ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1267 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1267 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 4 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing an Irish masculine name that might have been used in the 12th, 13th, or 14th century, with or something starting with as your given name, and or as your father's name. You also asked for advice on designing appropriate arms. Here is what we have found. is a modern surname, an English spelling derived from the Gaelic "son of "Aodhaga/n", which is pronounced \mahk AY-gahn\ [1]. The \k\ sound in the first word was mistakenly grouped with the second word. In period, names like these were used literally: was the son of a man whose given name was . The slash represents an accent on the preceding letter. would be a fine given name for your period, but is only a surname, and is English, not Gaelic. Here is a list of some Gaelic men's given names beginning with [2]. In the pronunciations, \kh\ represents the rasping sound in the Scottish and the German . \gh\ represents the voiced version of the same sound. \dh\ is the sound of , and \OO\ is pronounced as in . Diarmaid \JAR-mahtch\ Domhnall \DON-ahl\ Donnchadh \DON-khahdh\ Dubh [3] \DOOV\ Dubhghall \DOOV-ghahl\ Dubhthach \DOOV-akh\, perhaps \DOOV-thahkh\ at the beginning of your period. Dunghal \DOON-ghahl\ is an English spelling of the Gaelic , which was pronounced \KON-a-kher\. is another English spelling, from Gaelic \DOOV-gahn\. Either or would be a fine choice for your father's name. In Ireland in period, a man was primarily known as his father's son. If you choose to call yourself and your father , then you would be known as "Dubhghall son of Dubhaga/n". The extra in your father's name is analogous to the <'s> in ; it puts the name in the possessive form. Irish possessives are very irregular, so write us once you choose your father's name, and we'll let you know the correct grammar. Or you can pick a name from this web page, which has the possessive (genitive) forms already filled in: 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 Heraldry is not a native Irish art; it was imported by the English. Consequently, Irish armorial style is not very different from English style. Early in your period, heraldry was used in Ireland mostly by non-Irish settlers; later on, the Irish began to adopt arms of their own. A good first step in designing your arms would be to get an idea of what sorts of designs were used in England during your period. A good book for the purpose is Joseph Foster's _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). It contains several thousand color drawings copied from period English rolls of arms. Lots of Societyfolk own copies, and you can occasionally find a copy remaindered in a large bookstore. You may also find some help in Compleat Anachronist #22 "Heraldry", which is available from the SCA, Inc. Feel free to write to us again to talk about specific ideas. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 5 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3). [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [3] Ewen, C. L'Estrange, _A History of Surnames of the British Isles_ (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1931; Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1968), p.210. He cites 1603-4. represents the genitive form of . It's not clear that the name was in use three or four centuries earlier, but it's plausible. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 6 Jun 2002: Added note [3] to support the name and deleted the name from the list of recommendations, since our only evidence for it is in 16th century Scotland; see report 1157.