Nuair a thóg TFI freagracht as an bus áitiúil s'agam, an 184, thug siad ainmneacha nua ar scata stad bhus. Ina measc bhí Cill Mhic ó mBirn. Ainm an bhaile fearainn atá ann, ainm nach raibh agam. Phrioc fiosracht mé. Cad as don ainm? Rinne mé roinnt bleachtaireachta!
Cheannaigh mé leabhar, fiú! (Is maith iad Kennys!)
THE PLACE-NAMES OF CO. WICKLOW
VII THE BARONIES OF NEWCASTLE AND ARKLOW
LIAM PRICE
Fuair mé an méid seo ann:
From a further study of this name I am satisfied that it represents Kilmaccabirn, the name of the early church which for the past 25 years I have mistakenly identified with Monastery near Enniskerry (see above, p. 293).
The final syllable -bawn is not a corruption of bearna, but of the word Birn in the old name. The thirteenth-century forms given on p. 293 show that moccu of moccu Birn came to be confused with mac Uí, resulting in mac.
This came to be treated as the genitive, and the seventeenth-century forms with -ick- show that the aspirated m of the genitive had ceased to be pronounced, as in the name Ballykine (above, p. 64. Compare baile mic gilla chais, modern Ballygilcash, Co. Sligo: Onom. Goed. p. 83). The spelling Killickybyrne of 1633 corresponds to the form Killmacabyrn of 1228-55, the name being treated as if it was the sept-name of the O'Byrnes.
Kilmaccabirn was in the archbishop's manor of Senkyll, that is, Shankill, Co. Dublin. Scott, following Ball, suggested that it was towards Powerscourt" (Stones of Bray, p. 190; Ball, Co. Dublin, iii p. 81).
This seemed to make Monastery the obvious identification.
In 1533, however, Alen lists Kilmacber in RV as a chapel of Delgany.
Closer study of the documents shows that the manor of Shankill extended much further to the south than Powerscourt. It included Ballyronan and the land of John son of Ralph " in the mountains " (AR pp. 195-6), which means that Kilcoole and Delgany parishes were in it. So Killickabawn, which was formerly in Delgany parish, was in the manor of Shankill.
There is a record of an exchange of lands between the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough about the year 1190, before the two dioceses were united; the bishop of Glendalough gave certain lands in west Wicklow to the archbishop of Dublin, and took in exchange Kilmaccabirn and Toman and two other places. This is easy to understand if the reference is to Killickabawn and Tooman, which are now two almost adjoining townlands; it would mean that the archbishop was disposing of a tract of land on the extreme southern boundary of his diocese and adjoining Glendalough diocese. This seems more likely than the handing over to Glendalough of a place between Shankill and Powerscourt.
The identification of Kilmaccabirn with Killickabawn means therefore that the site of 'Cell moccu Birn,' the church of the man from Ossory', is to be located here, at or near Holywell.
The phrase sil senchill .i. meic cumili, which I quoted at p. 293 from the Book of Lecan, does not seem to have any relevance to Cell moccu Birn; in Rawl. B 502, 125, it reads sil seiscinn mc cumil.
Willowgrove. N 152.
This is the name used for Killickabawn in GJP, 1830-35
(Níl lch 293 san imleabhar a cheannaigh mé).
Rinne mé roinnt tochailt ar líne freisin agus tháinig ar chúpla tagairt:
Sa bhunachar "Early Christian Ecclesiastical Settlement in Ireland 5th to 12th Centuries" tá an mé seo (foinse:
| Documented Association | Nem moccu Birn |
| Lineage | Dál mBirn (Osraige) |
| Townland | Killickabawn/Downs |
| Parish | Kilcoole |
| Diocese | Glendalough |
| Barony | Newcastle |
| County | Wicklow |
| Province | Leinster; Dublin |
| Sources | LL 373 (marg inf); Mart.T; Mart.O |
| Recorded History | Cr.Mihi 1172/6, c.1190, c.1280; Alen's Reg 1228-55 (grant by Abbot Tadc to Archbp Luke); Rep.Vir 1533 |
| Gender | male |
| Familial Links | Cóemgen/Glendalough |
| Field Remains | ch ruin (St. Mary of Downs); location name Holywell |
| Bibliography | Hogan 1910, 197; Price 1945-67, VII, 388-9; Turner 1983, [59-61] (no. 47); Ó Riain 1985, 224 (n. 735); MacShamhráin 1996, 57, 164, 195, 238, 241 |
| Addendum | abbatial possess of Glendalough; Nem mch Birn alias Pupu or Cailbe - putative br. of Ciarán |
Tá an tagairt seo leanas i bhFéilire Aonghusa, agus gluaiseanna leis san eagrán a rinne Whitley Stokes.
D. xviii. cal. Iulii.
Con-recat diblínib,
for óen-líth ler slúagach,
Nem maccu Birn brígach,
la Benedicht m-búadach.
Nem .i. pupu fil a n-Araind 7 comar[b]a Enna Airne he, 7 do Dail m Birrnna hOsraigi dó, 7 brathair do Chiaran Saighir hé.
Nem, pápa atá in Árainn agus comharba Éanna Árainn é, agus de Dáil mBirna Osraí dó, agus bráthair do Chiarán Saighir é. (N'fheadar an gaol fola nó gaol spioradálta atá i gceist anseo).
Nem macc hui Birn do Dail Birn i n-Osraige 7 comarba Ennai Arné ocus is é sin in papa atberar do bith i n-Arainn.
Nem tribus nominibus uocabatur .i. Nem 7 Púpu 7 Cailbe. Nem primum nomen eius a parentibus. Pupu apud Scottos, id est papa, eo quod cathedram Petri petiuit, 7 Cailbe .i. cáel-béo, eo quod homines mirabantur eum uiuere (pro macie).¹
Unde Senan Insi Cathaig cecinit:
Romae rector docibilis,
Caelbe custos regiminis.
Comarba Petair is Póil tudchait Cailbe anair o Róim,
Nem mac hui Birn, brathair gle, dian comainm Pupu Airne
Nem mac Uí Bhirn de Dáil Birn in Osraí agus comharba Éanna Árainn é agus is é sin an pápa a deirtear a bheith in Árainn.
Glaodh trí ainm ar Nem, i. Nem agus Púpu agis Cailbe. Nem a chéad ainm óna thuisti. Pupu ón nGaeilge, sin é papa, an té atá ag teagasc ó shuí Pheadar, agus Cailbe .i. caol bheo [níl mo laidin sách maith é seo a aistriú - tagairt dá slí beatha deanaim amach].
As sin a chan Senan Inse Cathaig:
Romae rector docibilis,
Caelbe custos regiminis.
Comarba Petair is Póil tudchait Cailbe anair o Róim,
Nem mac hui Birn, brathair gle, dian comainm Pupu Airne
Dar le hAnnála Uladh:
Kl. Ianair
. Anno Domini .dc.l.iiii.
Nem m. h-ui Birn pausat
Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam!
