English / Map Form: Lochearnhead
Gaelic Form: Ceann Loch Èire
Location: Stirlingshire
Post Town: LOCHEARNHEAD
County: Perthshire
Local Authority: Stirling
Nearest Main Roads: A84
English / Map Form: Lochearnhead
Gaelic Form: Ceann Loch Èire
Genitive Form: Cheann Loch Èireann
Language Notes
G nom. sg. ceann, masc. ‘head, end’ + gen. sg. loch, masc. ‘loch’ + gen. sg. Èireann river nameElement Meaning
G ceann ~ head/end; loch ~ loch; Èireann ~ a river name
Sources
Ceann Loch Éir* | Dwelly 1912 |
Loch Earn = Loch éireann, (now Loch éir) | Watson 1926, 228 |
“The head of the loch of Ireland” | |
Èireannach | GOC |
Ceann-loch-éire | MacDiarmaid. |
Additional Information
Despite the ubiquitous use of the acute accent on the initial E, GOC 4H states: “Grave accent only should be used to indicate length… The (grave) accent should also be used to indicate length on capital letters”.
This name has been etymologised by Watson and others into ‘Ireland Loch’, although this is not perhaps the original meaning, at least not in this case. Possibly the original was something like Ceann Loch Éireann was the original, following the normal rule about names in Loch X. éireann was perhaps then reinterpreted as the genitive of Éire, Ireland.