ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1007
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1007
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From: 
11 Jun 1998


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us whether <Sca/thach ingen Fa/elchu/> is a registerable Irish
name.

Before answering that question, I'd like to clarify the service that the
Academy offers.  We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names
that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create.  Our
research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of
Arms, but that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with
the College's needs.  If your main goal is to register a particular name,
then we may not be able to help you.

You asked whether this name would be registered.  We actually don't
try to figure out whether a name will pass, but whether it's
appropriate for your specific period.  The SCA has fairly lenient
rules for passing names, so it's possible to pass many names which
aren't historically accurate.  If having this name is more important
to you than having a historical name, then you should consult another
group (such as the heralds in your kingdom or the SCA heralds mailing
list at http://listserv.aol.com/archives/scahrlds.html).

That said, here is what we found:

<Sca/thach> is a name found only in Irish myth, and means "shadowy,
ghostly, frightening" [1]; we found no examples of this name being used
by a human in period.

On the other hand, <Fa/elchu/> (pronounced \FAIL-khoo\) seems to be a
reasonable early name, sometime before the tenth century [1,2]. The
slashes '/' represent accents over the preceding letters.  If you want to
be the daughter of someone named <Fa/elchu/>, this would be constructed as
<ingen Fha/elchon>, and pronounced \IN-yen AIL-khohn\; note that the 'fh'
is silent. 

For alternatives to <Sca/thach>, try browsing the documents in the Academy
Library at:

  http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/

Under the section on Ireland, you will find an article on "Early Irish
Feminine Names" and information about good reference books.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. 
Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch
Morgant Glasvryn, and Arval Benicouer contributed to this letter.

In service,
--Walraven van Nijmegen
Academy of S. Gabriel

[1] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The
    Lilliput Press, 1990)

[2] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and
    History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986)