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Greetings,
Here's information on your proposed Irish name "Ian Patrick O'Shaunessy" and your arms ideas.
The name you have proposed is a modern Irish name, written in its English form. Period Irish names were quite different from modern Irish names. Even when recorded in English, they looked very different from modern names.
Not only were the individual elements spelled differently, they were used differently. Period Irish names usually consisted of one given name plus a patronymic byname (i.e. a surname which names your father or an ancestor). The Irish did not use middle names or double given names in our period.
"Ian" is a form of the name "John" which was first used in 17th-century Scotland. We know that "Eoan" and "Ioan" were common forms of "John" in the 13th century, and it's likely that these are appropriate for your entire period.
Surprisingly enough, "Patrick" was not a common Irish name in the Middle Ages. It was used by the English settlers in Ireland, but it didn't become common until after 1600. The earliest Irish form we found is "Pádraígín." Unfortunately our source doesn't give a date for "Pádraígín." We can't rule it out completely for your period, but it is not likely that Irish people used it.
We don't have examples of "O'Shaunessy" from your period, but our best reconstruction is "ua Sechnasaigh," meaning "descendant of Sechnasach." "Sechnasaigh" is pronounced "SHAKH-na-see," where the "KH" is a "throatclearing" sound like "ch" in "loch" or "Bach."
Given that "Patrick" in any form is unlikely for your period, we would recommend using the name "Eoan ua Sechnasaigh," which is approprate for medieval Irish. If you're interested in a completely different name, give us some place to start and we can return suggestions.
Heraldry developed in the mid-13th century in France and spread rapidly to other areas of Western Europe. Native Irish people generally didn't use heraldry, although the English nobility who settled there did. Our guide for the style of your arms is the heraldry found in 14th-century England.
Dalmatians weren't introduced into England until around 1600, so it is extremely unlikely that a Dalmatian would have appeared on the arms of your persona. English heraldry from your period has five kinds of dogs:
The Dictionary of British Arms lists the following types of dog (in an approximate order of frequency):
greyhound (sometimes called the "levrier.")
talbot (white, long-eared scent hound)
dog
bloodhound
kenet (small hunting dog, used in canting arms only)
For English arms, the greyhound seems to be by far the most frequent type of dog. There were only a few instances of bloodhounds, and kenets appeared only in the arms of Kenet as a "cant" or heraldic pun. The closest to a Dalmatian would be the generic dog.
"Azure, a chevron chequy argent and sable between three fireballs argent."
This is a blue field with a black-and-white checked chevron and three white fireballs. This type of design was common in English heraldry from your period. The chevron could be checked in any combination of a color and a metal.
Talan Gwynek, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, Elsbeth Anne Ross, and Rouland Carre contributed to this letter.
We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel