Ratoath

Ratoath Church

Ratoath (Irish: Ráth Tó meaning Tós Fort) is a town with 10,566 inhabitants (2011) in the southeast of County Meath in Ireland . It is located at the intersection of the regional roads R155 and R125. The Broad Meadow River (Irish: An Gabhair ) flows through the city . Outside the village there is a horse racing track, the Fairyhouse racecourse , where national horse races are held.

Urban development

Ratoath was a small town until the mid-1980s. After that he increased its population almost tenfold. It thus represents an exemplary example of strong urban upward development in the vicinity of Dublin.

Origin of name

Ratoath is both the name of the place and the name of the landscape, the parish, the constituency and the barony. The origin of the word and its meaning are unknown. Two alternative Irish forms are known: Ráth-Tógh and Ráth-Tábhachta . These two names appear in ancient manuscripts. Possibly there are onomatopoeic descriptions for a place unknown to the writer. The name Mruigtuaithe appears in the Book of Armagh and is also associated with Ratoath. If this association is correct, it means that the second half of the word comes from the syllable tuath , which means territorial tribal possession. Mruig means pastureland. Ráth is the Irish word for a fortified hill.

Barony of Ratoath

The barony consists of the ten parishes of Rathbeggan , Dunshaughlin , Kilbrew , Crickstown , Killegland , Cookstown , Donaghmore and parts of Ballymaglasson and Trevit.

Individual evidence

1. ^ AD Mills: A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford University Press, 2003
2. ↑ Michel Peillon and Mary P. Corcoran (eds.): Place and Non-Place - The Reconfiguration of Ireland , Institute of Public Administration, Dublin, 2004, p. 170

Coordinates: 53 ° 31 ′  N , 6 ° 28 ′  W