ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2776 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2776 ************************************ 24 Nov 2003 From: Eoin an Eich Ghil mac Cionaodha Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of the name for an Irishman living near the time of a plague that occurred in 1116. (A slash represents an acute accent over the preceding letter.) You also asked how that name would have been pronounced. We find ample evidence for the use of from well before the period you are interested in. The name was borne by an Irish king in the 8th century and became popular thereafter [4].In fact, it was one of the most popular names in early Ireland [1]. Several examples are dated near your period--for example, a is mentioned in 1075, and a in 1135. [0,2,3] Your surname, is also a good choice, although not in this spelling. The modern convention for using an apostrophe after the in an Irish name occurs in some medieval Irish documents written in Latin and many 16th century Irish documents written in English, but we have not found any examples in Gaelic language documents. It is certainly not appropriate for Gaelic of your period. Gaelic records from 1084 show this clan surname spelled ; we recommend you use this spelling instead.[0,2] is a fine name for an Irishman living in 1116. It would have been pronounced approximately \KIN-edh oo-@ SHESS- nahn~\, where \@\ represents the sound of in and \dh\ is the sound of the in \n~\ is the sound of in or the in Spanish Research and commentary for this letter were provided by Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, Adelaide de Beaumont, Richenda de Jardin, Mari neyn Brian, Margaret Makafee, Ursula Georges, Giudo di Niccolo Brunelleschi, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Eoin an Eich Ghil mac Cionaodha 24 November 2003 References: [0] Spelling of Irish names varied considerably in period sources. Particularly, spelling conventions underwent a noticeable change circa 1200. Later spelling matched the spoken language more closely. Since many events were recorded long after they occurred, a name dated 1135 in the Annals may be written in a much later-period spelling. The spellings we have recommended for you are the ones that we believe were most typical of your period. [1] 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 [2] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters, vol. 2", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/. entry M1084.3: " 'Niall Ua Seasnain, learned senior of Munster', who died in 1084." entry I1108.5: " 'Cina\ed h-Ua Murchertaig (d. 1075)'" entry T1135.12 ", 'Cinaeth h-U/a Baigill espoc Clochair'" entry M1135.1 ", 'Cinaeth h-U/a Baigill uasal-epscop .i. epscop Clochair, & ard-shenóir thuaisceirt Ereann'" [3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ [4] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names, 2nd edition (Dublin, Ireland: Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Cinaed.