ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1084 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1084 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 14 Jul 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! A friend of yours was interested in using the Irish name , and wanted to know if it was used in period or not. Here is the information we have found. was used by the Irish, but it was extremely rare before the 17th century. [1] The earliest example we know is in the 14th century in a family of English descent; the name may not have been used at all by native Irish. In general, the Irish tended not to give the names of important saints to their children. Instead, a form such as (the slash represents an accent over the previous letter), was used, meaning loosely 'devotee of Mary.' [1] is found as early as the 6th and 7th centuries. [2] For information on how to make a complete Irish name, you might want to read and pass on to your friend the following article in our library: "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames" http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/quick_gaelic_bynames.html We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael July 14, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [2] O/ Riain, Pa/draig, ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985).