Killultagh - An Choill Ultach - the Ulster wood
Killultagh is located at the corner of Lough Neagh between the shore, the Belfast Hills and the Lagan and Camlin Rivers. It derives from the Irish form An Choill Ultach ‘the Ulster wood’.
While the woodlands of Ulster were harvested extensively in the aftermath of the Plantation, a number of the townland names in the district allude to the native species that previously grew there.
The element doire ‘oakwood’ (best known as the name of a county and city) appears in Ballinderry (Baile an Doire ‘townland of the oak wood’) and Derrynaseer (Doire na Saor ‘oakwood of the craftsmen’).
Other names in Killultagh which bear witness to various kinds of trees include Ballyshanaghill (Baile Seaneochaille ‘townland of the old yew wood’) and Ballytromery (Baile Tromraí ‘townland of the place of elder trees’).
For more information go to @placenamesni or www.placenamesni.org
SEANFHOCAL
Mairg a bháithear am an anfa, tig an ghrian i ndiaidh na fearthainne.
Pity the person who drowns during the storm, the sun appears after the rain.
I found this a tremendously sad proverb and very visual too. One English variation says that “the darkest hour comes before dawn” but it doesn’t really have the dramatic punch of the particular proverb above.
Drowning in the middle of a raging storm seems a horrendous way to go and I don’t envy fishermen or seamen of any sort one bit.
It got me thinking to about the last people to die in a conflict. Who was the last person to die in the American Civil War, or the Second World War or the Irish War of Independence? Or others who are killed a minute or two before a ceasefire comes into effect? Peace is great but let’s not forget the people who died before it came into effect.