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Re: Avoca
in reply to a message by Aine
As this is originally an Irish place name you would need to consult a book or expert on the origin of such names. There is a good chance that, like many place names, the original meaning has been lost. The meaning "sweet valley" or "beautiful valley" seems to have originated in a song called Sweet Vale of Avoca written by the Irish poet Thomas Moore:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_MooreIt is possible that Avoca would mean "sweet vale" in Gaelic and Moore knew this, but it is just as possible without evidence that the people who interpret Avoca as meaning "sweet valley" took this idea from the song, and it is not the original etymology of the word. We need to find an expert on Irish place names to find out.
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I think it’s interesting to learn that the word Avoca in translation, is “where the waters meet’ in Irish. It is why a city in Wisconsin USA is named Avoca. It’s near the Great Lakes. Also a word for LAKE in Irish is pronounced Lough. I have an Uncle named Uncle Logie and he loved to fish on the lake.
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