indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Settlement
Other Forms FormsHaliwode
Meaning & History
English translation of Latin Sanctus Boscus, meaning “holy wood”. Holywood is a seaside town in County Down, Northern Ireland. This was the name the Normans gave to the woodland surrounding the monastery of Saint Laiseran, son of Nasca, founded before 640 on the site of the present Holywood Priory. The earliest Anglicised form appears as Haliwode in a document from the 14th century. The Irish name is Ard Mhic Nasca, meaning "high ground of the son of Nasca".