Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
Fielbarachan, Aberfoyle
Grid reference
NN 518 010 (accurate position)
Six-figure easting & northing
251800 701000
Latitude
56.17861721188839
Longitude
-4.387741626925173
County
Perthshire
Nearby places
Bad Malio, Aberfoyle (0.36 miles)
Aberfoyle, parish (0.37 miles)
St Mary's Chapel, Drymen (3.23 miles)
Loch Inchmahome, Port of Meneith (3.28 miles)
Dalmary, settlement Drymen (3.43 miles)
Object Classification
Settlement
Is linear feature?
No
Notes
The name is that of a nineteenth-century guest-house, recently re-named Craigmore Guest House, but still known locally as Fielbarachan. The name is likely to reflect G Féill Bhearcháin, (St) Berchán's Fair, which was formerly kept at Aberfoyle in the autumn. The Fielbarachan guest house stands on the road, about 300 yards west of the centre of Aberfoyle, and on the northern edge of a flood-plain of the River Forth. It is named after the field across the road, on that flood-plain, which was used for the local games as late as the 1930s, and it is likely, given this tradition, the field-name and the suitable location, that the field was named after the fair of St Berchán celebrated on this flat ground [thanks to Pete McNiven for information about the name and recent use of the field].
Relationships with other parishes
Within Aberfoyle, parish
Names
1 head-name linked to this place ?Fielbarachan
Head name
Fielbarachan
Place
Fielbarachan, Aberfoyle
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Feil-barachan 1922, BNE, Plummer
Historic formFeil-barachan Head nameFielbarachan PlaceFielbarachan, Aberfoyle Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceBNE, Plummer, ii, 328 Date of citation1922 x 1922 Notes on the context of this place-namePlummer, C (ed.) 1922 Bethada Náem nÉrenn - Lives of the Irish Saints (Oxford) |
Source code
BNE, Plummer
Author
Plummer, C (ed)
Source title
Bethada Náem nÉrenn - Lives of the Irish Saints
Year
1922
Notes
Plummer, C (ed.) 1922 Bethada Náem nÉrenn - Lives of the Irish Saints (Oxford)
Saints in this place-name
Berach, Berchán, Mo Bí (ns) (probable)
Berchán m. Muiredaig of Cluain Sosta (maybe)
Berchán of Eigg (maybe)