Pointe na Síge (Cheekpoint) atá faoi chaibidil againn an mhí seo. Where does the name Cheekpoint come from?
Ba dhóigh le duine go mbeadh scéal iontach le cloisteáil faoi na sióga ag Pointe na Síge (Cheekpoint). Ach, faraoir ní sióg atá i gceist san áit seo in aon chor ach síog (léiriú iontach den tábhacht a bhaineann leis an síneadh fada sa Ghaeilge!).
Séard is brí le síog ná riabh nó stríoc atá fágtha in uisce na habhann, cruthaithe dar ndóigh ag carraig san abhainn atá gar do bharr an uisce. Fágann an charraig a lorg san uisce i bhfoirm chúir nuair a bhíonn an taoide ag líonadh agus ag trá. Carraig na Síge is ainm don charraig úd in Abhainn na Siúire amach ó Phointe na Síge.
Caithfear súil géar a choimeád amach dos na sióga beaga in áit éigin eile!
Many people erroneously believe that the name ‘as Gaeilge’ for Cheekpoint (Pointe na Síge) means ‘Point of the Fairies’. Unfortunately, a combination of misspelling/misinterpretation of the word over the years has contributed to this belief.
The Irish word is actually ‘síog’ (pronounced ‘shee-ig’, meaning streak) not ‘sióg’ (pronounced ‘shee-owg’, meaning fairy) and is a good example of the importance of the accent in Irish! Therefore, Pointe na Síge actually means ‘point of the streak’.
The ‘síog’ or streak (of foam) is created in the river by the flow of the water, incoming and outgoing, encountering a rock in the river near the low water mark. Canon Power describes it thus in The Placenames of Decies; “A strong and rapid current sweeps over the jagged sides and summit of the rock, and the consequence is a long trail, or streak, of foam down stream with the ebbing tide and up the river with the flow.” The rock in question is known as ‘Carraig na Síge’ or the ‘Rock of the Streak’.
Sadly, those searching for the elusive fairies must look elsewhere!
(Buíochas leis an Canónach De Paor)
