ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3030 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3030 ************************************ 10 Apr 2005 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael (no address) Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate given name for an Irish man living between 500 and 900. Here is the information we have found. The earliest surviving written form of Irish dates from around the 4th century. It was written on stone in the alphabet called "Ogham". When this writing tradition developed, the Irish language was very different from the medieval form -- about as different as Latin is from French. This stage of the language is variously called "Primitive Irish", "Ogam Irish", or "Oghamic Irish". This writing system continued in active use into the 7th century, and while it was in active use, its users tended to write a conservative form of the language corresponding to what was spoken when the system was developed. The spoken language, however, was undergoing considerable change. When a new writing system using Roman letters was developed in the 6th century, its users broke with tradition and wrote a language much closer to what was actually being spoken. This stage of the language, as recorded from the late 7th century to the mid-10th century, is called Old Irish. The problem with reconstructing names used before the Old Irish period is that the only written forms that we know are the Oghamic forms in the Primitive Irish language, and yet we also know that by the 6th century this written Primitive Irish must have been quite different from the way the language was actually spoken. It takes a good deal of specialized knowledge to put the pieces together and come up with a likely reconstruction of both the written name and its pronunciation. We can try to reconstruct precursors to the names you chose which might have been used at the beginning of the 7th century, but it is a difficult and speculative task, and we might not be able to do it at all; so we'll hold off on it in case you're happy with a later-period name. If you'd like us to take a shot at it, please let us know. In the meantime, we'll focus on Old Irish names appropriate for the latter half of your period. The only examples of that we have found are a brother of Finn mac Cumaill and the same judge that you found. (Here the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter.) Both of these examples are legendary. Not all names found in Irish legend were used by real people prior to modern times. Though one source says it remained in use in the O Mulconry family, we have not found any examples of the name in your period. [1,2] We can't say the name wasn't used, but we can't recommend it as good re-creation without evidence that it was used in your period. If it was in use between the 7th and 10th centuries, it would have been pronounced roughly \FEE-th@l\, where \@\ is the sound of in or . The judge Fi/thel had a brother named , and remained in use in the O Mulconry family, so it's possible that did too. [3] The most common type of byname for a man in this period is a simple patronymic byname, one indicating the bearer's father's name. We recommend the following article as a good source to chose your father's name from: "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ A patronymic byname is formed by putting 'son' before the father's name in the genitive case, e.g. 'son of A/ed'. 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 10 April 2005 -- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) s.n. Fi/thel [2] We found one mention of in the Acallamh na Seno/rach I, a work of Irish legend: 2553] Cuicer is gaithe um ceill &ndot;- grind ro bo/i a n-aen-tig a n-Eirinn, 2554] Fithel ocus Flaithri a mac Carpre ocus Aillbhi is Cormac. O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, compiler, "Acallamh na Seno/rach I", (CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork College Road, Cork, Ireland.) Paragraph 193 v.poem 31 l.2554 124b2 UNIT="folio" p.72. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G303000/index.html [3] O/ Corra/in & Maguire, op. cit., s.n. Flaithri/ mentions one Flaithri/ O/ Maolchonaire who lived from ca. 1560-1629