A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of
hillfort and also a kind of
Atlantic roundhouse.
Etymology
The term comes from
Irish ''dún'' or
Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
with
Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
''din'' (whence
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
''dinas'' "city" comes).
In certain instances, place-names containing ''Dun-'' or similar in
Northern England and Southern
Scotland, may be derived from a
Brittonic cognate of the Welsh form ''din''.
In this region, substitution of the Brittonic form by the Gaelic equivalent may have been widespread in toponyms.
The Dacian
dava (hill fort) is probably etymologically cognate.
Details
In some areas duns were built on any suitable
crag
Crag may refer to:
* Crag (climbing), a cliff or group of cliffs, in any location, which is or may be suitable for climbing
* Crag (dice game), a dice game played with three dice
* Crag, Arizona, US
* Crag, West Virginia, US
* Crag and tail, a g ...
or hillock, particularly south of the
Firth of Clyde and the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
. There are many duns on the west coast of
Ireland and they feature in
Irish mythology. For example, the tale of the ''
Táin Bó Flidhais'' features
Dún Chiortáin and
Dún Chaocháin.
Duns seem to have arrived with the
Celts in about the 7th century BC. Early duns had near vertical ramparts made of stone and timber. There were two walls, an inner wall and the outside one.
Vitrified forts are the remains of duns that have been set on fire and where stones have been partly melted. Use of duns continued in some parts into the
Middle Ages.
Duns are similar to
broch
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy.
Origin ...
s, but are smaller and probably would not have been capable of supporting a very tall structure. Good examples of this kind of dun can be found in the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
of
Scotland, on artificial islands in small lakes.
Toponymy
The word ''dun'' is, along with like-sounding cognate forms, an element frequently found in Celtic toponymy; especially that of Ireland and Scotland. It can include fortifications of all sizes and kinds:
Ireland
*
Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
*
Doneraile
Doneraile (), historically Dunerayl, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is on the R581 regional road east of the N20 road, which runs from Limerick to Cork. It is about north of Mallow town. It is on the River Awbeg, a branch of the ...
*
Down
Down most often refers to:
* Down, the relative direction opposed to up
* Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place
* Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing
* Downland, a ty ...
*
Dún Laoghaire
*
Dún an Ri (Kingscourt), County Cavan
*
Dundalk
*
Dundonald
*
Dundrum, County Down
*
Dundrum, Dublin
Dundrum (, ''the ridge fort''), originally a town in its own right, is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located in the Dublin postal districts, postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. Dundrum is home to the Dundrum Town Centr ...
*
Dungannon
Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...
*
Dungarvan
Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...
*
Dunmurry
Dunmurry (; ) is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council.
History
Until the end of the 18th century, Dunmurry was largely an agricultura ...
*
Portadown
Scotland
Many settlement and geographical names in Scotland are named with Gaelic ''dun'' ("fort"), as well as cognates in Brittonic languages such as
Cumbric and
Pictish.
*
Drumpellier,
Lanarkshire
*
Dumbarton,
Dunbartonshire
*
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
,
Dumfriesshire – possibly Brittonic ''din-pres'' ("thicket fort").
*
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
,
Angus
Angus may refer to:
Media
* ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film
* ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record''
Places Australia
* Angus, New South Wales
Canada
* Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario
* East Angus, Quebec
Scotland
* An ...
*
Dunearn,
Nairnshire
* Dunearn,
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
– possibly dùn-Èirinn ("fort of Ireland").
*
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
, Fife
*
Duniface, Fife – possibly Pictish equivalent of Welsh ''din-y-faes'' ("fort of the field").
*
Dunimarle, Fife
*
Dunino, Fife
*
Dunipace,
Stirlingshire - Brittonic equivalent of Welsh ''din-y-bas'' ("fort of the shallow").
*
Dunlop,
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
*
Duns
Duns may refer to:
* Duns, Scottish Borders, a town in Berwickshire, Scotland
** Duns railway station
** Duns F.C., a football club
** Duns RFC, a rugby football club
** Battle of Duns, an engagement fought in 1372
* Duns Scotus ( 1265/66–1308) ...
