Magherabeg (B)

Tráigh Dhíomhaoin (​tr​awg yee​v​een) – The Idle Strand. The name given to the strand extending to the southwest of Carr a’ Locha Strand along Brandon Bay. As it seldom held deposits of seaweed, the beach was relatively idle in comparison to other nearby beaches.

Clais Gharbh (​kl​ash ​g*oruv​) – The rough hollow. Local folklore claimed that the roar of crowds at sporting events could be heard here at night.

Poll Báite (​p​ou​l b​awteh) – The flooded hollow.

Gob a’ Riaisc (​g​ub ​uh ree-eshk) – The mouth of the marsh. Some maintain that the correct spelling is “Gob a’ Riaist” (​g​u​b uh ree-esht) which would refer to a strip of land (along the shore of Lough Gill). This was the site of Castlegregory Pattern Day (Lá le Muire na Duimhche), (​l​aw ​l​eh ​m​ireh ​n​uh d​eeheh). Following a raid by Barbary pirates, the Pattern moved, on the orders of Gregory Hoare, to a location beside his castle. Gob a’ Riaisc was also where football matches, sports days and horse races took place. Its time as a place for social gatherings ended in 1916 when the land was divided amongst the local farmers and fences were erected.

Loch Gile (luch gileh) – The lake of brightness.

The Bounds – Fields to the east of the bounds ditch.

The Stradbally Bounds – The bounds ditch separating the townlands of Magherabeg, (in the parish of Killiney to the east, owned by Lord Ventry), and Barrack, (in the parish of Stradbally to the west), owned by Robert Conway Hickson.

Barrack – Stradbally House was built in 1800 by Richard Norris, brother-in-law of local landlord Robert Conway Hickson. In 1810 a detachment of soldiers was stationed in sheds attached to the house in anticipation of a French invasion. The establishment of a barrack gave its name to the townland.

Carraig a’ Mhurdail (​kor​ig uh ​v​u​rd​il) – Rock of the slaughter. Sometime during the sixteenth century, an Algerian pirate ship docked in Brandon and commandeered a local man to pilot their boat to Fenit with a view to looting the Ardfert monastery.

The Brandon man deliberately directed the vessel over a barely submerged reef, known since as Carraig a’ Mhurdail. The boat ran aground on the reef with the loss of all lives.

The Sugar Loaf – Fishing grounds; a submerged reef located half a mile to the north-east of Carraig a’ Mhurdail.