Old Irish Boreens

August 15, 2019 by Irish American Mom 39 Comments

This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please see my full disclosure policy for details.

Boreen is a word used frequently in rural Ireland. It's a beloved term, conjuring homesickness and nostalgia for many.

But have YOU ever wondered what this frequently used little word means?

And so, today I thought we might explore, WHAT is a boreen?

Black and white border collie on an Irish boreen — Sheepdog on an Irish Boreen

Origins Of The Word Boreen
Boreen As An Example Of Hiberno-English
Language of Ireland's Past
Unique Gaelic Vocabulary
The Old Boreen - Irish Folk Song
Famine Relief Roads
Boreen Family Name in the USA

Origins Of The Word Boreen

The word 'boreen' literally means "little road" and it's part of the language of the Irish landscape, passed down to us from our ancestors.

Bóthar, pronounced bow-her, is the Irish word for road.

Boreen or Irish bóithrín, is the diminutive of bóthar road. It truly is a small, narrow rural road in Ireland.

The Irish word for cow is bó, which is pronounced bow. And the word for over is thar, prounounced har. The word for road came from cow and over - a way for taking cows over to another field. Irish roads were originally cow paths. And that's the etymology of the Irish word for road.

Now the suffix -ín in the Irish language, and -een in English, means small.

Noreen means little Nora, Maureen or Máirín is little Máire, and Seáinín is little Seán.

This Irish inspired diminutive suffix -een normally signifies smallness or endearment.

Boreen is a word found in the English dictionary, but its roots are firmly Irish.

A tree lined narrow road — Irish Rural Road

Boreen As An Example Of Hiberno-English

Boreen is a good example of Hiberno-English, which is the English language as it is spoken in Ireland.

The Irish language holds a huge influence over the traditional English dialects spoken throughout the island of Ireland. The Irish inspired suffix –een became established over time in vernacular Hiberno-English, and this is especially evident in the western counties of Ireland.

Here's an example of a sentence you might hear anywhere along the Atlantic coast of Ireland -

"I'll have a dropeen of milk in my tea, to go with a biteen of bread."

A close up of a lush green field — A country road with grass verge in Ireland

Our Irish conversations are speckled with residual Irish words and boreen is one such word which is standing the test of time.

In Ireland, the language used to describe the natural world and environment, has been inherited from our ancestors.

But I'm sad to report this colorful vocabulary is changing so fast, that many Irish language words used in day to day conversation, are being lost each and every decade.

A boreen in Cork — Boreen in West Cork Ireland

Language of Ireland's Past

To tell you the truth an Irish person's age can probably be predicted based upon the words they choose to describe the landscape around them.

With each passing decade, fewer and fewer of our favorite words can be understood by the younger generations in Ireland. Even my own children do not understand many of the words I use.

"What are you talking about, mom?" is a frequent chorus in our house.

Irish sheep on country roads — Sheep on a Boreen in Ireland

Image Credit

I hold fond, nostalgic memories of conversations with my grandmothers as we wandered east and west along the boreens of beautiful County Cork.

The words of my rural grandmothers would be meaningless to my American born children.

Together, we looked over the 'cluans,' or meadows between trees.

I knew where the bánóg (pronounced bawn-ogue) was, where dances were held in olden times, since it referred to a level patch of grass.

My Donegal husband often took the boreen over the brae, a small hill, where he comes from.

And in Galway they look out over the cleggans, spreading in finger-like projections into the Atlantic Ocean. Our predecessors looked at these promontories stretching out into the ocean and thought they looked like skulls.

And so to describe this landscape, they chose the Gaelic or Irish word 'cloigeann' which literally means head or skull. And from this Irish word, the Hiberno-English term 'cleggan' was born to describe a peninsula or promontory.

A dirt path in a forest — Boreen in a Wood

Unique Gaelic Vocabulary

But I'm afraid to report these words we borrowed from the Irish language are disappearing at an incredible pace.

Our unique Gaelic vocabulary used throughout Ireland in years gone by, even when speaking English, is being cast away along the highways and byways of this lovely island.

