ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1720 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1720 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 28 Jun 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is an appropriate name for an Irish woman in our period who married a Welshman. Here is what we have found. is an English spelling of (with an accent on the 'a'). The name was popular in late medieval Ireland, and is the appropriate spelling for that period. It is an excellent choice if you want a late-medieval Irish name. The name was pronounced \GRAHN-y@\, where \@\ is the sound of the 'a' in [1]. is a modern English spelling of the Irish clan name (for which your seems to be a typo). Note that properly has an accent, not an apostrophe. This clan existed at least as early as the 13th century; and the name was recorded in English records c.1600 as [2]. is the masculine form of the clan name. A woman of the clan used the feminine form, , which literally means "daughter of O/ Flaithbheartaigh". The changes in spelling are required by Gaelic grammar. The feminine form of the name was pronounced \IN-yen ee LAH-var-tee\ until the 15th century, \NEE LAH-var-tee\ or \NEE LAH-war-tee\ in the 16th. is a fine name for a late-period Irishwoman. In our period, a woman of your culture would usually have been known as her father's daughter, in addition to using a clan name on some occasions. Thus, Gra/inne daughter of Tuathal O/ Flaithbheartaigh could have been known as or , in addition to the form we gave at the beginning of this paragraph. If you'd like to choose a first name for your father, you can find a list of masculine names used in late-period Ireland in this article on the web: Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century Irish Names and Naming Practices http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ As you'll see from this article, it is possible that an Irishwoman's name could also have been recorded in English. A 16th century woman called might have been identified in English records as . Women in period Irish culture did not adopt their husband's names after marriage. We also have found no examples of Welsh name elements adopted unchanged into Gaelic names. Welsh and Gaelic used incompatible spelling systems, so words from the two language could not simply mix together. Therefore, if you want an Irish Gaelic name, we strongly recommend against adding to it. 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 28 Jun 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), p.114. [2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. O/ Flaithbheartaigh. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in 'n', like , the letters 'D' and 'T' do not lenite.