ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2720 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2720 ************************************ 8 Apr 2003 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help constructing a name appropriate for an 16th century Irish Gaelic woman who is either the daughter of and a member of a clan named for , or the daughter of of the clan named for . Here is what we've found. is a fine name for your period; we know of examples from 1404, 1468, and 1592. It was pronounced \NOO@-l@\, where \@\ stands for the sound of the in or [1, 2]. is an equally fine name for your father; we have found examples from the years 1450, 1512, and 1531 [3]. It was pronounced \TOO@-h@l\. Nuala daughter of Tuathal would have been called , pronounced \NOO@-l@ EEN-y@n TOO@-h@l~\. The symbol \l~\ represents the sound of in French or the in Italian . is probably not a good choice for your father's name: It was a common name in the early Middle Ages, but it doesn't appear to have been in use in the 16th century [4, 5]. However, there was a clan that claimed an as its founder. One reference to this clan was recorded in 1495 [6]: Tadhcc mac Briain Mec Donnchaidh tighearna Ua n-Ailella "Tadhcc son of Brian son of Donnchadh chieftain of the Ui/ Ailella" With the necessary changes required in the feminine name by Gaelic grammar, your name could therefore be , pronounced \NOO@-l@ EEN-y@n TOO@-h@l~ ee AHL~-@-l@\. The slash represents an acute accent mark on the preceding letter. You could also use a clan byname based on . Nuala of a clan descended from Tuathal could have been known as , pronounced \NOO@-l@ EEN-y@n HOO@-h@l~\. The change from to represents a change in pronunciation required by Gaelic grammar in some circumstances. here is pronounced \H\. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, and Leonor Martin. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 8 Apr 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Dated Names Found in O/Corra/in & Maguire's Irish Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/ocm/ [2] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002), s.n. Nuala. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ [3] Index of Names in Irish Annals, s.n. Tuathal. [4] Index of Names in Irish Annals, s.n. Ailill. [5] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/irish100 [6] Stephen Beechinor, Eoin Dunford, Beatrix Fa"rber, Philip Irwin, Elva Johnston, Julianne Nyhan, ed., "Annals of the Four Masters, Volume 4" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 2000), entry M1495.7. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005D/