Tá an Ghaeilge i bhfad níos feiceálaí anois ar chomharthaí sráidainmneacha ar fud Bhéal Feirste ná mar a bhí riamh. Toradh é seo ar pholasaí nua a thug Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste isteach in 2022 a fhágann go bhfuil an próiseas le comhartha dátheangach a iarraidh agus a chur in airde níos éasca agus níos gaiste.
Tá Tionscadal na Logainmneacha i Roinn na Gaeilge agus an Léinn Cheiltigh in Ollscoil na Banríona ag cur leagan Gaeilge de shráidainmneacha ar fáil don Chomhairle le tamall de bhlianta anuas le cúnamh airgeadais ón Roinn Pobal. Tá foireann bheag taighdeoirí ag obair i láthair na huaire faoi stiúir an Ollaimh Mícheál B. Ó Mainnín ach tá staidéar á dhéanamh ar an dinnseanchas san Ollscoil le fada. Ba é Seán Mac Airt, léachtóir Gaeilge as Ard Mhacha, a spreag bunú Chumann Logainmneacha Chúige Uladh in 1952, agus tá sé lonnaithe san Ollscoil ó shin. Bunaíodh Tionscadal na Logainmneacha sa bhliain 1987.
Nuair a chuirtear comhartha nua dátheangach in airde ar shráid, is ionann é agus doras a oscailt ar thaisce eolais a thugann tuiscint níos doimhne dúinn ar ghnéithe éagsúla den tsaol agus den timpeallacht. Tá fréamhacha ag cuid de na sráidainmneacha in ainmneacha bailte fearainn agus in ainmneacha stairiúla a chum ár sinsir na céadta bliain ó shin. Faighimid léargas ar an tírdhreach agus ar an dúlra áitiúil. Bíonn stair thionsclaíochta agus creideamh na ndaoine léirithe i sráidainmneacha. Tugann cuid acu chun cuimhne áiteanna i bhfad ar shiúl a bhí suntasach in aigne an té a chuir ainm orthu. Déanann roinnt acu comóradh ar chathanna agus cogaí, agus i gcásanna eile thiocfadh leat a shamhlú gur dhea-chuimhní cinn nó scéalta taitneamhacha an spreagadh a bhí leo. Maireann clú tionchairí agus fiontraithe i sráidainmneacha, lucht an rachmais agus na cumhachta agus a dteaghlaigh. Tá cumadóireacht nua-aimseartha i gceist le hainmneacha eile ar mhaithe le háilleacht a chur in iúl, agus go deimhin tá blas na galántachta agus an éirí in airde ar roinnt acu.
Sa tsraith úr seo d’ailt san Andersonstown News, tabharfaidh foireann Thionscadal na Logainmneacha eolas ar cheisteanna a mbíonn siad ag dul i ngleic leo ar bhonn laethúil, ar fhoinsí fianaise a dtarraingíonn siad orthu agus ar na polasaithe atá mar threoir agus leagan Gaeilge á mholadh don Chomhairle.
Duibhis: Basalt dubh ar an tsliabh is airde
Tá na cnoic a bhfuil mórán de shráideanna Bhéal Feirste cuachta go cluthar ag a mbun mar inspioráid do shráidainmneacha go leor. Céide, Bóthar agus Sráid Dhuibhise atá ar Divis Drive, Road agus Street i nGaeilge, agus Duibhis atá mar cháilitheoir ar shráideanna úra Black Ridge i gceantar Bhóthar an Ghleanna agus Sheachbhóthar na Móna fosta.
Nuair a tháinig an t-ainm Black Ridge faoi bhráid lucht an Tionscadail a chéaduair in 2024, ba léir gur aistriúchán díreach ar Dubhais (dubh + ais) a bhí ann. Black Mountain tiontú eile, agus Naíscoil agus Bunscoil an tSléibhe Duibh an t-ainm atá ar na scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge ar Bhóthar Bhaile Uí Mhurchú.
Tá an t-ainm Dubhais sa chúrsaíocht le fada an lá. Is é atá ag Patrick McKay in A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names (1999), seoid cheart de leabhar, agus ar shuíomh Chumann Logainmneacha Chúige Uladh, áit a n-aimseofar torthaí an taighde a rinne siad in 2005 ar ainmneacha bóithre. Bhí Dubhais in úsáid ag taighdeoirí Ollscoil na Banríona go dtí cúpla mí ó shin. Cad chuige a bhfuil athrú sa litriú anois ann agus ar Duibhis an leagan molta?
Aon uair a fhaightear liosta úr sráidainmneacha ón Chomhairle, tapaítear an deis athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar leaganacha a moladh san am a chuaigh thart. Déantar tochailt i mbunachair ina bhfuil eolas ar bhailte fearainn agus ar shráidainmneacha in áiteanna eile sa tír (placenamesni.org, logainm.ie, ulsterplacenamessociety.org, mar shampla). In amanna, bíonn fianaise nó smaointeoireacht nua tagtha chun solais ó rinneadh iontrálacha go deireanach i gcuid de na bunachair.
