Hi,
I live in the townland of Ballybrack in the parish of Goleen, West Cork.

www,logainm.ie gives the Irish as An Baile Breac. This seems to translate as "Trout Town" which doesn't make a lot of sense. There may have been sea trout in the inlet below but I cannot see that as a likely name.

A old local resident in 1936 stated "Some people state that the townland got its name from all the houses that were in it long ago, and others say that it is from the white rocks that are there".

I would really appreciate any ideas anyone may have.

Thanks
Aidan

breac is also an adjective:



http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/breac

I think it is more likely as Labhrás said that it is "Speckled Town", speckled meaning the houses are just dotted around the area rather than being an identifiable town.

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

The Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names agrees (it has really good coverage for all of Ireland), except that it says that it means "speckled townland".

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I think that's just down to how you translate Baile, since it sort of just means village/town/townland, i.e. almost anything smaller than a city and above a hamlet.

_________________
The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal