Mull is an
Anglicization
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Culture of England, English culture or Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English ...
of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
''Maol'', a term for a rounded hill, summit, or mountain, bare of trees (it has also been used, in Gaelic, to refer to a forehead, or to a shaved head). As an adjective, the word is used to indicate something which is bare, dull, or bald. In Scotland, the term is most commonly used in the southwest, where it is often applied to headlands or
promontories, and, often more specifically, for the tip of that promontory or
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
.
Gaelic spelling rules require that maol, in certain syntactical arrangements, be
lenited: that is, an ''h'' is inserted after the first letter, if the first letter is a consonant (and not an l, n, or r). This ''h'' makes the preceding consonant silent, or changes its sound (mh, or bh, for instance, are silent or sound like an English v). In some circumstances (e.g., genitive case), in addition to lenition, the last consonant must be slender (proceeded and followed, if applicable by an i or an e). As both vowels in maol are broad, an i is inserted after. These two changes alter the sound of maol (rhymes with mull) to mhaoil (rhymes with uell, or well), as in ''Creachmhaoil'' (creach + maol). Consequently, 'maol', where it appears combined in place names, may not be Anglicized as ''mull''. Creachmhaoil is typically Anglicized (as a toponym) as Craughwell. The reverse is also true, and though ''mull'' appears in numerous Irish and Scottish toponyms, a convoluted history of Anglicizations means that in many it may have no connection to the word maol.
The Gaelic mullach (often found as mullagh) is a variation of maol/mull. Dwelly's (Scottish) Gaelic-to-English dictionary gives the basic definition: ''the top, summit, or extremity of anything''. It is common in the names of Irish prominences, such as
Mullaghmore Mullaghmore may refer to the following places in Ireland:
General
* Mullaghmore, County Clare, a limestone hill
* Mullaghmore Peninsula, a peninsula in County Sligo
** Mullaghmore, County Sligo, a village on the Mullaghmore Peninsula
* Mullaghmore ...
(''An Mullach Mór''), Mullaghaneany, Mullaghcloga, and Mullaghcarn.
Notable mulls include:
*The
Mull of Kintyre
*The
Mull of Galloway
*The
Mull of Oa, otherwise simply
The Oa, a headland on
Islay
Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...
*The Mull of Cara, a promontory at the south of
Cara Island
*The Mull of Logan, a promontory on the
Rhins of Galloway
*Mull Head, a headland on the
Orkney Mainland
*
Creachmhaoil in
County Galway
"Righteousness and Justice"
, anthem = ()
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg
, map_caption = Location in Ireland
, area_footnotes =
, area_total_km2 = ...
, in Ireland.
*
Mull Hill, Isle of Man.
Mull, the Inner Hebridean island's name has a different, pre-Gaelic derivation.
[Gammeltoft, Peder "Scandinavian Naming-Systems in the Hebrides—A Way of Understanding how the Scandinavians were in Contact with Gaels and Picts?" in Ballin Smith ''et al'' (2007) p. 487]
Notes
References
*Ballin Smith, Beverley; Taylor, Simon; Williams, Gareth (eds) (2007) ''West Over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300''. Leiden. Koninklijke Brill.
*
Celtic words and phrases
Celtic toponyms
Scottish words and phrases
Irish words and phrases
Scottish toponyms
Irish toponyms
{{Ireland-hist-stub