Thread: History of cows in Ireland! In most of Ulster townlands were known as "ballyboes" from baile bó "cow land/"land of a cow"! Since yearly rent of a cow ( @placenamesni)? Co Cavan similar units called "polls", & in Co Fermanagh & Monaghan known as "tates" or "taths"! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
Ardboe from Ard Bó, "height of the cow(s)" is a small village & civil parish in Co Tyrone, N Ireland. The name comes from a legend that the monastery of Ardboe was built from the milk of a magic cow which emerged from nearby Lough Neagh! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
It& #39;s not just cows that are important in Irish history, but obviously calves too! "Irish name for Belfast Lough, Loch Lao (Loch Lóeg) & #39;lough of the calf& #39;. The name may allude to a time when ancient peoples worshipped bovine deities" (via @placenamesni)! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
Clontarf, Dublin is from Cluain Tarbh, "Meadow of Bulls/the bull"! If you like your music heavy, you might know it& #39;s also the name of Irish Celtic metal band Mael Mórdha& #39;s debut studio album (2005)! ©mine (so glad he& #39;s not a Friesian or Jersey-the scariest?!) #FarmSafetyWeek https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐂" title="Ochse" aria-label="Emoji: Ochse">
Táin Bó Cúailnge/The Cattle Raid of Cooley begins! 2 pig keepers became 2 worms which were swallowed by 2 cows & reborn as 2 bulls! Donn Cuailnge (Brown Bull of Cooley in Louth who Cú Chulainn defended) & Finnbhennach ("White-horned")! My thread!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎨" title="Farbpalette" aria-label="Emoji: Farbpalette">D Kinney https://twitter.com/lorraineelizab6/status/1047764876544933889?s=20">https://twitter.com/lorrainee...
Inishbofin/Inis Bó Finne, Co Galway means & #39;Island of the White Cow& #39;! Floating until fishermen landed on it in fog! By bringing fire onto island they dispelled magic fixing it in place! They saw an old woman driving a white cow, which turned into a rock when the woman struck it!
There is an area west of Slieve Gullion, Co Armagh, known as “The Glen of the Heifer”! Once a famous cow in this glen who gave milk in abundance to everybody who came but one day someone tried to milk her into a sieve! Angered her so much she left mark on the Kilnasaggart stone!
Glas Gaibhnenn in Irish folklore, is a "prized fabulous cow of bounty that yields profuse quantities of milk"! Various owners: Gaivnin? (deduced from etymology), Cian mac Cáinte/Mac Kineely (Lugh& #39;s father) & Mac Cinnfhaelaidh! ©minehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh"> (This super cow suckling her own & 2 others!)
The magic cow Glas Gaibhnenn& #39;s name spelt differently of course throughout Ireland & in variant retellings of her story! eg Glas Ghaibhleann, Glas Gaivlen, Gloss Gavlen, Glas Gaibhneach, Glas Gamhain, Glas Gamhnach, Glas Goibniu, Glassdhablecana! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh"> (super foster mum 2+1!)
One of Glas Gaibhnenn& #39;s various names is Glas Goibniu as she was once owned by Goibniu the metalsmith of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Irish gods/goddesses)! He is associated with hospitality so all that lots milk from her magic udder would have been very useful! ©Sigo Paolini, dumteedum
One version of the story is when Balor (giant monster King of the Fomorians) stole the magic cow Glas Gaibhnenn, she & her calf looked back & were turned to stone, making the Rockabill Islands, Co Dublin, Ireland! (Other version: Boann& #39;s dog) ©John Eagle #FolkloreThursday https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤪" title="Zany face" aria-label="Emoji: Zany face">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😲" title="Erstauntes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Erstauntes Gesicht">
One version of the story is when Balor (giant monster King of the Fomorians) stole the magic cow Glas Gaibhnenn, she & her calf looked back & were turned to stone, making the Rockabill Islands, Co Dublin, Ireland! (Other version: Boann& #39;s dog) ©John Eagle   #FolkloreThursday https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤪" title="Zany face" aria-label="Emoji: Zany face">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😲" title="Erstauntes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Erstauntes Gesicht">" title="One version of the story is when Balor (giant monster King of the Fomorians) stole the magic cow Glas Gaibhnenn, she & her calf looked back & were turned to stone, making the Rockabill Islands, Co Dublin, Ireland! (Other version: Boann& #39;s dog) ©John Eagle #FolkloreThursday https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤪" title="Zany face" aria-label="Emoji: Zany face">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😲" title="Erstauntes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Erstauntes Gesicht">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
In other versions of the story of the magic cow, Glas Gaibhnenn, the smith owner is Gavida/Gavigan! She is taken by Balor & only returned after Gavigan makes trees grow on Tory Island, Co Donegal! Not many trees so don& #39;t know how that finished! ©Ireland Reaching Out, myfarmnthttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌳" title="Laubbaum" aria-label="Emoji: Laubbaum">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐮" title="Kuhgesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Kuhgesicht">
There is a connection between the rescue of Glas Gaibhnenn the magic cow of the gods, & the birth of Lugh! Either Gavigan (or Cian/Mac Kineely) meets Balor& #39;s daughter en route & they have Lugh who goes on to kill his granda Balor! Relief for Tuath Dé Danann! © @jimfitzpatrick, RTÉ
Glas Gaibhnenn, the Irish gods& #39; magic cow described as "the green (cow)"; "Grey (cow) of the Smith"; "Goibniu& #39;s Grey or Brindled (Cow)"; "white heifer" glossed "the grey-flanked-cow". "white with green spots"! Description best suits Irish Moiled (L) or Droimeann (R) © @droimeann!
