DINNEANCHAS
Scrabo - Screabach - light, stony ground
Scrabo in County Down marks the northern boundary of Strangford Lough. Strangford (‘strong sea-inlet’) is the name given by the Vikings to the lake and refers to the strong currents at its entrance. The lough was known to the Irish as Loch Cuan ‘lake of the harbours’.
Scrabo is derived from Screabach in Irish which means ‘thinly covered rock’ or ‘light, stony ground’. Its sandstone has been used in many famous landmarks including Belfast Castle and the Albert Clock.
Scrabo is noted as being a fairy hill in William Neilson’s Introduction to the Irish Language published in 1808. Neilson, a Presbyterian minister, finished his career as professor of Irish and other languages in one of Belfast’s oldest schools, the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.
A bhuíochas do: An Tionscadal Logainmneacha/The Place-Name Project, QUB.
Le haghaidh tuilleadh eolais, gabh chuig placenamesni.org agus/nó lean é ar twitter ag @placenamesni
SEANFHOCAL
Is éasca caint ná coisíocht.
It’s easier to talk than to do.
Well, the proverb actually says it’s easier to talk than to walk or as we say nowadays, it’s easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk. And, boy, do I know.
I’m the kind of person who has endless to-do lists. I have different to-do lists for different areas - a get fit to-do list, a tidy the house to-do list, a work to-do list, a learning to-do list, a social to-do list AND a bucket list.
I can write 1,000-word essays on music but can’t play an instrument.
It’s not always true that “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” (or write about it). Someone can be a great Irish speaker but might not make a great teacher of Irish, but not vice versa.
