It may be interesting to some readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" to know that exactly the same thing has happened in Ireland, and that the recognised Anglicised forms of several proper names, now stereotyped, are a combination of the definite article _an_, of the Gaelic or Irish language, with the name of the place. For instance, _Nenagh_ in the co. Tipperary is properly _Aonach_ [pron. _eenagh_], but generally spoken of by the people with the definite article _an Aonach_, the Aonach, _i.e._ fair, place of a fair or assembly; and hence by the English made _Nenagh_. So also the river _Ainge_ [pron. nearly as _Anny_] is usually called an Ainge, _the_ Ainge; and therefore is now _Nanny_, the Nanny, or Nanny water, in the co. Meath. In like manner, the island _Aondruim_ in Loch Cuan, on which stood once a celebrated monastery, is in Irish always called _an Aondruim_, the Aondruim, and is now Nandrum or Nantrim Island. The town of _Newry_ is another instance. It has its name from an ancient yew tree [in Irish _Iubhair_, pron. nearly as the word _your_] which stood near it, and was said to have been planted by St. Patrick. Hence the town is always called _an Iubhair_, the yew tree; which, by incorporating the article, has been Anglicised _Newry_. The river _Nore_ in Ossory, is properly _an Eoir_, the Eoir [pron. _Ore_]. So also the _Navan_ fort near Armagh, is _an Eamhain_, the Eamhain [pron. nearly as _Avan_]. I might fill a page with other instances, but I shall only mention another similar corruption in proper names, where after dropping the _Mac_ the _c_ is retained, in cases where the patronymic begins with a vowel. Thus the descendants of the Danish family of _Ottar_ became _Mac Ottar_, and are now Cotter. So _Mac Etigan_ became _Gettigan_; _Mac Eeoghegan_, Geoghegan; the _c_ being further transmuted into _g_. And hundreds of similar instances could be given. It may also be observed that the English very generally caught the genitive, or oblique case, of the Irish proper names, and from it formed the name which is now in use amongst the English speaking population. Thus they heard the Irish speak of the isles _Araun_, _i.e._ the isles _of Ara_, for _Araun_ is the genitive; and hence they are now the _Aran Isles_. So also the ford Trim or Druim, in Irish _Ath-Druim_ (the ford of the long low hill, _vadum Dorsi_), where _Druim_ [pron. nearly _Trim_] is the genitive of _Drom_ or _Drum_, a long low hill, a back. The names given to Ireland by medieval writers, after the ancient name of Scotia had been transferred to _Alban_ (which, by the way, is itself a genitive, from _Alba_), afford instances of the same thing.