ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3313
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3313
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From: "Lisa and Ken Theriot" 
10 Apr 2008


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Finn Sionnach> is an authentic name for a man
born to an Irish mother and a Scandinavian father in Ireland at the end
of the 10th century.  Here is what we have found.

First, we'd like to apologize for the time this letter has taken; we
hope the information is still of use to you.  We'll address some
cultural issues, then your name elements.

The Vikings first invaded Ireland at the end of the 8th century, and
from 840 they had established permanent bases on the coasts.  One of the
last major battles involving the Vikings was the Battle of Clontarf in
1014, where the Vikings fought on the side of Brian Boru [1].  In the
interim, mixed Viking/Irish relationships, and their offspring, are
completely plausible [2].

You are right in choosing a name which is wholly Gaelic.  A child with
one Viking parent and one Irish parent would have used a name which was
either entirely in Norse or entirely in Gaelic, but not one which
combines the two languages.  This is not to say that elements were not
borrowed between the two languages: For example, the Norse borrowed the
Gaelic names <Cellach> and <Cormacc> as <Kiallakr> and <Kormakr>, and
the Old Irish borrowed the Norse names <O/la/fr> and <I/varr> as
<Amlai/b> and <I/mar> [3, 4].  (Here and throughout we're using the
slash to represent an acute accent over the previous letter.)


During the early Irish period, <Find> (an earlier form of <Finn>) was
one of the most popular Gaelic man's names, making it an excellent
choice for your given name.  During your period, either spelling, <Find>
or <Finn> is possible; after about 1200 the most common spelling was
<Fionn>.  However, we'd like to note that the name <Finn> comes from the
Gaelic root <find> 'fair', and doesn't have any connection with being
Finnish [4, 5].


<Sionnach> is one of several Irish words meaning 'fox'.  This spelling,
which you said you prefer, is the later-period spelling, appropriate
only for the 13th century and after.  Prior to that time, it was spelled
<sinnach> and earlier still <sindach>.  The use of this particular word
as a byname is somewhat complicated.  Our earliest instance is from
after your period, in 1077, for a man recorded as Catharnach Sionnach
[6].  This man was the king of Tethba, a region of Ireland; apparently
he passed the nickname of 'fox' to his heirs, because after him many of
the leaders of Tethba were recorded with the byname <Sinnach> or
sometimes with <in Sinnach> 'the fox' as an epithet in place of their
given name.  Their men were known collectively as 'the foxes' [6].
Accordingly, the use of the byname <Sinnach> may be construed in some
circumstances as a claim to kingship.

The use of <Sinnach> seems to have become general at some point (i.e.,
it was used by people other than the king), but we don't know exactly
when.  The first record of a person using <Sinnach> as a byname whom we
don't believe was lord of the Tethba is from 1287 [9].  We believe
<Fionn Sionnach> would be a fine name for an Irish man living in the
13th century, but we don't believe it's plausible for your period.

If the sound of <sinnach> is most important to you, there is
similar-sounding old Irish name <Si/nach> from a root word meaning
'stormy'.  We find a number of patronymics (names that indicate who your
father is) and clan bynames based on this name early enough to work for
you; a man was recorded as <Dub-da/-leithe mac Si/naich> in 792, another
appears as <Sionach mac Murthuilen> in 980, a reference was made to
<Cland Si/naig> in 1018, and a record of <Conn Ua Sinaich> 'Conn,
descendent of Sinach' appears in 1033 [6, 7, 8].  (Note the change from
<Si/nach> to <Si/naich> and <Si/naig> makes it possessive, i.e.
'Si/nach's'.)  <Finn mac Si/naich> is a fine name for your period, but
it would mean that your father's name was <Si/nach>, which is impossible
if he was Norse.  <Finn Ua Sinaich> is also a fine name for your period;
it reflects either an association with the clan or descent from a man
named <Si/nach>, which is possible through your Irish mother's side.  At
some point, it appears the name <Si/nach> became confused with <sinnach>
such that modern descendents use the name <Fox> despite the origins of
the name coming from an entirely different word.

