Everything about Swanlinbar totally explained
Swanlinbar is a small village situated in north-west
County Cavan,
Ireland, close to the Claddagh river and near the
Fermanagh border.
The village is in the barony of
Tullyhaw.
In the 1860s Swanlinbar had the most celebrated of Cavan's numerous mineral springs.
History
The earliest name recorded for the village was
Sra-na-muck which means
The River-field of the pigs.
The current official Irish name 'An Muileann Iarainn' meaning 'Iron Mill' reflects the foundation of an ironworks in the town in 1700,. as does the name
Swanlinbar which derives from the four entrepreneurs who built the iron foundry.
Jonathan Swift in his 1728 essay
On Barbarous Denominations In Ireland wrote
» There is likewise a famous town, where the worst iron in the kingdom is made, and it's called Swandlingbar: the original of which name I'll explain, lest the antiquaries of future ages might be at a loss to derive it. It was a most witty conceit of four gentlemen, who ruined themselves with this iron project. 'Sw' stands for Swift (Swift's uncle, Godwin Swift, for whose memory he'd no special regard, seems to have been concerned in this ingenious anagram and unfortunate project),
'And' stands for Sanders, 'Ling' for Darling, and 'Bar' for Barry. Methinks I see the four loggerheads sitting in consult, like Smectimnius, each gravely contributing a part of his own name, to make up one for their place in the iron-work; and could wish they'd been hanged, as well as undone, for their wit.
By 1850 the name of
Swanlinbar was the common usage. Reverend William Henry in his 1739 book 'Upper Lough Erne' writes
» The River Duanim or Stragownagh sweeps by the small market-town of Swanlinbar where once was a great iron-work. Some time ago there were forests of oak along the bank of this river; but they've been so entrely extirpated in order to supply the iron-works at Swanlinbar, that there's scarce a stump left.
However the old people in the district still refer to the town as "Swadlinbar" and this name is mentioned in
John Wesley's Journal
» Thursday 4th May 1769 — I found near Swadlinbar, as artless, as earnest, and as loving a people as even at Tonny-Lommon. About six I preached at the town’s end, the very Papists appearing as attentive as the Protestants; and I doubt not thousands of these would soon be zealous Christians, were it not for their wretched Priests, who won't enter into the kingdom of God themselves, and diligently hinder those that would..
The poet George Sackville Cotter (1755-1831) wrote an amusing poem entitled "Epistles from Swanlinbar" in 1788 which recounts the adventures and upsets experienced by visitors to the Spa at Swnlinbar.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Swanlinbar'.
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