February 2008 Heritage Feature: Place Name Research - Lottery bid

AÀA is a partnership of public and voluntary bodies, including Ordnance Survey, local authorities, Gaelic groups and the Scottish Place-Name Society. Their purpose is to establish correct forms of Gaelic place-names for maps, road signs and general use. Their aim is to develop a national archive of Gaelic place-names, available free to all, on-line.

Project manager Rosemary Gibson explains - "We hope to establish community projects to record Gaelic place-names, with project staff training volunteers in place-name research. We would like to involve local heritage societies, schools and Gaelic learners’ groups. These projects will empower local people to discover the history of their community through its place-names and preserve a unique part of Scotland’s heritage. " 

Rosemary continues, "For the application to HLF we are trying to gauge the level of interest locally. Please get in touch if your society would like to be involved in local place-names projects, or if you have already carried out research which you are willing to contribute to the archive."

But hurry! The deadline for notes of interest is 18th March. The application goes in at the end of March, with the decision due in September. The more interest the better the chance of success.

Rosemary can be contacted thus...