Coolsaragh (, ) is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

lying within the civil parish of

Kilcronaghan Kilcronaghan () is a civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Containing one major settlement, Tobermore, and lying on the descending slope of Slieve Gallion, Kilcronaghan is bordered by the civil parishes of Ballynascreen, Deser ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulste ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. It lies in the south of the parish on the boundary with the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Desertmartin Desertmartin (;Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, )Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence: ''Irish Place Names'', page 202. Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 2002. is a small village in County Londonde ...

, and it is bounded by the townlands of: Annagh & Moneysterlinn, Cloughfin, Gortahurk, Keenaght, Killynumber, Killytoney,

Longfield Longfield is a village in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 6 miles south east of Dartford and the same distance south-west of Gravesend. History The place in Kent is recorded as ''Langanfelda'' in the Saxon Charters of 964 ...

, and

Tullyroan Tullyroan (; ) is a townland lying within the civil parish of Kilcronaghan, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the centre of the parish and is bounded by the townlands of: Brackaghlislea, Calmore, Cloughfin, Coolsaragh, Gortahur ...

. It was apportioned to the

Drapers Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

company. The townland was part of the

Tobermore Tobermore (, named after the townland of Tobermore) is a small village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies south-south-west of Maghera and north-west of Magherafelt. Tobermore lies within the civil parish of Kilcronaghan and ...

electoral ward of the former

Magherafelt District Council Magherafelt District Council was a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It was merged with Cookstown District Council and Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council on 1 April 2015 under local government reorganisation in ...

, however in 1901 and 1926 it was part of Iniscarn

district electoral division An electoral division (ED, ) is a legally defined administrative area in the Republic of Ireland, generally comprising multiple townlands, and formerly a subdivision of urban and rural districts. Until 1996, EDs were known as district electora ...

as part of the

Draperstown Draperstown ()Toner, Gregory. ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', p. 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996; is a village in the Sperrin Mountains in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballinascreen and ...

dispensary (registrar's) district of

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

Rural District. It was also part of the historic barony of

Loughinsholin Loughinsholin () is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its southeast borders the northwest shore of Lough Neagh, and itself is bordered by seven other baronies: Dungannon Upper to the south; Strabane Upper to the west; Keenagh ...

Etymology

Coolsaragh, despite the various different spellings, many of which contain erroneous letters, such as ''h'' for ''r'' and ''f'' for ''s'', appears to derive from something like ''Culsaran'' or ''Coolsaran''. The loss of the ''n'' at the end of the word, whilst not common in Irish placenames, has occasionally occurred elsewhere. The "saran" could possibly be derived from the Irish word ''során'', which means "

wireworm Elateridae or click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae and Eucnemidae, which are also capable of clicking) are a family of beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, sp ...

", a kind of insect that is a considerable pest for farmers, eating the roots of tuberous plants. This would give the derivation of ''Cúil Során'', meaning "recess of the wireworms". This however is unlikely to be the origin of Coolsaragh as it doesn't contain an article meaning "of the". The lack of this article suggests either a personal name or a now obsolete noun. The personal name ''Sárán'' is used in the townlands of Kilsaran and Tisaran, and was the name of several saints and an early king of Ulster, and is quite possibly the meaning of "saran" in ''Culsaran'' or ''Coolsaran''.

History

References

{{County Londonderry Townlands of County Londonderry Civil parish of Kilcronaghan

Etymology

History

See also

References