Talk:Clonmellon

Clonmellon in Irish. Please read.

Would all residents of Clonmellon who pass this article please read the following letter. I passed through the town last week and somebody had erased the Irish version, Ráistín, from the sign. I, too, thought Ráistín was incorrect so many years ago I wrote to the Irish Placenames Commission asking them to justify it. Here is the answer which I received. I am omitting any details of the writer as it was a reply to a letter written to me in a private capacity. I would not publish it but for the common misconception that was behind that vandalism.

'Thank you for your e-mail of yesterday concerning the official Irish form of Clonmellon, Co. Westmeath (Westmeath is the correct county officially in the Townland Index). A Middle Irish-type form such as 'Cluain Miláin' may appear, as you say, far more like the 'correct version' - by which you mean that it closely resembles the English-language form - but as often with placenames the matter is more complex. It is worth bearing in mind that you are assuming, for example that the Irish and English 'Clon' forms were used to refer to the same place (the entity of the town). In addition to this, in assessing evidence for the 'Clon' form it is likely that the older historical 'Clon' references may refer to a similarly-named place in Co. Kerry. In this context we must give some consideration to the statement of Hugh Dillon, agent of Sir Thomas Chapman, to Lieutenant Wynne writing on 11th March 1837 where he says 'The town of Clonmellon was first commenced by the late Sir Benjamin Chapman about between sixty and seventy years ago [i.e. c.1770] and got its name from a moat near the town called "Cruckmillion"'. The townland name of Clonmellon may, therefore have only begun to have been associated with the town at that point. It is worth considering then that the only pre 1770 reference to the Clon form which appears in the historical evidence here, a reference in the Annals of the Four Masters to a battle, has no basis for identifying it with this geographical location; Co. Kerry would make more sense. Certainly the association, if it was that recently established appears to have stuck, at least in usage in the English language for administrative purposes, as Leet's Post Towns, Lewis' Topographical Dictionary, and an 1826 Educational report, for example, all use the 'Clonmellon' form for the town. A 1789 Almanac (Watson's) lists Fair Days and has the form 'Clonmallon', but earlier records of Fair Days back to (coincidentally) 1770 do not show Clonmellon (or, for that matter, a Ráistín-like form) at all. This would lend credence to Hugh Dillon's statement above. I have not personally examined what was recorded in the relevant Parish Name Book by O'Donovan et al. in the 1830s, but a partial transcript here in the office indicates that the forms 'Cluaín Míallainn' and 'Cluain Malainn' are indeed noted. Regarding the Name Books, these manuscripts are held in the National Archives and although microfilms of them are available elsewhere we need to consult the original (to note not just differences in hand but of ink - forms in pencil were collected from local speech). Certainly John O'Donovan notes (in the Ordnance Survey Letters) the prevalence of a 'Ráistín'-like form when he wrote on October 19th 1837 that 'The Pattern of the parish was held at Clonmellon, now generally called Raiskeen, on the Sunday before Michaelmas Day...' The way in which O'Donovan says 'NOW generally called' (my capitals) might mean that he had encountered only the 'Clon' form in any written documentation associated with the town and while the inhabitants may have always called it 'Ráistín' or suchlike, this form appeared to him (probably erroneously) to be a new development.

Fieldwork carried out by researchers from the office here (in the 1960s, I estimate) provides evidence of the forms used locally and there are forms in the International Phonetic Alphabet which I can only render approximately here as 'Clanmellon' and 'Cruckmelyan', but also a record of the place being called 'Raiscín' (again, this is my approximate roman transciption) in the speaker's youth. Other such forms collected are (roughly) 'Ráistín' and 'Ráiscín'. A note on the file here says that Donn Piatt noted 'Ráistín' in speech. I assumed this must have come from his monograph 'Gaelic Dialects of Leinster', but despite having trawled through its 33 pages I didn't find it there, so I imagine the note may have come from personal correspondence Piatt had with the office. What was, I should think, the deciding factor in assigning 'Ráistín' as the official Irish form of Clonmellon was probably the reference in the phrase list of Hugh McDonnell (probably for Robert Macadam of Belfast) around 1840-1854. Among the conversational phrases here is the following: 'Bhí mé a caint le fear a shiubhail ó Bhail' Áth' Lua[i]n ann a' Mhuilinn Chirr, agus ó sin go Rasdien, agus úa sin go C[e]anadus....'. The translation of this is gicen as 'I was speaking to a man who travelled from Athlone to Mullingar, and from thence to Clonmellon, and from that to Kells ...'

On balance then, unless there is additional evidence for a 'Clon' form from which a) dates from before before 1770 and b) is unequivocally identifiable as relating to the town (which may not have been in any way substantial before this period anyway, if Hugh Dillon's statement of 1837 is anything to go by) then the 'Ráistín' form seems the most sensible. If, however, you obtain any evidence for Clonmellon which satisfies a) and b) we would be most interested to receive it. While I couldn't contact [Name omitted], (he was not available when I called) I gather from the lady with whom I spoke that there is some antipathy towards 'Ráistín' as the folk etymology for Clonmellon is 'Meadow of the honey' and the belief in the Post Office is that the less mellifluous 'Ráistín' was just a 'nickname' given to the place by a 'bad crowd'. As I said, this is a complex enough matter when we concern ourselves only with the evidence but even moreso when particular forms are given (however this may come about) connotations of low social status or other forms deemed more attractive by virtue of folk etymology.

To my mind, this was a very erudite response, and I now have no trouble accepting that Ráistín is, justifiably, the correct name for Clonmellon and, moreover, that 'Cluain Mioláin' is an invention of very recent vintage. Furthermore, the Placenames Commission has made it very clear above that if there are people in Clonmellon or anywhere else who wish to produce evidence for 'Cluain Mioláin' as the correct name of the town, they will change it from Ráistín. This, to my mind again, is very reasonable. However, not a single person has done this, but somebody has taken it upon himself or herself to remove 'Ráistín' from the sign. In the light of this, I would appreciate it if, for once and for all, those who oppose Ráistín would put up a similarly learned defence of 'Cluain Mioláin' as the true name of the town. Until you do this, you have absolutely no right to vandalise public property for which my taxes pay, and a cultural heritage which I am very proud of. In the meantime, would people with a genuine interest in Clonmellon's history, please inform others of the reasons above why Ráistín, and not Cluain Mioláin, is the official name of the town. Thank You. 86.42.119.173 (talk) 20:09, 4 January 2008 (UTC)