrath has helped me through previous published work that he has done. I also owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have contributed stories to this project. My thanks also to Ann Phelan, Community Water Officer, Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, Kilkenny for the encouragement.

Some other resources you might enjoy:

Waterways of the south-east

Goodly Barrow: A Voyage on an Irish River

Author Michael Fewer’s book Rambling Down the Suir, takes a journey down the river by boat, car and on foot, following the river’s course from its source to the sea.