ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1997 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1997 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 18 Apr 2000 Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irish woman in our period, and how it was pronounced. Here is what we found. is an incorrect hybrid form of the pre c. 1200 spelling and the post c. 1200 spelling . Either or are appropriate names, depending on when you set your period, though would not be. In some sources the older spellings persisted long after the 12th century, but is the spelling most consistent with the rest of your name. This name was extremely popular in Ireland in the later middle ages, and the shortened form has also been in existence since at least the 13th century [1]. Your byname, , is a perfect choice for the last couple hundred years of our period. It's an example of the feminine form of a Gaelic clan name. It literally means "daughter of the male descendent of Seachnasach," but in practice was used to mean "female member of the O/ Seachnasaigh clan." You've correctly changed the initial to in the clan name, as required by Gaelic grammar in a woman's name. The name would be an excellent choice for an Irish woman from the last couple of hundred years of the SCA period. The pronunciation is \fy@n-OO-@-l@ EEN-y@n ee HYAHKH-n@-see\. The \@\ represents the initial vowel sound in the word , the \Y\ is consonantal like in and the \kh\ is the harsh, rasping "ch" sound in the Scottish or German . If you are looking to be from an earlier period, then , pronounced \fin-GHOO-@-l@ EEN-y@n ee HEKH-n@-see\ would be the correct form[3]. The period after the means a dot over the , which indicates lenition, a softening of the consonant. In later periods, the came to be written as . We hope this letter has been useful. Please write to us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. We was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Maridonna Benvenuti, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Juliana de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, and Maire inghean Bhriain. For the Academy, Giles Leabrook & Aryanhwy merch Catmael. 18/Apr/2000 ________________________________________ Bibliography. [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Finnguala [2] MacLysaght, Edward. Irish Families (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972); s.n. O'Shaunessey. [3] Cournane, Mavis, Vibeke Dijkman, Ivonne Tummers, ed., "Anna/la Connacht", (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland., 1997); access date 14 Jan 2000, references 1224.6, 1240.4. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011/