Tarbert ( gd, An Tairbeart) is a place name in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. 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 Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

''an tairbeart'', commonly translated as "the isthmus" today. Both these words derive from two

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

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 *

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 *

Tarbert, Kintyre Tarbert ( gd, An Tairbeart, , or ''Tairbeart Loch Fìne'' to distinguish it from other places of the same name) is a village in the west of Scotland, in the Argyll and Bute council areas of Scotland, council area. It is built around East Loch Ta ...

the town at the northern end of the Kintyre peninsula,

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

* Tarbert, Harris, a ferry port in the Western Isles * Tarbert, on 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 * Loch Tarbert, Jura, on the west coast of the island of Jura * West Loch Tarbert, an inlet between

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Harris Harris ( gd, Na Hearadh, ) is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to in opposition to the ''Isle of Lewis'' as t ...

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 *

West Loch Tarbert, Argyll West Loch Tarbert, Argyll is a long and narrow sea loch on the western side of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. Geography The head of the loch lies near the village of Tarbert and it reaches the open sea at Ardpatrick Point some distant. The ...

in Argyll *

East Loch Tarbert, Argyll East Loch Tarbert, Argyll is a small sea loch on the eastern side of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. It is a part of the much larger Loch Fyne. The village of Tarbert lies along the shores of the loch, which is separated from West Loch Tar ...

also in Argyll * 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 West Kilbride ( gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Iar) is a village and historic parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the west coast by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the Firth of Clyde to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride and adjoining ...

* Tarbert Bay, on the island of Canna * Loch Tarbert, a sea loch on the island of Jura * 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 ...

* 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 A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

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