ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2964 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2964 ************************************ 19 Nov 2004 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing an appropriate name for a 14th or 15th century Irishman, with the given name <Seamus> and a form of the surname <Corcoran>. Here is what we have found. <Se/amus> is a fine choice. (The slash represents an acute accent mark over the previous letter.) It was used in Ireland by the end of the 14th century and continued in use through the end of our period [1]. It was pronounced \SHAY-muhs\. <Corcoran> is a modern English-language surname that derived from both of two Irish clan surnames, <Mac Corcra/in> and <O/ Corcra/in> [2]. Both derive from a medieval man's name, <Corcra/n> [4, 5]. Either is a fine choice for your period [3]. They were pronounced \mahk KOHR-krahn~\ and \oh KOHR-krahn\. \OH\ represents the vowel in the word <more>, and \n~\ stands for the sound of the <gn> in the French word <montagne> "mountain" or Italian <lasagna>. In short, we can recommend either <Se/amus Mac Corcra/in> or <Se/amus O/ Corcra/in> as fine names for Ireland in the 14th century or later. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Mari neyn Brian. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 19 Nov 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002), s.n. Se/amus. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Seamus.shtml [2] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.nn. (Mac) Corcoran, (O) Corcoran. [3] Index of Names in Irish Annals, s.n. Feidhlimidh has an example <Feilin O/ Corcra/in> from 1522. S.n. Mael Isu, it cites <Maol Iosa Ua Corcra/in> in 1163. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Feidhlimidh.shtml http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/MaelIsu.shtml [4] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "The Annals of Ulster" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997). http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001/ U736.7 Samson nepos Corcrain U1040.3 Corcran Cleirech U1055.2 Fiachra H. Corcran U1163.3 Mael Issu h-Ua Corcran [5] 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), entry M965.6 <Cond mac Corcrain>. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/. [6] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. O/ Corcra/in. He notes that the name was widespread the 16th century.