,
Berwickshire
*
Duntarvie,
West Lothian
West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...
*
Tantallon,
East Lothian
East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In 1975, the histo ...
*
Edinburgh, - Name in
Scottish Gaelic is ''Dun Eideann''.
England
Some place-names in England are derived from Brittonic cognates of Welsh ''din'' (c.f. Cornish ''dyn'', Cumbric ''*din''),
and fewer perhaps from the Gaelic form.
Roman-era toponyms ending in ''-dunum'' may represent an ancient Brittonic ''*duno''.
*
Cambodunum,
Yorkshire
*
Din Guoaroy,
Northumberland – obsolete name for
Bamburgh
Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census.
The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of ...
. Equivalent to Welsh ''din-gwarae'' ("fort of the play").
*
Dinckley,
Lancashire
*
Dunmallard Hill
Dunmallet or Dunmallard Hill is a small hill in the English Lake District, near Pooley Bridge, Cumbria. It is the subject of a chapter of Wainwright's book '' The Outlying Fells of Lakeland''. It reaches and Wainwright describes the ascent, fro ...
,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
*
Durham,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly About North East E ...
- ''Dunelm''
* Glendinning Rigg, Cumberland
*
Londesborough, Yorkshire – ''Lugudunum'', from ''*lọ:co-'' + ''duno'' ("shining fort").
*
Rigodunum, Lancashire
*
Segedunum, Northumberland
*
Tintagel,
Cornwall
*
Uxelodunum
Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall, and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix, in Carlisle, Cumbria, England.
Roman ...
, Cumberland – c.f. Welsh ''ucheldin'' ("high fort").
London has been
etymologised as Brittonic ''*lin-'' + ''dun-'' ("lake fort").
Coates has rejected such an etymology as "incompatible with early forms".
Wales
*
Carmarthen,
Carmarthenshire – ''Moridunum'' ("sea fort").
*
Denbigh
Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills.
History
...
,
Denbighshire – from ''dinbych'' ("small fort")
*
Tintern,
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
Italy
*
Duno
*
Induno Olona
Induno Olona is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in north-western Lombardy, north of Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after R ...
*
Verduno
Verduno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 523 and an area of .All demographics an ...
France and Switzerland
The
Proto-Celtic form is ''*Dūno-'', yielding Greek δοῦνον. It is ultimately cognate to English ''
town''. The Gaulish term survives in many toponyms in France and Switzerland:
*
Autun - ''Augustodūnon'' fort of
Augustus
*
Lyon – ''Lugudūnon'' "
Lugus' fort"
*
Nevers – ''Nouiodūnon'' "new fort"
*
Olten – ''Ol(l)odūnonm'' "fort on the Olon river"
*
Thun – ''Dūnon''
*
Verdun – ''Uerodūnon'' "strong fort"
*
Yverdon-les-Bains – ''Eburodūnon'' "
yew
Yew is a common name given to various species of trees.
It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'':
* European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'')
* Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...
fort"
Germany
*
Kempten,
Bavaria – ''Cambodunum''
Bulgaria and Serbia
*
Dunonia
Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...
*
Singidunum
Elsewhere in the world
*
Dunedin, New Zealand – from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Gaelic name for Edinburgh.
Dunedin: Edinburgh of the south
, '' The Scotsman'', 18 April 2012
* Dunedin, Florida
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is ...
, USA – see Dunedin, New Zealand.
See also
* Prehistoric Scotland
* Dun cow
References
* Scotland Before History - Stuart Piggott, Edinburgh University Press 1982,
* Scotland's Hidden History - Ian Armit, Tempus (in association with Historic Scotland) 1998,
{{Fortifications
Fortifications in the United Kingdom
Geography of Scotland
Place name element etymologies
Archaeology of Scotland
Toponymy
Fortifications by type
Fortifications in Ireland