Slinaun in Gaelic means shoulder
The thing you sling a sling on
Slinaun
A shoulder of a hill
Fascinates me still
Grandfather’s house
Pronounced ‘Shlinaun’
That’s how they say it in the ‘Wesht’
They are full of lovely names round there you know
Knockmoyleen Kilmaclasser Aghagowla
Ballintleva Clooncanavan Gortnaclassagh
I fell in love with place names
Lovely sounding words
Their origins so simple and so true
Where did my people come from?
Above there they might say
Up there on the shoulder of that hill
And so they called it ‘Shoulder’
Slinaun if you will
The height of country living
Going still
Brian Fahy
15 November 2021
Erris Poetry 