ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1720
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1720
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
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28 Jun 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Grania O'Flaherty Gruffydd> or <Grainne
O'Flaithbheeartaigh Gruffydd> is an appropriate name for an Irish woman in
our period who married a Welshman.  Here is what we have found.

<Grania> is an English spelling of <Gra/inne> (with an accent on the 'a').
The name was popular in late medieval Ireland, and <Gra/inne> 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 <soda> [1].

<O'Flaherty> is a modern English spelling of the Irish clan name <O/
Flaithbheartaigh> (for which your <O'Flaithbheeartaigh> seems to be a
typo).  Note that <O/> 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 <O Flagherty> [2].

<O/ Flaithbheartaigh> is the masculine form of the clan name.  A woman of
the clan used the feminine form, <inghean ui/ Fhlaithbheartaigh>, 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.

<Gra/inne inghean ui/ Fhlaithbheartaigh> 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 <Gra/inne inghean Tuathal> or <Gra/inne inghean Tuathal
ui/ Fhlaithbheartaigh>, 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
<Gra/inne inghean ui/ Fhlaithbheartaigh> might have been identified in
English records as <Grania ny Flagherty>.

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 <Gruffydd> 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


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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.

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Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in 'n', like <inghean>,
the letters 'D' and 'T' do not lenite.