A Sign of Ireland
Following my post earlier this week about Irish orthography and related matters, I thought I’d share a couple of random thoughts inspired by the above road sign.
First, notice the font used for the Irish names, which is a variant of the UK Transport typeface, but is notable for the absence of any tittles (a ‘tittle’ being one of those little dots above the i and j in standard type).
The other thing, which I only found out a few days ago, is that`Leixlip’ is a name of Norse origin – it means ‘Salmon’s Leap’. Apparently there was a viking settlement there, positioned because of the abundance salmon in the River Liffey which flows through on the way to Dublin. `Leix’ is similar to, e.g., the Danish `Laks’, meaning salmon, and ‘leap’ is similar to many words in modern European languages derived from proto-Germanic sources.
There is a Salmon Leap Inn in Leixlip. I have heard very good things about the food but not yet dined there. Nowadays however Leixlip is best known for the presence of a huge Intel ‘campus’, which is home to a large semiconductor fabrication facility, among other things.
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In the Dark 
December 15, 2018 at 4:47 pm
Interested by this, I had a look at the English-language Wikipedia. It tells me in the article about Maynooth that Maigh Nuad means “plain of Nuadha”, where Nuadha was the very old Celtic mythological figure Nuada or Nuada Airgetlám. It also tells me that this is the same figure as the Welsh Nudd, which I knew of as the father of Gwyn ap Nudd, one of three holy starwatchers referred to in passing in one account of astronomy in Wales. Curious.
December 16, 2018 at 2:34 pm
Ah, so the wonderful Laxdaela Saga is really the saga set in the valley of the salmon!
December 16, 2018 at 2:38 pm
Indeed. Nothing to do with constipation remedies.
December 18, 2018 at 3:09 pm
The salmon is a magic fish in Irish myth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_of_Knowledge
A silver trout features in the Yeats poem-The Song of Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
December 18, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Is salmon magic when you smoke it?
December 18, 2018 at 4:23 pm
ps. you missed the beautiful last few lines:
And walk among long dappled grass
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
December 18, 2018 at 4:28 pm
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun
Put to music by Mike Scott of The Waterboys!
December 18, 2018 at 4:40 pm
The “Appointment with Mr Yeats” is one of my favourite Waterboys albums.