ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1853 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1853 ************************************ 20 Dec 1999 From: Alan Terlep Greetings, Here's the information we found on the male name and the female name , which you wanted to use as 16th-century Irish names. Choosing an authentic Irish name can be complicated because both Gaelic and English were in common use in the 16th century, and the two languages interacted in many different ways. Some originally Gaelic names were adopted by English-speakers and some English names were adopted by Gaelic-speakers. Because English and Gaelic have very different spelling rules, they would represent the same name with different forms. At the same time, Gaelic-speakers often had their names recorded in English (and vice-versa). The situation is further complicated by the fact that the line between Gaelic-speakers and English-speakers was not entirely clear-cut, since many people had ties to both communities. Taking all this into account, we can say that is a historically accurate name for a 16th-century Irish man, and that is not historically accurate for a 16th-century Irish woman. was introduced to Ireland by the English in the 1100s. It was brought into Gaelic as and perhaps also as (the represents an with an accent). We found a Gaelic record of an Irish man called from 1329, (2) and we also found that the name was used during the 1500s on the Isle of Man, which used a dialect of Gaelic very similar to those in Ireland. (3) Although we don't have a direct citation of from Ireland during the 1500s, the above citations strongly suggest that it was used in both Gaelic-speaking and English-speaking communities. An Irish man from the 1500s could have been identified as in English and as in Gaelic. most commonly appears in Irish as a descriptive name meaning "warrior," (4) We found a single example of a man with the given name , (5) but we didn't find any evidence that was used as a woman's name at any point in period. There is evidence that Gaelic Irish chiefs started to use heraldry in the mid-14th c., but most examples of heraldic use by the Gaelic Irish chiefs are from the 16th c. or later. English settlers in Ireland brought their heraldry with them, and their descendents continued to use it. (6) The griffon is one of the most common charges in European heraldry and was most commonly depicted either statant (standing on four legs) or segreant (similar to a rampant lion, with spread wings). (7) While we found no evidence that the griffin was particularly common in Irish heraldry, it would certainly not be out of place there and would be a fine choice for your arms. Juliana de Luna, Maridonna Benvenuti, Amant le Marinier, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Zenobia Naphtali, and Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Your servant, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel December 20, 1999 (1) O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Nicola/s. (2) _Betha Fchn Fabair. (Author: Nicol g, son of the abbot of Cong) [section 28] 5b UNIT="folio" p.338. (WWW: CELT, 1999) Accessed October 29, 1999. [URL: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/] (3) Jones, Heather Rose, "Manx Names in the Early 16th Century." (WWW: S. Krossa, 1999). Accessed December 7, 1999. [URL: http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/manxnames/jonesmanx16.html] (4) Jones, Heather Rose, "Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae.'" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 1996). Accessed December 7, 1999. [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/irish-obrien.html] (5) _Annals of Ulster_, Year U776 (p. 228 H33rb). (WWW: CELT, 1999) Accessed December 17. 1999. [URL:http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/] (6) FitzPatrick Kennedy, John J. "When did the Irish Chiefs Adopt Heraldry?", in _Genealogica and Heraldica_, ed. Auguste Vachon, Claire Boudreau, and David Cogne/, (Ottawa; University of Ottawa Press, 1998) (7) Dennys, Rodney, _The Heraldic Imagination_ (New York: Clarkson and Potter Inc., 1975).