Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 378

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/378

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we came up with on the Irish name "Uilliam Kenney."

"Uilliam" is the Irish form of the English name "William." As such, it's onlyappropriate for the period after the Norman invasion of Ireland--roughly speaking, it would be appropriate after 1200. (1)

"Kenney" is based on the Irish name "Cinaed" (which was brought into English as "Kenneth.") The appropriate medieval form would be "mac Cináedha" or "úa Cináedha" (a slash indicates an accent, so that "á" is an accented "a"). (2)

So the name "Uilliam úa Cináedha" would be appropriate for a persona from 1200 and 1400.

Talan Gwynek, Madawc Caradawg, Margaret Makafee, Zenobia Naphtali, and Arval Benicouer contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful. If you need further assistance, please let us know.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) O'Corrain & Maguire, "Irish Names."

(2) MacLysaght, E. "The Surnames of Ireland."