Ardfert - Place Names
In recent years the growth of interest in local history has helped to focus on the study of place-names. We all wish to learn more of our past and a key element of this curiosity is attempting to understand the meaning of the place-names of our locality. The majority of the names are simple enough, mostly describing the lie of the land ie. the physical features. Others are more complex for example Killeacle or perhaps Farrenwilliam. Who was this William? To attempt to unravel the meanings, much research will be required. We need to consider the wisdom of Canon Patrick Power of Waterford when he wrote:
"It is the dreamy schoolmaster and the disciple of Vallancey who has read into local nomenclature (place-names) so much unwanted romance, or rather complexity of ideas."
In the attempt to discover the true meaning of a given place- name, we need to consult the maps, especially the earlier ones and write down the different spellings for the particular townland. Next we need to study the various annals, The Four Masters, Annals of Inisfallen, etc. Ardfert for example was written Ardartie, Ardarta or even Ardart in the annals. Old rentals can be useful too to discover old place-names now disused. The Tithe Applotment Lists, c.1820’s contain many older townland names that are no longer in use. It can happen too that the current name may be a corruption of the original name in Irish and so may defy explanation. (Fenit for example). The stream that flows through Ardfert, the Thyse, is another obscure name. The Ordnance Survey Name Books c.1840’s however are the great source for place-names and should be our first port of call for information.
Ardfert or Ard Fherta in Irish means "The Height of the Graves." Some earlier writers have referred to it as "The Height of the Miracles" however we know little of any miracles particular to Ardfert. As there are many, many graves found there, it would seem that the former name is likely to be correct. Legend connects Ardfert to a site nearby called “Caherferta “ or The Stone Fort of the Graves. The tradition of St Brendan is closely associated with the town since the 5th century and this was reflected in the town being named Ardfert Brenainn, in the 11th century.
Gortaspiddle
This townland extends from what was known in the past as Joy's Cross,(Ardfert-Tralee road ), up to and including the grounds of Ardfert School. The name in Irish for this townland is Gort an t-Oispideil, leading to the present form Gortaspiddle, translated as the ploughed field of the hospital. There are a number of different words used when referring to fields, i.e. bán or achadh being two examples. Gort is generally a ploughed or tilled field as distinct from a meadow. Smith’s "Ancient History of Kerry" c 1756, noted:
"Nicholas (Fitzmaurice) the Third Lord of Kerry made several grants of lands for pious uses hereabouts: and built a leper or lazar house ... He died in 1324 and is buried in the friary of this place."
Presumably this is the hospital referred to in the place-name. The word "lazar" comes from Lazarus, who was known since medieval times as the patron saint of lepers. St Finian Lobhar (the leper) is reputed to have built a monastery at Innisfallen, Killarney in the seventh century. We know that leprosy in some form existed in ancient Ireland, for the Annals of Ulster record in 950 A.D.
"A great leprosy upon the foreigners of the Cliath."
The Normans introduced the use of hospitals into Ireland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Hospitallers or to give them their full title, The Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, had by the year 1230 thirteen houses in Ireland. They became both wealthy and powerful. With the merging of the Normans into Gaelic society in later centuries and with the subsequent suppression of the monasteries, many of these hospitals went into decline. The last we hear of the hospital at Ardfert, was during the Desmond Confiscations of c.1597:
"A ruined house called the Spittal House of Ardfert was granted to George Isham."
This adventurer obtained large tracts of land in Kerry,Wexford and elsewhere.