‘Ar dhroim na muice’: The happiest Irish place-names in the year of the pig

The pig is the twelfth and final animal in 12-year zodiac cycle, and is widely seen as an animal representing kindness and good luck. The Irish word for pig, muc can in fact refer to any sort of pig (hog, sow, boar), or indeed anything resembling a pig. The 12th century historian Giraldus, in reference to Ireland, stated “In no part of the world are such vast herds of boars and wild pigs to be found” following which we would be forgiven for adopting a name such as Tír na Muc ‘country of the pigs’  which is actually the origin of the townland of Ternamuck in Co. Derry (tír can be applied to any size of land-division in Ireland).

Indeed, in ancient Ireland, pigs were kept by almost all as it was cheap and easy to look after them, often in woodland Coill na Muc ‘wood of the pigs’ (Killymuck, Co. Derry), where they could feed on mast (the fruit of forest trees). In the autumn, mast was most plentiful and at the end of the season, the fat pigs were slaughtered, and the others housed in sties or piggeries like those referenced in Breacach na Muclaí ‘speckled land of the piggery’ (Bracknamuckley, Co. Antrim), Corr na Muclach ’round hill of the piggeries’ (Cornamucklagh, Co. Armagh) or Cnoc naMuclaí ‘hill of the piggery’ (Knocknamuckly, Co. Armagh) for the duration of the cold winter. Despite such a regimented schedule, pigs manage to find themselves in a huge number of Irish place-names from Ceathrú na Muc ‘quarterland of the pigs’, Carnamuck, Co. Down and Carraigeach na Muc ‘rocky place of the pigs’, Carganamuck, Co. Armagh to Port Muc ‘harbour of pigs’, Portmuck in Co. Antrim which has also given its name to a little island just off the coast, the Isle of Muck, a nature reserve which is home to guillemots, cormorants and the odd porpoise but unfortunately no pigs.

The mythical ‘Black Pig’ features in many folklore stories through Ireland, and in place-names most notably in a series of individual linear earthworks across across the drumlin belt, from Donegal to Down via Longford, in what is collectively known as The Black Pig’s Dyke, the banks of which were apparently formed by a giant black pig that ran through the countryside digging out the banks with its tusks. ‘The Black Pig’ rears his head again in a story that begins in Donegal where again, a giant black pig was tearing the place up. The hunters of the north chased it south where is disappeared into the sea near Easky (Iascaigh‘(river) abounding in fish). It resurfaced at Inishcrone (Inis Crabhann/Eiscir Abhainn ‘Esker of the River’), Co. Sligo and began again to commit great destruction. The locals chased it inland to where it was then slain in what is now Muckduff (Muc Dubh‘black pig’) in Co. Sligo where each year a festival is held in the poor sod’s memory (https://www.northmayo.ie/black-pig-enniscrone-festival/).

While we might be led to believe that pigs seem to be happiest while wallowing in the proverbial, pigs actually bathe in muck to cool down (they can’t sweat), and as such, their reputation for slovenliness is wholly undeserved. Pigs are cleanest animals around, refusing to defecate anywhere near their living or eating areas when given a choice. Similarly, the appearance of ‘muck’ in place-names doesn’t always indicate reference to a pig. Such is the case in Muckamore (Maigh Chomair ‘plain of the confluence’)in Co. Antrim and in Ballymuckvea (Baile Mhic an Bheatha ‘Mac Veigh’s townland’) in Co. Antrim.

Now back to that eternal pursuit of happiness hinted at above, the idiomatic expression ‘on the pig’s back’ is the literal transation of the Irish ar dhroim na muice generally means said passenger is doing pretty well. The element droim ‘back’, like many body parts, also appears metaphorically in place-names meaning‘ridge’, the most common example of which is probably Dromore, which derives from An Droim Mór ‘the great ridge’.

Now, if you happened to find yourself in one of the many Drummucks (Droim Muc ‘ridge of the pig’) across the country, or even in Derrydrummuck (Doire Doma Muc ‘oak-wood of the ridge of the pigs’) in Co. Down or in Drummuckavall (Droim Muc na bhFál  ‘pig-ridge of the enclosures’) in Co. Armagh, keep in mind that you are also standing on the pig’s back (or ar dhroim na muice), and that little spring in your step might just be the toponymical forces working beneath your feet!