So strictly speaking there are two on the map. The civil parish (and townland) of Muff is near Derry whereas there is another Muff in the civil parish of Culdaff to the north of Inishowen peninsula. The third muff is a townland in Co. Derry, close to the village of Greysteel.

John O'Donovans letters might contain evidence of change in process where he notes that local pronunciations resemble 'something between mugh and muff'.

Probably not, Maghera doesn't derive from magh, but from Machaire (Machaire Rátha ‘plain of the fort’), usually anglicised Maghera (like in Magherabeg (Machaire Beag). Also O'Donovan tells us that Muff tends to come from magh when there is no postfix (something coming after magh)

While we saw earlier that the anglicisation of magh 'plain' to muff is relatively uncommon, one could imagine An Ómaigh ‘the virgin plain’ emerging as Omuff 😳😳😳

The Derry townland of Movenis (Maigh Inis 'plain of the isle'), exhibits evidence of the final ‘gh’ of Maigh changing to ‘v’ and a similar change appears to be present in the nearby Craigavole (Creig an Ghuail 'rock of the coal'). In nearby Donegal, magh is anglicised Muff.

@BernardJMolloy6 Dr Frances Kane Yes, of course, and both phonemes represent voiced/devoiced examples of the same form, in that muff- and mav- are essentially a minimal pair.

The original name of the village of Eglinton was Muff (An Mhagh ‘the plain’) from the townland in which it is situated on the east bank of the Muff River. It was changed to Eglinton in 1858. Anglicisation of Magh to Muff is relatively uncommon, but also appears in Co. Donegal

The pronunciation of Muff seems to reflect the original Irish but this may have been reinforced by the pronunciation in English of ‘gh’ as ‘f’ in words such as ‘cough’ and ‘rough’ The Irish News irishnews.com/arts/thebluffe…

We also have a Muff in Derry! It was changed to Eglinton in 1858 when the Earl of Eglinton was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. placenamesni.org/resultdetails.…

Any suggestions for the plural form of Muff? 🤔

Neantanán i gCiarraí Nantinan Kerry logainm.ie/en/23369 'place of nettles' neanntanán = 'a nettle shrubbery; the name of a village near Killorglin, Kerry' - Ó Duinnín Féach téama faoi thrácht: 'Nimh san ainm' 'Townland names with a sting' logainm.ie/ga/teamai

eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-deirdre-…

e-Onomastics: 🗺️ #Deirdre #Flanagan #Memorial #Lecture 2025: The #Placenames of #Inishowen e-onomastics.blogspot.com/2025/05/deirdr… Speaker: Justin Ó Gliasáin (An Brainse Logainmneacha, An Roinn Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán)

Traolachbt35 Department of Culture, Communications and Sport Dept Rural & Community Development & the Gaeltacht The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project Foghlaim TG4 Biodiversity Ireland wildflowerhour Donegal County Council Donegal County Library The toponymic element 'Mín' occurs frequently across Donegal: Mín an Albanaigh/Meenanalbany Mín an Aoire/Meenaneary Mín an Arbhair/Meenanarwa Mín an Bhaill Deirg/Meenawilderg Mín an Bhainne/Meenawannia Mín an Bhealaigh/Meenavally Mín an Chait/Meenachuit...

Re-sharing some Muff bits and pieces ahead of the The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project UPNS Spring Lecture this week with Justin Ó Gliasáin Logainm.ie on 'The Place-Names of Inishowen'. All welcome!

Look 😳 OS200

Exploring the Belfast Hills from behind with Dr Frances Kane! #TikTok vm.tiktok.com/ZNdStHwRf/

Donegal County Council is set to ask the Government to establish a new public holiday in honour of Saint Colmcille - also known as St Columba - the only Irish patron saint without a public holiday rte.ie/news/regional/…

Ceann Léime i gCo. an Chláir Loop Head Clare logainm.ie/en/104201 Ceann Léime ‘headland of the chasm’ 'The longer name of the léim ‘chasm’ (literally ‘leap’) in question is Léim Con Culainn ‘the leap of Cú Chulainn’. Féach téamaí fao thrácht: logainm.ie/en/themes

Eglinton…before it was Eglinton with Dr Frances Kane #TikTok vm.tiktok.com/ZNdA4DRqG/