Language Notes

Sources

Forms for the settlement

Inbhir Éir Lower Findhorn Diack in CW67

Forms for the river:

At Aviemore I noticed Uisg’ Èir (Findhorn): Diack in letter to Robertson
Abhainn èire (=Findhorn) rises at Clach Sgoilte: Watson CW9
Uisge Éire: Watson in Dwelly
Éire gen. Éireann: Robertson

Invereren is the lower part of the river Findhorn. It was also the name of the old village of Findhorn, at the mouth of the river, which was swept away by the storm of 1701.: Watson 1926, 229 [likely Inveren in error for Invereren]

Additional Information

The place called Eren in which the toft was situated would have been near this; it was most probably in fact the same as the old village of Invereren. The names Cullerne and Earnhill, near the mouth of Findhorn, meaning ‘nook of Eren’ and ‘hill of Eren,’ are further in favour of Eren having the name of a district. The name Findhorn itself is the dative locative of Fionn-Éire, ‘white Ireland,’ and doubtless refers to the white sands of the estuary. The river is in Gaelic Eire, Uisge Eire, and its strath is Strath Éireann, Strathdearn, ‘Ireland’s strath.’: Watson 1926, 230

See Beveridge 64-65 for the form Inverern or Invererne. The form Inbhir Èireann may have been suggested by early forms, but Diack’s 20th C form gives Inbhir Èir which in any case differentiates this from Inverearn.

Findhorn Bridge ~ Drochaid Èire

Alternative Forms