Straffan - Etymology

Etymology

The name 'Straffan' has an interesting etymological history. The town is named for St. Srafán, whose feast day in the Martyrology of Tallaght was May 23. Straffan was also one of 300 Irish locations accorded its own place-legend in Dinnshenchas Érenn (Metrical (ed. Edward Gwynn 1924) iv, pp328–331). It consisted of a poem called "Lumman Tige Srafain", about a warrior named Lumann who possessed a wonderful shield and who, according to the poem, died of his wounds at Tech Srafáin. Two forms of the name cited in the tale, Tech Srafáin and Tige Srafáin, are Middle Irish nominative and genitive case forms. The spelling Strafáin is unusual. "Straphan" or "Straffan" is a shortened Anglicised form of the original Irish Teach Srafáin (the initial Str- is the usual development of Irish Sr in English).

The second Irish name of the town, Cluaníní, means "little meadows". The story goes that St. Srafán, upon his arrival at the village, noted the smaller size fields in comparison to those of his native Tallaght and gave the town the name.

Dinnshenchas Érenn, probably composed by Cináed Ua Hartacáin (d. 975), also selected the nearby Cnoch Liamhna for mention as one of the “assemblies and noted places in Ireland”, an indication of the strength of the local ruling family, the Uí Dúnchada branch of the Uí Dúnlainge who supplied ten kings of Leinster from their base on nearby Lyons Hill between 750 and 1050.

Sruthán (stream) was mistakenly cited by Thomas O'Connor in the Ordnance Survey Letters in 1837, and adopted as the Irish form of Straffan. Seosamh Laoide used it in his list of Irish names of post-offices published in Post-Sheanchas (1905). An Sruthán gained currency among those involved in the Irish revival and was promoted as name in the local schools. Recent research by Domhnall mac Giolla Easpaig declares it “completely at odds with the written evidence cited above and with local pronunciation and appears to be no more than an ad hoc explanation of the name by O'Connor's informant.” Sruthán is anglicised struffaun in some parts of the country. One would not expect to find it rendered thus in the Straffan area.”

The village Post Office, opened c. 1845, was closed in April 1924. A separate office had been opened at Straffan Station in May 1872, this adjacent to the former Station, 1.5 mi (2.5 km) from the village. On the adoption of Irish language names by the Irish Post Office in 1922 the name of Cluainíní was adopted for the Station office, this being the Irish version of Clownings, the townland in which the Post Office and former station were situated. That office was closed c. 1977 at which date the office in the village was reopened and the Irish name of Teach Srafáin was adopted, this name appearing in the 1982 Post Office Guide.