a good name for a new house in the country

Is he originally from a rural area ? Would he consider the name of the Townland whence he came?

Or, he could ask the locals, or the person he bought the site from, what was the name of the field the site is in. Most fields had names once upon a time. The people who knew these names are dying, and lots of history with them. He might discover a meaningful, and possibly very evocative name, one that relates to the area ?

A gesture perhaps, to the land, and it's history, now that it is covered with masonry ?
 
How about 'bankshouse?' or 'negative equity house?' Or, wait for it................................. 'THE CELTIC TIGER'. Or how about combining part of his name with his wife's to form a name?
 

Wonderful post, Bluebells. I suspect that, like myself, you grew up faoin tuath.

I was reared in West Cork and vividly remember the names that some local fields had. I had the good fortune of having a locally born grandmother live with us for the first 12 years of my life and she knew everything there was to know about the parish. She passed it on to me and....... oh, my God,.......... I'm the dying off guy you're talking about!

Seriously though, such knowledge should be recorded. A lot of primary school children do local history projects and tape conversations with local older people. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís!
 
I would always root the house in the area by referring back to the original name of the townland where it's situated. However, this approach can sometimes backfire - I looked up the original name of the townland where my first house was built to discover it was called "Slut's End"!
 

There's a little bay west of Ballyferriter called Cuas a' Chaca.

Cuas is a creek. And caca is what you wouldn't like to step on with bare feet. Cuas a' Chaca is not where you'd want to be, without a paddle!
 
Yes, Lex Foutish I still smile at the expression on the faces of some people I met from Ballyhackamore in Northern Ireland when I told them what Bhaile an Caca Mor actually meant!
 
For a greek one how bout 'Hades'. God of the underworld and wealth

or Sparta. That way he can go around saying 'THIS IS SPARTA' whilst wearing just his underwear to everyone who calls to the house (he'd have to have a fit bod though! ) !
 
How about a twist on words. 'Eirene' is the Greek goddess of peace and of spring. Sounds a little like Eireann so he could kill two birds with the one stone so to speak.
 
How about Mjollnir, after Thors hammer, he could have a giant hammer outside the house to symbolise the name or a small plaque on the door, Mjollnir can change size. Or with the current economic situation "Ragnarok" would be an appropiate name.


EDIT: Just realised that Thor is a Norse God, but they arent to disimilar to the greeks and roman beliefs and may have a bit more signifigance in Ireland considering the vikings believed in them.
 
OP, tell him to just make up a name. Anything that just sounds nice.

E.g. I think melocoton is a beautiful word (Spanish for peach) - though not necessarily suitable for a house name, and obviously it's a real word too, but just illustrating how nice (IMO) a word can sound.
 
It needs to be easy to spell for telephone ordering. Are there any local legends? Apart from the O flynns?
 
corkgal said:
It needs to be easy to spell for telephone ordering. Are there any local legends? Apart from the O flynns?
Click to expand...

That's a very good suggestion, its needs to be easy to spell.
This rules out most Irish names like suimhneas or abhaile or teach mor !
 
corkgal said:
It needs to be easy to spell for telephone ordering. Are there any local legends? Apart from the O flynns?
Click to expand...

It's not the O'Flynns, its the Flynns, isn't it, I could be wrong though !
Didn't he have to find a name for 3 houses, or was it 5 houses he was running ?
 
Well, if I had a house like that, in a place like that, I would call it Rivendell.
Since I first read the book, about 20 years ago or more, i always thought it would be a lovely name for a house. Its not greek or roman tho, its Elfin.

"It is also referred to as The Last Homely House west of the Mountains, alluding to the wilderland that lies beyond the Misty Mountain"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register