ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 931
http://www.s-gabriel.org/931
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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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01 Jun 1998
From: Jodi McMaster 

Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel!

You had asked about the name "Flidais" as a name for an Irishwoman at
any time during the period.

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 Ro/ich [1].  Although we do not know of any historical
example of the name used by a real person (and it's not unusual that a
literary name only occurs in legend), it is certainly possible that it
could have been used, at least in the early Middle Ages.  It is
pronounced \FLID-ish\.

If you'd like a name that we know was used by real people during the
period, you might consider the following Gaelic names (the slashes
following a letter indicate accent marks)[1]:

 Fai/lenn              \FEE-lyahn\   
 Fainder               \FAHN-yar\   
 Fand                  \FAHN\     
 Fedelm                \FYAY-{dh}elm\ (the {dh} is pronounced like the 
                        "th" in "this") 
 Fe/thnat              \FYAYTH-nitch\ (the "th" is pronounced like the  
                        "th" in "thin")
 Fiadnat               \FEE-ahn-itch\
 Finnabair             \FYUN-ah-var\  (to rhyme with "flower")  
 Finnecht              \FEEN-yakht\  
 Finnguala             \FYUN-oo-a-la\
 Finnat                \FYUN-nitch\  
 Finnsech              \FEEN-shahkh\   
 Flannat               \FLAH-nitch\  

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/eda" would be "Flidais,
daughter of A/ed".  The change in spelling and pronunciation of "A/ed"
is required by Gaelic grammar, the equivalent of "John's" vs. "John."  

The exact form of the second half of your name will depend on what name
you choose for your persona's father.  It will also depend on when in
period you set your persona, because the language changed over time.  If
you send us this information after you've made your decision, we'll be
happy to give you the correct spelling and pronunciation. 

You could also use a simple descriptive byname, like "ruad" (meaning
"red").   These tended to be very concrete physical descriptions. 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.

We hope this letter has been helpful.  Please write us again if any part
of it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  Arval Benicoeur,
Teceangl Bach, and Talan Gwynek contributed comments and/or research for
this letter.  

For the Academy,

   AElfwyn aet Gyrwum
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References:

[1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin:
The Lilliput Press, 1990).