Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 621

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 621

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/621

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

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for our opinion of "Muirenn" as a 12th century Irish name. Here is what we have found.

<Muirenn>, pronounced \MEER-ahn\, was a common feminine name in early period Ireland [1, 2]. Although we don't have evidence that it was used in the 12th century, we feel confident in saying that it is an appropriate name for your period.

Metronymic bynames are extremely rare in Gaelic; we know of only two examples of a man using a metronym, and we feel that it is even less likely that a woman would have done so. Therefore, we recommend that you use a patronymic, far and away the most common type of byname in your period. Here is a list of 12th century Irish masculine names beginning with 'L' [1, 2, 3]:

Labraid \LOW-ree, 'ow' as in 'owl'\ ingen Labrada \IN-yen LOW-ra-gha\ Lonán \LUN-ahn, 'u' as in 'push'\ ingen Lonáin \IN-yen LUN-ahn\

"/" represents a sharp accent on the preceding vowel.

Any of these patronymics would be appropriate for your period. "Muirenn ingen Lorccáin", for example, is a fine choice.

I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl vz. Morgant Glasvryn, Africa nin Kenneoch, and Margaret M'fee.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur


References

[1] O'Corrain, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names (Dublin: The

Lilliput Press, 1990).

[2] O'Brien, M. A., ed., Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae (Dublin: The Dublin

Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976).

[3] Royal Irish Academy, Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on

Old and Middle Irish materials (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983).