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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for our opinion of "Thomas" as a 15th or 16th century Irish name, and advice on choosing the rest of your name and arms. Here's what we've found.
The name "Thomas" came into use in medieval Ireland through the influence of Anglo-Norman culture after the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century [1]. By the late centuries of our period, the name was routinely combined into otherwise-Gaelic names. In the 14th century Red Book of Ormonde (Latin and English legal records) we find "Thomas McKelan", "Thomas Beg", and "Thomas Rowe". The name is recorded as "Tomás" in an Irish document ca.1600 [2]. (á represents an 'a' with a sharp accent.)
If you want a clearly Irish name, rather than an Anglo-Irish name, we suggest you use "Tomás" and an Irish-style patronymic. Here are a few examples of Irish patronymics, demonstrating the most common patterns of name construction [2]:
Aodh ua Domhnaill
Corbmac mac Diermatta mac Taidhg
E/mann mac Tomais
Félim ó Tuathail
Semus mac Tomais Ruaidh
Seaan O/g mac Seaain mac Felim Uí Dhochartaigh
The slash '/' represents an accent on the preceding vowel. Patronymics were formed with "mac" (son) or with "ua" (male descendent). "O/" is a variant spelling of "ua", and "uí" is the genitive form of the same word. Note that the name following the patronymic element ("mac" or "ua") is always written in the genitive form (e.g. "Tomais" as opposed to "Tomas"). The genitive form is the possessive form; "Domhnaill" means "Domhnall's", so "Aodh ua Domhnaill" means "Aodh, Dohmnall's descendent".
The last example above has a descriptive byname after the given name, "Seaan O/g" which means "Young Seaan" or "Seaan Junior". If you want to use a descriptive byname in your own name, you would add it immediately after your name, e.g. "Tomás Dubh", which means 'Black Tomas'. Some common bynames are:
Beg little O/g young
Dubh black
Fionn fair
Ruadh red
Buidhe yellow
In formal circumstances, your persona would have used a patronymic even if he was normally known by a descriptive byname.
Late-period Irish arms were identical in style to late-period English arms. If you want arms which are specifically Irish in their design, the best approach would be to choose an noble family from late-period Ireland, look up their arms, and modify them in one or two minor ways. This process would produce arms that proclaim you as a minor member of a historical family. A catalogue of Irish nobility like Burke's Peerage would be a good place to start your research. Several kinds of modifications are changing the line of partition on the field or an ordinary; or changing the number or identity of a secondary group of charges. Once you have a particular starting point in mind, we would be happy to work with you to choose a specific variant for your persona. Indeed, any experienced consulting herald could help you at that point.
I hope this letter has been helpful. Tangwystyl ferch Morgant Glasfryn contributed to this letter.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] Donnchadh O'Corrain and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names (Dublin: The
Lilliput Press, 1990).
[2] "Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill -- Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell" Paul
Walsh ed. Irish Texts Society, 1948.