These lyrical, descriptive words are disappearing at an alarming rate, never to be heard again over the hedgerows and ditches of Ireland's boreens.

Small Irish road with grass verge in the center known as a boreen — Grass verge in the middle of a rural boreen

However, I'm happy to report, 'boreen' is no such dying word.

Its use is alive and well, especially in the southwest of Ireland around Cork and Kerry, where people travel hither and tither along the boreens of the Irish countryside.

A broken rusty gate in Ireland beside a small boreen — A boreen seen through a metal gate

Now to truly qualify as a boreen, rather than an actual road, the center of the route should boast a grass verge.

Grass-ridged, rural boreens are iconic symbols of Ireland.

The Old Boreen - Irish Folk Song

And of course, boreens feature in traditional Irish folk songs.

One such song that comes to mine is called, The Old Boreen, and was often performed by the Irish duo, Foster and Allen. Here's a verse....

"I love to ramble down the old boreen,
When the hawthorn's blossoms are in bloom
And to sit by me gate on that auld mossy seat
Whispering to Kate Muldoon."

~ From The Old Boreen by Foster and Allen

These narrow, often unpaved roads, found throughout rural Ireland, are part of our Irish cultural heritage.

A boreen also features in the Irish folk song called, The Star of the County Down.

"Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen,

And she smiled as she passed me by."

The boreen has romantic connotations in Irish culture. Don't you just love how boreen and colleen rhyme.

Famine Relief Roads

In the western counties of Ireland you will see strange road patterns on the sides of mountains.

Small roads criss-cross the Irish landscape, scarring the hillsides, climbing the slopes and suddenly stopping. Some of these roads lead to nowhere, terminating as a dead end, right in the middle of nowhere.

Image Credit

Many of these small roads or boreens were built at the time of the Great Irish Famine.

The English government set up relief or public works to provide employment for the Irish peasantry. English policy dictated that charity could not be handed out without a fair exchange. The impoverished Irish could only provide labor as payment for food aid.

This economic theory of the day was called laissez-faire, which is a French term, meaning let things be.

This philosophy meant the weak, starving and dying Irish people had to toil in the dead of winter to receive any form of compensation or charity.

Fish farm in the water along Kilary Harbor — Killary Harbor Famine Relief Road © Copyright Espresso Addict and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Image Credit

In addition, any roads built could not interfere with other economically beneficial projects, so often the roads built led to nowhere.

Over 150 years later, these small roads built by our ancestors remain. They stand as visible reminders of the greatest hardship ever endured by the people of Ireland.

The Irish countryside bears witness to the past and some of our boreens are evidence of our tragic history. Every time I pass a mountain boreen, I wonder if it was built at the time of the Famine.

Boreen Family Name in the USA

Did you know that there is a last name or surname "Boreen" which is found around Tennessee.

This name comes from Scotland, and does have Gaelic origins.

In 1840, there was only one family with the last name Boreen in Tennessee, but by the 1920's this had grown substationally.

And there you have it. A look at the meaning and significance of Irish boreens, those narrow country roads that stir fond memories for many of us.

Thank you for joining me today on our nostalgic stroll down our boreen of Irish life.

And thank you to everyone who follows my recipes and ramblings.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Mairéad -Irish American Mom

Pronunciation - slawn ah-gus ban-ock-th

Mairéad - rhymes with parade

Here are some other posts you might enjoy ....

Blue sky and snow covered mountain reflecting in a Donegal lake

A Snowy Mounty Errigal

Bog Cotton

View of the County Cork coastline from Sherkin Island

Visual Proof You Must See Sherkin Island

You may wish to add this post to your Pinterest boards, so here is a pin friendly image....

Discover the Gaelic or Irish language origins of this word for a road.

Here's another image you may like to share through Pinterest....

Irish boreen or rural country road with a grass strip or median.

And you can explore more ramblings about Irish life and culture here.

Discover the history behind thatched cottages

Why Tourists Love Ireland

See more Why Tourists Love Ireland →

Crafts

See more Crafts →

Wise Old Words

See more Wise Old Words →

Share my recipes and ramblings with the world

445

« Irish Salad

Celtic Christening Gowns As Family Heirlooms »

Comments