ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1624 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1624 ************************************ 1 Jun 1999 From: mittle Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing an Irish name to replace your current . Here is what we have found. is a modern English spelling derived from the early medieval Gaelic name . Each slash represents an accent on the preceding letter [1]. The name was pronounced \REE-ahn\. In medieval Ireland, a man was usually known as his father's son. Ri/a/n son of Cormacc would have been called , which simply means "Ri/a/n son of Cormacc". Some men were also known by occupational bynames, so "Ri/a/n the Bard" is a plausible choice [2]. Indeed, the same man might have been known by both these names in different circumstances. is pronounced pretty much like the modern word . If you'd like to choose a name for your father, you can find a good list of early medieval Irish men's names on the web: 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 You'll want to use the second of the spellings given for each name, the genitive or possessive form. Once you've chosen a name, feel free to write us to check the grammar and pronunciation, which are complicated in medieval Gaelic. We 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 and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 1 June 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [2] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976).