Did Glas Gaibhnenn have calf? J Curtin notes Glas Gainach is corruption of & #39;gaunach& #39;, a cow with a yearling calf, which hasn& #39;t calved in the current year (farrow cow). Glas Gavlen in Donegal uses term for cow that hasn& #39;t calved in 5 yrs! But stories she has a calf! ©Independentie
Lady Gregory& #39;s version! There were 3 brothers: Goibniu the smith, Samthainn & Cian together with the wonderful cow Glas Gaibhnenn! But one day when Cian comes to Goibniu& #39;s forge to have his sword wrought (leaving Samthain in charge of the cow) Balor comes to steal her © @droimeann
Balor of the Strong Blows (or Evil Eye) steals away the cow back to his island (Tory island?)! Cian seeks help from a druidess (& member of Tuatha De Danann), "Birog of the Mountain". She tells him that the cow can never be recovered while Balor is alive! © @PJLynchArt @droimeann
With a windy blast the druidess sends Cian to Balor& #39;s tower allowing Cian opportunity for a tryst with Balor& #39;s daughter (imprisoned)! In Lady Gregory& #39;s telling, focus switches to fate of Lugh born between them, so the fate of the cow is untold! ©Lugh @jimfitzpatrick @thatsfarming
J O& #39;Donovan (d 1861) collected local lore that included mention of the magic cow Glas Gaibhnenn! Found remains of a dolmen in Shallee, Co Clare called Leaba-na-glaise, "Bed of the Cerulean Cow" (Glas the green cow)! Property Cian/Mac Kineely or Lon Mac Liomhtha. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📷" title="Kamera" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera">Bohatch dolmen
O& #39;Donovan collected story that the gods& #39; magic cow, Glas Gaibhneach, was owned by Lon the smith. He also learned that Lon had stolen her from Spain! (maybe a Menorquina (L) or Pasiega (R) dairy breed?-intriguing!-or sacrilege if you think her "Irish"!) PS-Lon had 3 arms & 1 leg!
Lon (or Gavida?) kept Glas Gaibhneach (who we now know was a Spanish magic cow) on Slievenaglasha Mt on edge of The Burren, Co Clare! Not far from the forge, for no other place in Ireland was fertile enough! She & the rest of his herd kept at the wedge tomb! ©Megalithic Portalhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
J O& #39;Donovan interviewed a Co Clare seanchaí. "This cow would fill with her milk any vessel,.. at one milking". 2 women wagering on whether a vessel could be found to outsize her capacity, & when a sieve was produced, the cow& #39;s milk caused 7 overflooding streams to pour forth!
But the Corofin, Co Clare seanchaí/tailor John Reagh O& #39;Cahane told O& #39;Donovan that the woman who milked Glas Gaibhnenn the magic cow into a sieve was a wicked hag! That telling of the story ends that the cow either died of grief or deserted the locality for ever!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📷" title="Kamera" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera">Ennis, Co Clare
It was said about Glas Gaibhnenn, the magic cow, that "the hoofs of this cow were reversed", & the backward tracks always fooled the potential cattle-thieves in pursuit! Good way to protect such a precious creature! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
In Ballyoran townland, near Fermoy, Co Cork, is a "Gownach Well"; the well of Gamhnach, a yearling heifer which may be a reference to the legendary Glas Gaibhnenn! Plus part of River Ilen called "Gownach". In Rev Patrick Power& #39;s Place Names and Antiquities of S. E. Cork (1917).
Derrylileagh, Co Armagh townland is Doire Loilíoch in Irish, which means “oak wood of the milch cows”! (via @placenamesni). & #39;Milch& #39; is an old English word for a milk-producing cow! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
Belfast& #39;s River Lagan’s original name has to do with a calf; Laogh! Also Ptolemy& #39;s 2nd C Geography described a river called Λογια (Logia). Connects with Old Irish loeg "calf"! Including this info, the original name was feminine; & #39;female calf& #39; or & #39;heifer& #39; ( @placenamesni)! ©mine https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
Laoghaire/Lóegaire may mean "calf-herd"! Name of several High Kings of Ireland. Lóegaire mac Néill was son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. His reign coincided with St Patrick & he became one of the 1st converts though adversary in some accounts! Name preserved in Dún Laoghaire!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">
Ballyboley/Baile na Buaile (left) near Larne, Co Antrim means "townland of the summer milking place"! Buaile has given the Hiberno-English term ‘booleying’ which refers to the practice of moving cattle to mountain pastures in summer ( @placenamesni)! ©mine http://www.placenamesni.org/resultdetails.php?entry=16726">https://www.placenamesni.org/resultdet...
Ireland long ago was made up of different named people groups! The Dartraighe (older spelling Dartraige) were the "People of the Calf"! Anglicised as Dartree/Dartry/Dartrey, it was a tuath/territory in the west of Co Monaghan! ©dad & brother& #39;s Angus/Montbéliarde/Fr-Holstein Xs!
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