WINDY ARBOUR VILLAGE AND NEARBY

10/07/2023

I pass through Wind Arbour Village twice every Tuesday and Saturday. Windy Arbour is surrounded by several housing estates, including Columbanus. At the centre of Windy Arbour is the smaller and much older townland of Farranboley, which appears on maps dating from the 18th century.

The name of the area was originally Irish Na Glasáin, "the green land"; this was anglicised as 'Glassons'. The name Windy Harbour or Sandy Arbour was later applied, referring to a landing-point on the River Slang. A starch mill was formerly located there. "Arbour" once had the meaning “grass plot, lawn, garden”; it is possible that the name was intended as a direct translation of glasáin.