If the meaning of 'fox' is most important to you, you have an
alternative, if you don't mind 'fox' being a reference to your father.
We find <Refr> meaning 'fox' as a relatively common Norse given name
[10].  Since there are no close-sounding names to <Refr> in Irish, it's
possible your father could have been known as <in sinnach> 'the fox' in
place of his given name.  We find a man recorded in 991 as <In Sindach
h-ua Leochan, ri/ Gaileng> 'The Fox, descendent of Leochan, king of
Gailenga'.  Though this man was also a king, his practice of using <in
sindach> or <in sinnach> in place of his given name does not seem to
have been passed to his heirs and cannot therefore be construed as a
title.  Epithets like this remained in use and did give rise to
patronymic bynames; we find a man recorded as <mac in Sinnaig> 'son of
the fox' in 1148 [12].  We therefore believe <Finn mac in Sinnaig> is a
possible name for you; based on other examples we've seen from your
period, we believe the spelling <Finn mac int Sinnaig> is also likely.

Further, there is a popular Old Irish name <Crimthann> which comes from
another word for 'fox' [5].  <Finn mac Crimthainn> is a fine entirely
Irish name for your period (note the change from <Crimthann> to
<Crimthainn> makes it possessive, i.e. 'Crimthann's').

In closing, we thought you might enjoy these books which cover early
Irish history, including the Viking invasions:

McCullough, David Willis, _Wars of the Irish Kings_ (New York: Crown
Publishers, 2000).

Curtis, Edmund, _A History of Ireland_ (New York, NY: Routledge, 1936).

Richter, Michael, _Medieval Ireland: The Enduring Tradition_ (Dublin:
Gill & MacMillan, 1988).

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 Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys, Coblaith Mhuimhneach, Mari neyn Brian,
Talan Gwynek, and Brian Dorcha ua Chonnaill.

For the Academy,
Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Adelaide de Beaumont
10 April 2008


References:

[1] "Viking Age" (WWW: Wikipedia.org)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_era

[2] Walsh, A., _Scandinavian Relations with Ireland During the Viking
Period_ (Dublin: The Talbot Press Limited, 1922).

[3] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n
Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and
Kobenhavn: 1931), s.nn. Kiallakr, Kormakr.

[4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin:
The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Amlai/b, Finn, I/mar.

[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] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, & 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 M1077.8
for Catharnach Sionnach, entry 1033.3 for Conn Ua Sinaich.  The first
four digits of the entry number are the year in which the event
occurred.  Note the Annals were often written long after the events they
relate; accordingly, just because we find a spelling like <Sionnach>
dated to 1077 does not mean that spelling is appropriate for that time.
Entry 1053.12 reads, "An army was led by the son of Brian, i.e.
Donnchadh, and Conchobhar Ua Maelseachlainn, into Fine-Gall; and the men
of Teathbha, i.e. the Sinnaigh (the Foxes)..."  Entry M980.4 for
Sionach, mac Murthuilen, abb Bendchair.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/
 
[7] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four
Masters, vol. 1", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a
project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entry 792.3:
Dubh Da Lethe, mac Sionaigh.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005A/
 
[8] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976).

[9] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW:
Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2006).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/
 
[10] Uckelman, Sara L., "Viking Names found in the Landna/mabo/k" (WWW:
privately published, 2005-2006).  There are 7 instances of <Refr>.
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/landnamabok.html
 
[11] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, ed., "Annals of Tigernach" (WWW: CELT:
Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork,
Ireland, 1996). Entry 991.1: In Sindach h-ua Leochan, rí Gaileng.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/
 
[12] Murphy, Ruth, ed., "Annals in Cotton MS Titus A. XXV [Cottonian
Annals]" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University
College, Cork, Ireland, 2003). Entry 1148 K. Malachias ua Móngair mac in
Sinnaig.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100012/