ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1566 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1566 ************************************ From: 7 Jun 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us for information about the Irish feminine name , and wanted to know when the name was in use. You also asked for help creating a Gaelic byname, specifically a nickname meaning "red-haired", "sings", or "flirtatious". or is the name of the legendary daughter of Eochu Feidlech and sister of Medb [1]. It is in this context that the name appears in the list of Irish names where you probably found it [2]. The name appears there as part of a traditional genealogy, where she is more fully described as , wife of . She had another sister , whose name remained in use through the Middle Ages [1]. (Note: the slashes represent accents on preceeding letters.) We were unable to find firm evidence that was a real person, but even if she were not, the names of both her sisters were used throughout the Middle Ages. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that could have been used as a name during that time as well. Unfortunately, we cannot suggest a particular period for the use of this name because we can only speculate that it might have been used. A nickname meaning "red-haired" is a perfect choice for your period. We haven't seen a medieval Irish nickname meaning "sings" or "flirtatious", so we recommend the first choice. The Gaelic word "red" was used in names to mean "red-haired" [2]. However, a medieval Irishwoman was normally known as her father's daughter, even if she were also known as "the Red". A woman named who was the daughter of a man named , for instance, would have been called , meaning "E/ile daugther of A/ed'. (Changing to is roughly like changing the English name to : it puts the father's name in the genitive (possessive) case.) You can find a list of early Irish masculine names in the article '100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland', which is available on the Web at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ Any of these names (and especially the most common ones) would be suitable. The first column gives the name as it would be used in the subject of a sentence (i.e., in the nominative case). The third column gives the genitive case of the name. To form a patronymic from one of these names, place the genitive form after the word , which means "daughter". You will also need to lenite the name to name it agree with the feminine word . Lenition is a softening of certain sounds in Gaelic. If you have any questions about how this works in a particular case or about the pronunciation of any of these names, please write us again. We can provide a pronunciation or correct grammar much more quickly than with a fully researched name. To summarize, we think is a plausible name for a medieval Irish woman, but would suggest that you also choose a name for your persona's father, to use as a more formal name. You could also use both bynames together. For example: . Finally, we'd like to point out that the spelling of your name and pronunciation of your byname will depend on the period of your persona. Before 1200 or so, the name would be , pronounced \AYL~-@ ROO-@dh\. The \L~\ is a palatalized-L, pronounced like Spanish "ll". The \@\ is the schwa, much like the "a" at the end of . Around the 13th century and later, the name would be \AYL~-@ ROO-@gh\, and at the very end of the 16th century or so, the final "dh" became silent and the byname was pronounced \ROO-@\. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, Margaret Makafee, and Arval Benicoeur contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel 6 June 1999 [1] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) [2] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasfryn, _Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's "Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae" (WWW:1997) http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html