Cuba, near Banagher, Co. Offaly. Named for Cuba Court, a house built in 1730 for George Fraser, former governor of Cuba. It became a Royal Free School in the 19th century - Sir William Wilde, Oscar's father, was educated there. Charlotte Bronte spent part of her honeymoon at the house. #speirgorm

Tullygallantullywee, near Lough Derg, Co. Donegal. From 'Tulaigh Dhalláin', the hill of Saint Dallan, and 'Tulaigh bhuidhe', yellow hill. #speirgorm

Balloony, Co. Roscommon. A great birthday party destination. From the Irish "Baile Úna", Una's town. #speirgorm

Anny Far And Near, Co. Donegal. From the Irish 'Na hEanaigh' meaning 'the marshes'. Sounds like a romantic novel. On the shores of Lough Swilly, 'Loch Súilí', the lake of eyes. #speirgorm

Faartan, Co. Galway. From the Irish 'feartain', meaning a grave mound. The 'aa' is quite common in placenames, for example Craan, Braade, Naas, and Taash. And not forgetting Aghalattafraal. Try saying that with a mouthful of crackers. #speirgorm

Dirtystep, near Callan, Co. Kilkenny. Don't Google it at work. From the Irish 'An Coiscéim Salach', meaning the dirty footstep. #speirgorm

Decoy and Donegal, Co. Tipperary. An obvious decoy if you were looking for Donegal, Co. Donegal. Decoy is 'Clais Chiaráin' in Irish, meaning Ciaran's ravine. Donegal is 'Dún na n-gall', fort of the foreigners. #speirgorm

Davros, Co. Mayo. Maybe from 'Damh-ros', the headland of the ox. Probably not named after the creator of the Daleks. One for the #DoctorWho fans. #speirgorm

Half Umry Balloo, Antrim, Co. Antrim. 'Umry' is from the Irish 'Iomaire' meaning furrow or row, and 'Balloo' is from 'Baile Aodha' meaning Hugh's townland. #speirgorm

Moan Beg, Co. Tipperary. Which is what you used to do as a child when you wanted something and your parents said no. From the Irish 'An Mhóin Bheag', the small bog. #speirgorm

There does be mighty craic in Clownings, Co. Kildare. Probably from the Irish 'Cluainínidhe' meaning little meadows. #speirgorm

Brazil, near St. Margarets, Dublin. 'Uí Bhreasail' in Irish, from the family name Breasil. #speirgorm

Blackrepentance, near Raphoe, Co. Donegal. A mystery as to where the name comes from. #speirgorm

Wormhole, Co. Galway, from the Irish 'Poll na bPéist'. There's another wormhole on Inis Mór in the Aran Islands, that being a natural rock formation. Maybe this one takes you to the far side of the galaxy. #speirgorm

Socks and Sox, Co. Leitrim. From the Irish 'Na soic', meaning the snouts or noses. Pigs or cattle maybe, or baseball fans. #speirgorm

Barratitoppy Lower, Co. Monaghan. From the Irish 'Barr an Taoibh Tapaigh' meaning 'top of the tufted mountainside', or in this case specifically the lower part of the top of the tufted mountainside. #speirgorm

Well, we may have lost but at least we look like we cheated

For fans of obsolete 21-pin analogue audio-visual standards and connectors, here's Scart, Co. Limerick. From the Irish 'An Scairt', meaning 'the thicket'. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCART #speirgorm

Curry Eighter, Co. Galway. From the Irish 'An Chora Íochtair', meaning 'the lower weir'. Curryfree Orange Hall, Co. Derry. Does that mean free curry, or that it's a curry free area? #speirgorm

Fleshtown, Co. Kildare. Possibly from a family name. The alternatives are too sordid to consider. Maybe Millicent knew something. #speirgorm

Teadies Upper, Teadies, and Teadies Lower, County Cork. From the Irish 'na dTéada', meaning the ropes, strings, cords or similar. #speirgorm

Blackskull, Co. Down. The name comes from an old inn called The Black Skull, whose sign unfortunately depicted a beheaded black man. #speirgorm

Bloody Foreland, "Cnoc Fola", near Gweedore, Co. Donegal. Not named after a battle, or shipwrecks, although the North Atlantic off Donegal is peppered with them. It refers to the pink light on the rocks as the sun sets out to the west. #speirgorm

Big Ash and Ash Big, Co. Meath. From the Irish 'Ais Mhór', probably referring to the large mound and defensive motte in the area. #speirgorm

Patrick's gibbering away in Co. Wexford. 'Gibber' probably from a local pronunciation of 'tiobar', meaning 'well'. #speirgorm

There are various Inanes around Ireland, not all of them elected to high office. This one is in Co. Cork, from the Irish 'Eidhneán', an ivy-covered place. #speirgorm

@actualnames.bsky.social

Clodagh Tait@clodaghtait.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Somersault

Lilliput, near Lough Ennell, Co. Westmeath. Legend has it that Jonathan Swift was boating on the lake and saw people on the shore, inspiring the Lilliputians. Local people then started calling the area 'Lilliput'. #speirgorm

Fannystown and nearby Busherstown, Co. Wexford. STOP LAUGHING AT THE BACK. In Irish 'Baile Faine' and 'Baile an Bhúiséaraigh', probably from family names. #speirgorm

Slavery in Co. Donegal exists to this day. Possibly from the Irish 'Slábhradh' meaning 'chain'. #speirgorm