Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
Holywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood
Grid reference
NX 954 796 (accurate position)
Six-figure easting & northing
295400 579600
Latitude
55.09971134508315
Longitude
-3.639482345673337
County
Dumfriesshire
Nearby places
Holywood, parish, aka Dercongal (0 miles)
Kirkmahoe, eccles. Kirkmahoe (1.71 miles)
Kirkmahoe, parish (1.71 miles)
Maryfield, Terregles (1.72 miles)
Maryholm, settlement, Terregles (1.92 miles)
Object Classification
Antiquity
Ecclesiastical
Notes
For the location of the abbey at the site of the modern parish kirk, see the report in 1878: 'The intelligent sexton pointed out some places where in digging graves he had come across traces of the abbey of Darcongal, which in ancient times had stood on the ground now occupied by the churchyard' (TDGNHAS ser.2, vol. 1 (1878) 34).
Relationships with other parishes
Names
3 head-names linked to this place ?Dercongal
Head name
Dercongal
Place
Holywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Obsolete
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Darcungal 1209, Melrose Liber
Historic formDarcungal Head nameDercongal PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceMelrose Liber, i, no. 199 Date of citation1209 x 1235 |
Source code
Melrose Liber
Source title
Liber Sancte Marie de Melros
Series
Bannatyne Club
Year
1837
Darcongal 1209, Melrose Liber
Historic formDarcongal Head nameDercongal PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceMelrose Liber, i, no. 200 Date of citation1209 x 1235 |
Source code
Melrose Liber
Source title
Liber Sancte Marie de Melros
Series
Bannatyne Club
Year
1837
Dercungall 1214, Melrose Liber
Historic formDercungall Head nameDercongal PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceMelrose Liber, no. 202 Date of citation1214 x 1249 |
Source code
Melrose Liber
Source title
Liber Sancte Marie de Melros
Series
Bannatyne Club
Year
1837
Dercongal 1257, Melrose Liber
Historic formDercongal Head nameDercongal PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceMelrose Liber, no. 320 Date of citation1257 x 1257 |
Source code
Melrose Liber
Source title
Liber Sancte Marie de Melros
Series
Bannatyne Club
Year
1837
Dergunglae 1360, RRS vi
Historic formDergunglae Head nameDercongal PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceRRS vi, no. 235 Date of citation1360 x 1360 |
Source code
RRS vi
Source title
Regesta Regum Scottorum, vol. vi
Editors
Bruce Webster
Year
1982
Saints in this place-name
Conall, Conual, Conval, Cynfal (ns) (maybe) Congal / Comgall is a different name from Conall, but given the density of dedications to Conall / Conual nearby it is not impossible that this is one too. This would only work if the name, apparently Gaelic, was coined using a written rather than oral source, in which the 'g' of -congal was a form inherited from an eighth-century or later British reference to a saint, where 'g' arose from the orthographical shift in internal position of /w/ > /gu/.
Comgall (ns) (maybe)
Comgall m. Sétna of Bangor (maybe)
Holywood Abbey
This is not a hagiotoponym.Head name
Holywood Abbey
Place
Holywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
Yes
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Holywood Abbey 1843, OS 6 inch first edn.
Historic formHolywood Abbey This is not a hagiotoponym. Head nameHolywood Abbey PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceOS 6 inch first edn. Date of citation1843 x 1882 Notes on the context of this place-nameMid to late 19th c. |
Source code
OS 6 inch first edn.
Source title
Ordnance Survey 6 Inch to the Mile, First Edition
Notes
Mid to late 19th c.
Sacrum Nemus
Head name
Sacrum Nemus
Place
Holywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Obsolete
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Sacri Nemoris 1321, RRS v
Historic formSacri Nemoris Head nameSacrum Nemus PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceRRS v, no. 170 Date of citation1321 x 1321 Feature named in sourceabbaciam de |
Source code
RRS v
Source title
Regesta Regum Scottorum vol.v
Editors
A.A.M. Duncan
Secondary Title
Acts of Robert I
Year
1988
Sacro Nemore 1366, RMS
Historic formSacro Nemore Head nameSacrum Nemus PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceRMS, i no. 224 Date of citation1366 x 1366 Feature named in sourcemonastery Notes on the context of this place-nameReprinted 1984 |
Source code
RMS
Source title
Registrum Magni Sigilli (Register of the Great Seal)
Editors
J.M.Thomson et al.
Volume
1-11
Year
1882-1914
Notes
Reprinted 1984
Sacrinemoris 1374, RMS
Historic formSacrinemoris Head nameSacrum Nemus PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceRMS, i no. 483 Date of citation1374 x 1374 Feature named in sourcemonastery Notes on the context of this place-nameReprinted 1984 |
Source code
RMS
Source title
Registrum Magni Sigilli (Register of the Great Seal)
Editors
J.M.Thomson et al.
Volume
1-11
Year
1882-1914
Notes
Reprinted 1984
Sacrum Nemus 1510, Aberdeen Breviary
Historic formSacrum Nemus Head nameSacrum Nemus PlaceHolywood Abbey, aka Dercongal, Holywood Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceAberdeen Breviary, 21 Jan, lect. 4 Date of citation1510 x 1510 Notes on the context of this place-nameFacsimile Edition |
Source code
Aberdeen Breviary
Source title
Breviarium Aberdonense
Series
Bannatyne, Maitland and Spalding Clubs
Volume
2
Year
1854
Notes
Facsimile Edition