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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for our opinion of <ingen Giolla Chriost> as a 12th century Irish patronymic, and of whether <Rhiannon> can be used in an Irish name. Here is what we have found.
The patronymic is a fine choice. The spelling isn't quite right for your period; we suggest <ingen Gillai Chríst>, pronounced \IN-yen YUL-la KHREEST\, with \YUL\ very nearly rhyming with <pull> [1].
<Rhiannon> is the name of an Welsh legendary character. It is not Irish and it is not known to have been used by any real person in our period. If your goal is to have a name that is historically suited to your persona, then I'm afraid that <Rhiannon> simply doesn't fit. If your goal is to register your name, then I'm afraid you will be disappointed: Although the College of Arms will register <Rhiannon> as a Welsh name because of its long-standing popularity in the Society, it will not register a name that mixes Irish and Welsh spellings. The two languages used by different systems for translating sounds into letters and in period those two systems were not mixed in a single rendering of a name. The College might register the combination if you used an anglicized form of your patronymic, e.g. <Rhiannon Gilchrist>. Of course, you are not obliged to use an authentic name nor to register it: In the final analysis, you can use any name you want. We do encourage you to use an authentic name, though, and we would be happy to help you choose one.
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 and Elsbeth Anne Roth.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] O'Brien, M. A., ed., Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae (Dublin: The Dublin
Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976).