Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 790

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 790

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/790

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 information about the Irish feminine name <Flidais>. Here is what we have found.

We noticed that you posted the same question to alt.heraldry.sca a few weeks ago. We have nothing to add to the answer that Master Talan posted at that time, but for your convenience we'll repeat the facts here.

The name occurs in early Irish legend: Flidais is the daughter of Ailill Finn, a Connacht king. She fell in love with the exiled Ulster warrior Fergus mac Róich [1]. Although we do not know of any historical example of the name used by a real person, it is certainly possible that it could have been used, at least in the early Middle Ages.

To construct a complete Irish name, you need to add a byname. Most women in period Ireland were primarily known as their fathers' daughters. For example, <Flidais ingen A/edha> "Flidais, daughter of A/ed". (The slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.) The change in spelling and pronunciation of <A/ed> is required by Gaelic grammar. It is equivalent to <John's> vs. <John>. You could also use a simple descriptive byname, like <ruad> "red". If there is some specific meaning you'd like to express in your byname, write us again with details and we'll be happy to do our best to help.

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.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur


References

[1] O/ Corráin, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The

Lilliput Press, 1990).