ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 856
http://www.s-gabriel.org/856
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* NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports     *
*       contain errors that we haven't yet      *
*       corrected.  Please use it with caution. *
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9 Apr 1998

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel.

You asked for information about the name <Catriona ingean Bhaird>, which
is a proposed Irish-Gaelic translation of <Catherine Ward>.  Here's what
we found.

Despite its popularity in the SCA, we've never seen a period example of
the spelling <Catriona>. It is, apparently, a modern English rendering
of the Gaelic <Caitri/ona>, which is, itself, a rendering of the name
<Catherine>.  However, we found two period Gaelic forms of <Catherine>
with spellings similar to <Catriona>: <Caiteri/na>, and  <Caitri/ona>.
The slash represents an accent on the preceding vowel. Both of these
names are pronounced \ka TREE na\, not \ka tree OH na\; \ka tree OH na\
is a modern American pronunciation of the modern English <Catriona>. 
<Caiteri/na> is an early Irish form of the name; it was probably used in
the 12th and 13th centuries. <Caitri/ona> should be an appropriate form
from the 14th century forward.  [1]

One source notes that almost all Irish examples of the name <Ward>
derive from the Gaelic <Mac an Bhaird>--son of the bard, but does not
date the names. [2]  Another source notes the Irish personal name
<Barda/n>, with early Irish forms <Bardda/n> and <Bardde/ne>. [1] 

We believe that <Caitri/ona inghean Bharda/in>, pronounced \ka-TREE-na
IN-yen VARD-ahn\, would be an appropriate name for an Irish women
between 1400 and 1600. This name means "Caitri/ona, daughter of Bardan".
 The "h" is added to the name <Barda/n> for grammatical reasons. Note
that <inghean> is the usual spelling of "daughter" in Irish Gaelic of
this period.
 
<Caitri/ona inghean an Bhaird>, pronounced \ka-TREE-na IN-yeN ahn VARD\,
is also a possible form for this period; in this case, the name means
"Caitri/ona daughter of the bard."  

We hope that this letter has been useful to you.  Please write us again
if any part of it has been unclear, or if you have any other questions.
Arval d'Espas Nord, Livia Montgomery, Teceangl Back, and Talan Gwynek
aided in researching and writing this letter.

In Service,
Margaret Makafee

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References:

[1] O'Corrain, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names. Dublin: The
Lilliput Press, 1990.

[2] MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland. 6th Edition. Irish
Academic Press Limited, 1991.