Tarbert ( gd, An Tairbeart) is a place name in Scotland and Ireland. Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, or isthmus. This can be where two lochs nearly meet, or a causeway out to an island.

Etymology

All placenames that variously show up as ''tarbert'', ''tarbat'' or ''tarbet'' in their anglicised form derive from either the Irish or Scottish Gaelic ''an tairbeart'', commonly translated as "the isthmus" today. Both these words derive from two Old Irish elements, ''tar'' "across" and a nominalised form of the verb ''ber'' "to carry". The in ''tar'' was assimilated to as a result of being next to the historically palatal in Old Irish, causing the change in spelling from ''tar'' to ''tair-''. So the literal translation would be an "across-carrying". The reason for this is that all tarberts are in fact located at or near old

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

sites. In English language spellings the first syllable "tar" has generally remained constant but the second syllable "bert" has variously been spelled as "bart", "bert" "bat", "bad" etc.

Examples

Places named Tarbert include:

Scotland

* Tarbert, Gigha, on Gigha * East Tarbert Bay and West Tarbert Bay on the

Isle of Gigha Gigha (; gd, Giogha, italic=yes; sco, Gigha) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is m ...

Tarbert, Jura Tarbert is a hamlet on Tarbert Bay, on the east coast of the island of Jura, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Tarbert estate is owned by Ginge Manors Estates Ltd. It is on the A846 about from Craighouse. There is the remai ...

, on Jura * Loch Tarbert, Jura, on the west coast of the island of Jura * Tarbert, Kintyre the town at the northern end of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyll * West Loch Tarbert, Argyll in Argyll * East Loch Tarbert, Argyll also in Argyll * Tarbert, Harris, a ferry port in the Western Isles * West Loch Tarbert, an inlet between North and South Harris *

East Loch Tarbert East Loch Tarbert ( gd, Loch an Tairbeairt) is a sea loch that lies to the east of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The loch contains several small islands including Sgeotasaigh, Stiughiag, Stiughiag na Leum and Rosaigh and the larger ...

also by Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland * Tarbert, on Canna * Tarbert Bay, on the island of Canna * Tarbert, on

Salen Bay Salen may refer to: Places *Salen, Ardnamurchan, a village on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in the highland region of Scotland. *Salen, Mull, a village on the island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland *Sälen, in Dalarna, Sweden Other uses * Sa ...

, Highland * Glen Tarbert, between

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe () is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe'' is derived from the Gaelic w ...

and Loch Sunart * Tarbert Hill, above the town of West Kilbride * East Tarbert Bay and West Tarbert Bay on the Mull of Galloway

Ireland

* Tarbert, County Kerry, a ferry port on the estuary of the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Shan ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. * Tarbert, County Laois, a townland in

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

Canada

* Tarbert, Ontario

References