ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1661 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1661 ************************************ 18 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irishwoman in the second half of the 16th century. This letter is a brief answer to your question. If your aim is to find documentation for a name so that you can register it with the SCA College of Arms, we may or may not be able to help you. Documenting submissions isn't our focus: We want to help you to choose and use a name that fits the historical culture you are re-creating. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that it 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. appears to be a modern Irish version of . The Norman name was adopted into Gaelic shortly after the Norman settlement of Ireland in the form , pronounced \SHEE-bayl\. The slash in the name represents an accent on the previous letter [1, 2]. is an English spelling of the Gaelic clan name . However, this form of the Gaelic name was only used in men's names. A woman named Sibe/al who was a member of this clan would have been known in Gaelic as "Sibe/al daughter of O/ Ruairc" [2, 3]. In your period, this name would have been pronounced \SHEE-bayl nee ROO-ark\. (Yes, really was pronounced \nee\.) It is very likely that the same woman would also have been known as her father's daughter. If Sibe/al's father were named Aodh O/ Ruairc, she could also have been called "Sibe/al daughter of Aodh", or most formally . This last name would have been pronounced \SHEE-bayl IN-yen AY-@ ee ROO-ark\/ Gaelic and English spellings weren't mixed together, but your name might well have been written in an English form if it appeared in an English document. might have been recorded as [2, 3, 4]. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 18 Apr 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Sibe/al. [2] Brooke, J.M.S., and A.W.C. Hallen, A. W. C., _The Transcript of the Registers of the United Parishes of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch Haw, in the City of London, from their Commencement 1538 to 1760_ (London: Bowles & Sons, 1886). appears in a variety of spellings in these documents, mostly from the second half of the 16th century. [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. appears in the Patent Rolls of 1603-4. [4] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. O Ruairc has as an anglicization of the clan name c.1600.