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Is there a way to find out what the pre-moderisation Irish name of a place was, like in the 14th century? (I'm thinking that would be Middle Irish). I'm especially interested in the place now known as Caherconlish / Cathair Chinn Lis, earlier usually Cahirconlish, and called in Middle English Catherkenlyshe when it was incorporated in 1358. It's in the barony of Clanwilliam, Co. Limerick, Munster.
Without the first element (Cathair/Caher/Cahir 'fort') the name appears to be exactly cognate with the Old Irish (back to 8th century) personal name Cuindlis, Cuindilis, Cuinlis, Cuindleas, Cuindleas, Coinleisc among other spellings, which has been anglicised into dozens of modern surname spellings like Conlisk, Candlish, Cunless, Quinlist, etc.
Since around 1990, I've run into genealogists and such thinking it means 'head of the enclosure'. Sure enough, Cathair Chinn Lis translates to 'fort of the head of the enclosure', and is said (e.g. at Wikipedia) to mean 'headland' by 'head', though 'leader/owner' is also a plausible interpretation of the 'head' element (same goes for its Welsh and Gaulish cognates pen and pennos, respectively, which sometimes referred to a person and sometimes to a land form and sometimes to just the body part).
It would be of value to see a transitional, Middle Irish version of this place name. And even 19th-century and earlier versions, before the spelling reforms. I can find Old Irish info on the elements that make up this name, at DIL.ie, but there's a gap between the earliest source material and the place-name spelling used today since the mid-20th century.
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