(Vol. iii., p. 353.)
In reply to W. R. M., who asks for information respecting the round
towers of Ireland, I beg to refer him to Dr. Petrie's essay on the
_Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland_, in which he will find a full
discussion of the origin, uses, and history of the round towers.
In reference to the Milesians and other early colonists of Ireland, he
will find the most authentic ancient traditions in the Irish version of
the _Historia Britonum of Nennius_, lately published by the Irish
Archæological Society of Dublin, with a translation and notes, by the
Rev. J. H. Todd, D.D. The same volume contains also some very curious
and valuable notes by the Hon. A. Herbert.
What W. R. M. says about the pronunciation of certain names of towns in
Ireland, as confirming the tradition of a Milesian colony from Spain, is
a complete mistake. The pronunciation of _gh_ to which he alludes,
exists only amongst the English (or Anglicised natives) who are unable
to pronounce the guttural _ch_ or _gh_ of the Celtic Irish, and have
substituted for it the sound of _h_, or the sound of the Spanish _j_, to
which W. R. M. refers. Besides this, every philologist knows that the
present language of Spain had no existence at the period to which the
Milesian invasion of Ireland must be referred. It is true that on the
west coast of Ireland some families among the peasantry retain many of
the characteristic features of modern Spaniards; but this circumstance
is due to an intercourse with Spain of a much more recent date than the
Milesian invasion, and is therefore no evidence of that event. It is
well known that considerable trade with Spain was carried on at Galway
and other ports of western Connaught, two centuries ago, and that many
Spanish families settled in Ireland, or intermarried with the natives
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
To remove W. R. M.'s mistaken impression that Drogheda, Aghada, &c., are
names of Spanish origin, it may be well to inform him, first, that the
_gh_ in such names is not sounded like the Spanish _j_, except, as I
have said, by--(I was on the point of writing _foreigners_), but I mean
by those who are unable to pronounce our Celtic guttural aspirates.
Secondly, that Drogheda, Aghada, &c., are names significant in the Irish
language and perfectly well understood, and that as now written they are
not seen in their correct orthography, but in an Anglicised spelling
intended to represent to English ears the native pronunciation. In the
last century Drogheda was usually written _Tredagh_ in English; but the
word in its proper spelling is _Droichet-atha_, the bridge of the ford,
_trajectum vadi_. There are many places in Ireland named from this word
_Droichet_, which is no doubt the Latin _trajectum_, the same which
forms a part of the name of _Utrecht_ (Ultrajectum), and other towns on
the continent.
The word _Agha_, properly _Achadh_, signifies a _field_, and enters into
the composition of hundreds of topographical names in Ireland. But in
every case the _gh_ (or _ch_, as it properly is) is pronounced
gutturally by the peasantry; the _h_ or Spanish _j_ sound is a modern
Anglicised corruption.
On the subject of Irish proper names of places and persons a vast body
of curious and valuable information will be found in the publications of
the Irish Archæological Society, and also in O'Donovan's splendid
edition of the _Annals of the Four Masters_.