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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.

Anglicisation of Magh to Muff is relatively uncommon, we also have forms like Moy, May, Moigh. -f- is also substituted for -ch- (e.g. Lisnafiffy from Lios na Faiche ‘fort/enclosure of the green’ in Co. Down, as well as -dh- (Balief from Baile Aodha 'Aodh's townland' in Kilkenny)

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? 🤔

Thanks to BHF Northern Ireland for the invitation to come along to the launch of ‘Bias and Biology’ which highlights stark gender inequalities in cardiovascular care. Key policy recommendations that need to be heard.

Friends, I have 4 seated tickets for Christy Moore in Vicar Street this Wednesday night (20th November) and can’t make the gig now. Selling them at cost price, DM me if you are interested.

Liam Fleece-son? Connor Phillips

📢 Join us for this year's Seán Mac Airt Lecture 2024! NIPNP researcher Thomas Hughes will explore Belfast's Street Names Through Translation, discussing their meaning, history, and Irish forms. 🗓️ 8 PM, Thursday 5th December 📍 Peter Froggatt Centre, QUB 🎟️ FREE

Belfast Street Names Roinn na Gaeilge, Ollscoil na Banríona QUB AEL Dr Frances Kane Síobhra Aiken Reserve your spot for this year's Ulster Place-Name Society Seán Mac Airt Memorial Lecture eventbrite.co.uk/e/sean-mac-air…"

Back at it The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project instagram.com/stories/places…

eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-deirdre-…

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