ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1902 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1902 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 14 Jan 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our help finding an Irish feminine name used between 500 and 1100 that sounded like \ka-lay-uh\, possibly . Here is the information we have found. The language spoken in Ireland changed enormously in the 600 years that you've asked about. The earliest surviving written form of Irish dates from around the 4th century. It was written on stone in the alphabet called "Ogham." When this writing tradition developed, the Irish language was very different from the medieval form -- about as different as Latin is from French. This stage of the language is variously called "Primitive Irish," "Ogam Irish," or "Oghamic Irish." This writing system continued in active use into the 7th century, and while it was in active use, its users tended to write a conservative form of the language corresponding to what was spoken when the system was developed. The spoken language, however, was undergoing considerable change. When a new writing system using Roman letters was developed in the 6th century, its users broke with tradition and wrote a language much closer to what was actually being spoken. This stage of the language, as recorded from the late 7th century to the mid-10th century, is called Old Irish. The upshot is that it is essentially impossible to make any reasonable guess at Irish names before the 7th century. There is simply not enough evidence. Some evidence exists for names in the 4th to 7th centuries, the Ogham period, but the examples are almost all masculine names, not feminine. On the other hand, we can offer you a list of Old Irish (late 7th to 10th century) names, and if you find one that appeals to you, we can attempt to re-construct their Ogham precursors. You can find a list of Old Irish feminine names on the web: "Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae'" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/ Unfortunately, we did not find any Irish feminine names that were spelled or pronounced like your desired name. We found only two names that were slightly similar. The first is , pronounced \KILE-in\, with \kile\ rhyming with . The second is , pronounced \KyEL-@kh\, where the \y\ in \Ky\ is like the in , but very lightly pronounced, \kh\ is the hard, rasping sound found in Scottish or German , and the \@\ represents the initial vowel sound in . [1] The slash in represents an accent over the previous letter. There are a number of medieval Manx names that start with the prefix , meaning "veiled woman, nun." For example literally meant "veiled woman of Mary" and was originally used as a devotional name intended to invoke the blessings of Mary upon a child. This sort of compound name was common in period Gaelic for both men and women, though we've found names built from only in Man, and only after the Oghamic period. In one roll of names in 1511-15, we find the following women's names, recorded in Anglicized spellings: [2] Anglicized Irish Gaelic Saint's Name ----------- ----------- ----------- Calyhony Cailleach Dhomhnaigh Domhach (Sunday) [3] Calyvorri Cailleach Mhuire Mary Calibrid Cailleach Bhrighde Brigid Calycrist Cailleach Chriost Christ Calypatric Cailleach Phadraig Patrick While we do not have any information on Manx names earlier in period, if you are interested in more information on Manx names in the 16th century, we suggest the following article available in our library: "Manx Names in the Early 16th Century" http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/manxnames/jonesmanx16.html For more information on Irish naming practices throughout the Middle Ages, we suggest the following articles: "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames" http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/quickgaelicbynam es/index.html "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Raquel Buenaventura, Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, Talan Gwynek, and Amant le Marinier. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael January 14, 2000 --------------------------------------- References & Notes: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.nn. Cae/lfind, Cellach. [2] Kneen, J.J., _The Personal Names of the Isle of Man_ (London: Oxford University Press, 1937). [3] This could be interpreted as meaning "servant of the Church."