ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2877 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2877 ************************************ 17 Jun 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if 'Conaill the young, son of Daibhidh', is an appropriate name for an Irish Gaelic man living in the 13th or 14th century. You also asked about the arms "Vert, a pile bendwise sinister (issuant from dexter base) Or, and on a chief Or a salmon naiant gules" and the badge "[Fieldless] Two salmon in saltire gules and in chief a trefoil vert." Here is the information we have found. is the genitive (possessive) form of the masculine given name . Just as we name children and not in English, an Irish man would be named , not . was a fairly popular Gaelic name from an early date, but we haven't actually found any examples of the name in your period: our most extensive source of Gaelic men's names has examples up to 1050, and then again from 1431 on. [1] This could indicate either that the name fell out of use in your period and was later revived, or that our data are incomplete. The name is probably a fine choice for your period, but we cannot recommend it as the best re-creation. 'young' is one of the most common medieval Irish Gaelic descriptive nicknames. [2] It's a fine choice. Here, the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter. It was pronounced \oag\ in your period. is one of the standard Gaelic adaptations of the name , which we find in 1164, 1263, 1269, 1346, 1419, and 1582. [1] 'son of Daibhi/dh' is a fine byname for your period. would have been proncouned \KOH-nahl mahk DAH-vee\. We don't have many good sources on medieval Irish heraldic design, so most of our comments on your armory are based on contemporary English practice; we believe that there was not much variation between Irish and English heraldry in your period. The orientation of the pile is somewhat unlikely in your period. We have found one example of piles bendwise, but not until the 15th century. [6] A pile in its standard orientation would be more in keeping with heraldic style from your period. Your badge, however, is quite unlikely: medieval badges (which were always fieldless) never had unconnected charges; all the charges in a fieldless badge should touch each other in some fashion. [3] "Two salmon in saltire gules", without the trefoil, would be a plausible badge, though a single salmon would be likelier. [6] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, Mor inghean Chathail, and Kolozsvari Arpadne Julia. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 17Jun04 -- References: [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine [2] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Descriptive Bynames" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/DescriptiveBynames [3] Such designs are also not registerable with the College of Arms. Rules for Submissions VIII.5 states "Fieldless armory must form a self-contained design. A fieldless design must have all its elements conjoined, like the three feathers issuing from a crown used by the Heir Apparent to the throne of England." http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html#8.5 [4] A more common adaption of appears to be . [5] [5] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). s.n. Daui/th [6] Barron, Oswald, "Randall Holme's Book", _The Ancestor_ vols. iii (1902), pp. 185-213; iv. 225-50; v. 175-90; vii. 184-215; ix. 159-80. In this source are the arms of Robard Norton "sabyll iij poyntys flowryd of sylvyr", which would probably be blazoned modernly "Sable, three piles flory bendwise inverted argent" or the like. This source also mentions the arms of the Stockfishmongers of London, "Azure, two fish in saltire argent crowned Or".