Reading My Way Around the World

Saturday 12 April 2014

Killowen

Killowen is a hamlet outside Rostrevor and it's where I live .... gorgeous spot ... right on the coast.  According to Wikipedia, during the 2001 census it had 159 residents.   To be technically correct I live in the townland of Ballyneddan which is about 200 years from Killowen, but we'll not argue about a few yards.
Killowen Point, just along the Lough from us





There are a lot of places in Ireland beginning with Kill, from the Irish Cill - it means Church ....  So Killowen means Owen's Church.   There's also Kilkeel, Kilkee, Kildare, Kilfeaghan, Kilcoo, Kilinaman and many many more.

During the Troubles there was a lot of comedy stories that were a play on words  ... one was of the Army stopping John the story teller on his way home from a gig ...

Sergeant: Where are you coming from?
John:  Killinaman
Sergeant:  And where are you going too?
John:  Kilmore!!

Oh dear ...


The Irish language crops up in a lot of town names - sadly very few people speak Irish fluently now, myself included, although I do have a few words .... but there are more and more Irish language schools opening up and even the Protestant and Loyalist communities are starting to show an interest in the language which is more closely related to Indo Arabic languages than to European ones.

There is no K in the Irish language, just a hard C.

Now for a K song - I recorded this Kate and Anna McGarrigle song on my very first album back in 1991.  It's called Kiss and Say Goodbye and the link to my music page is here

12 comments:

  1. Great song and lovely voice. Am a big fan of the Mcgarrigles too. Thanks for sharing your music :-)

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    1. Thank you:) Yes - it was so sad when one of the sisters passed away.

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  2. I love your voice....the song was very nice.

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  3. Very interesting post. It makes sense that the Irish language is closer to Indo Arabic, since the people migrated from the east. So where did the K come from since there was none in the Irish language?
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

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    1. It is a hard C - so the K is the anglicised version of it.

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  4. Beautiful voice and beautiful view! Reminds me a little of the Maritime here in Canada. I never knew the Irish language came from Indo Arabic; very interesting. Small world it was even a thousand, plus, years passed.

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    1. Hi Elizabeth - thanks for stopping by ... I'd love to visit the Maritime area of Canada - I think a lot of people from these islands emigrated to there.

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  5. Looks like a wonderful town and a very good song as well. Returning the favor.

    A-Z Challenge at Father Nature's Corner

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  6. It's good to live by the water. I did most of my life, now I live in the desert mountains. Go figure, as we say in the USA. I didn't know kill meant church, I will enjoy knowing it the next time I come across a name that begins with kill.

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  7. The desert fascinates me too Inger .... Thanks for coming by.

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Do drop me a line ... I love to read your comments :)