ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 987 http://www.s-gabriel.org/987 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: "S Friedemann" 30 Aug 1998 Greetings, Here's the information we found on the form of your mundane name "Paul O'Fallon" that would be appropriate for the period between 1050 and 1200. The modern Irish form of is (the slash represents an accent over the ). This name can be found fairly early, but it was a rare name used mostly by priests and monks (who commonly changed their names when entering religious life). You could use as an Irish name from your period, but unless your persona is a monk it is probably not appropriate. (1) Your research on your last name was completely correct. is a late-period Irish spelling of your last name. There are a number of early-period spellings, including , , , and . These names may be related to each other, or they may be variants of two separate names. (2,3) is a late-period spelling for , which means "male descendant." You could use this with any of the names we found, to make a name like . This is pronounced roughly like . (The @ represents the first vowel sound in "about.") If you're interested in the pronunciation of other variants, let us know. We found a coat of arms for O Fallon that we would blazon "Gules, a greyhound rampant argent maintaining a tilting spear Or." (4) "Gules" is the heraldic name for red. "Sanguine" is a very rare modern name for a dark burgundy-red. As far as we can tell, the O Fallon arms are normally described as "gules." Period heralds did not distinguish different shades of red; "sanguine" would have been described simple as "gules" in period. These arms do not belong to everyone named O Fallon. Arms were given to (or adopted by) individuals who passed those arms to their descendants--depending on the country, either to their oldest son, or to all their descendants. In real life, you have the right to use the O Fallon arms only if you can show that you are descended from the particular person who first used them. In countries where only the oldest son inherited his father's arms, it was common for younger sons--both legitimate and illegitimate--to use modified versions of their father's arms to show their family relationship. One of the marks was a "bendlet sinister," a narrow stripe running from the upper right to lower left of the shield. In the 18th century, the notion developed that this particular modification was associated with illegitimacy. However, this is not generally the case--a bendlet sinister is no more likely to indicate illegitimacy than any other mark of difference. That aside, the question remains whether "Gules, a greyhound rampant argent maintaining a tilting spear Or, overall a bendlet sinister argent," is a reasonable coat of arms for your persona. Strictly speaking, your persona should not have a coat of arms at all. Heraldry was first used in England and France in the 12th century, and it didn't spread to Ireland until after that time. So your persona would almost certainly not have had arms. However, it's not uncammon for people with early-period SCA personae to use arms. This style of arms is appropriate for a later period (maybe the 15th or 16th century). For an earlier period, it would be more likely to use the greyhound without the tilting-spear. We checked these arms, with and without the tilting-spear, for conflict, and did not find any. You may also want to investigate the age of the O Fallon arms. Most arms in use today were not used until after 1600, so it is quite likely that the O Fallon arms were not used in period. Of course, even if the O Fallon arms date from after 1600, their design is simple enough that you could use them in the SCA. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Arval Benicoeur contributed research and/or commentary on this letter. In service, Alan Fairfax & Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Academy of S. Gabriel 30 Aug 98 (1) O/ Corra/in, 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) O/ Riain, Pa/draig, ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985). (4) _Irish Families_ by Edward MacLysaght (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), Plate X