An Seanphobal - History - Place Name

Place Name

The anglicised place name of the parish, Old Parish, is rare among place-names in Ireland in that it it a fairly direct translation of the original Irish name. The Irish word 'Pobal' is community in English and Sean is "old" in English. According to local lore, it is the oldest parish in Ireland. This myth is probably spurred on by the parish saint, Saint Colman, who had a monastery in Cill Comán in An tSean Phobail, having baptised St. Declan, who went on to christianise Waterford before the coming of Saint Patrick. But the name of the area is more likely due to the following reasons: It once was part of an older parish pairing that consisted of Ardmore and An tSean Phobail. It is said that people in neighbouring parishes (who at the time would have spoken Irish) referred to the area as An tSean Phobail after it left Ardmore to join in a new parish pairing with An Rinn in the early 1900s. Another theory is that the devastating effect the famine had on the parish population could have led people to call it An tSean Phobail (The Old Community), as it would have been a vibrant populated community beforehand. Either way, the nickname people had for the parish became the adopted place name for the area. Prior to the area being called An tSean Phobail, it was probably known as Baile Mhic Airt, the largest towns-land within An tSean Phobail. S.N Baile Mhic Airt is the name of the local primary school, Baile Mhic Airt and other parish towns-lands appear on O.S maps without An tSean Phobail and Baile Mhic Airt is still recognised within the postal service.