Duibhis atá i mBunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann, a bhíonn á riar ag an Bhrainse Logainmneacha sa Roinn Forbartha Tuaithe, Pobail agus Gaeltachta, agus a bhfuil fáil ag an phobal air ar www.logainm.ie. Tá sé ar an fhoinse eolais is nuashonraithe, agus dá bharr, cloítear de ghnáth leis agus sráidainmneacha á moladh ag an Tionscadal i mBéal Feirste don Chomhairle.
Tá cúrsaí foghraíochta mar bhunús leis an athrú ó Dubhais go Duibhis, an leagan a bheidh le feiceáil ar chomharthaí sráidainmneacha na Comhairle as seo amach. Tá leid le fáil i bhfuaimniú an leagain ghalldaithe, Divis, go raibh caolú sa bhunleagan Gaeilge agus gur dóichí ná a mhalairt gur Duibhis (seachas Dubhais le ‘bh’ leathan) a bhí ann.
Léiríonn an sampla áirithe seo mar a athraíonn ainm de réir mar a aistrítear anonn is anall idir theangacha é. Tá traslitriú agus aistriúchán araon i gcás le Divis, Black Mountain agus Black Ridge. Cibé leagan den ainm atá i gceist, is léir go bhfuil an dath dubh ar an bhasalt sa chnoc is airde sa chathair i ndiaidh dul i bhfeidhm ar shamhlaíocht na ndaoine a mhaireann faoina scáth.
New series on streetnames in Irish
The Irish language is noticeably more prevalent on street name signs throughout Belfast these days. The introduction of a new policy by Belfast City Council in 2022 has simplified and expediated the process of requesting and installing dual language signs.
The Placenames Project, based in the Irish and Celtic Studies Department in Queen’s University, has been providing the Council with Irish language versions of street names for a number of years. While a small team of researchers currently operates under the direction of Professor Mícheál B. Ó Mainnín, toponymy has been an area of study in Queen’s for over 70 years. Seán Mac Airt, a lecturer in Irish from Armagh, was instrumental in the founding of the Ulster Placenames Society in 1952, and that organisation has been based in the university ever since. The Placenames Project was established in 1987.
The erection of a new dual language sign is akin to opening a portal to a treasure of information that allows us to understand better various aspects of our lives and the environment in which they are played out. Some names are descriptive of the local landscape and nature. Others give an insight into industrial history and the population’s religious beliefs. Certain street names bring to mind faraway places that held significance for those who chose them. Some commemorate wars and battles, while others perhaps evoke memories of the scene of pleasant or important events. The names of influencers and entrepreneurs live on, as do those of the wealthy and powerful and members of their families. Some names were composed anew to conjure a sense of beauty or aspiration.
In this series of articles, the Placenames Project team will describe some of the questions they grapple with on a daily basis, the evidence bases they use and the policies that inform their decisions when providing Irish language versions of street names to the City Council.
Divis: Bedrock of black basalt on the highest peak
Belfast’s hillscape is the inspiration for the names of many streets that lie at its base. Dubhais, consisting of dubh (black) and ais (ridge), is the longstanding Irish name of the mountain. However, recent reconsideration by the Placenames team of the pronunciation of Divis in English suggests the slender variant Duibhis is much more likely to be the original local name, having a v sound in the middle rather than the w of Dubhais in the Ulster dialect.
Although not that common, it is not unheard of for recommendations to change as new information and insights come to light. It is standard practice within the Placenames Project to take the opportunity to review existing street names as they come up on the Belfast City Council list. This explains why although Dubhais was widely used in the past, and is mentioned in Patrick McKay’s invaluable resource A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names (1999) and on the list of road names on the Ulster Placenames Society website (2005), recent thinking in just the last few months means Duibhis will become more widespread as new signage appears.
Céide, Bóthar and Sráid Dhuibhise are the Irish for Divis Drive, Road and Street. In these cases, our qualifier, Duibhis, looks different as it appears in the genitive case.
Duibhis is also used in the Irish version of Black Ridge in the Glen Road and Mona Bypass area. Black Mountain is another rendering of the name in English, and this has been translated back into Irish as Sliabh Dubh and established in the name of the Irish-medium nursery and primary schools on Ballymurphy Road, Naíscoil and Bunscoil an tSléibhe Dhuibh.
This particular example shows how a name can vary within a language or oscillate between two of them through the medium of direct translation and transliteration, morphing as time goes by in accordance with the contemporary knowledge and understanding of groups who use it as an identifier. Whichever name we use, it’s clear the bedrock of black basalt in the city’s highest mountain has captured the imagination of the population.
