ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1534
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1534
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16 Mar 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You whether <Shamus Hughes> is an appropriate name for a period Irishman.
Here is what we have found.

<Shamus> is a modern English spelling of the Gaelic name <Se/amus>.  The
Gaelic name, pronounced \SHAY-mahs\, was common in Ireland at least from
the 14th century onward [1].  We haven't found the specific spelling
<Shamus> in period, and we believe it may be a modern creation, perhaps
derived from the anglicized <MacShamus>.  We did find that surname spelled
<M'Shemus> and <M'Sheames> in English records c.1600, and it is not
unreasonable to believe that the given name might have been spelled the
same ways in English [2].

<Hughes> is an English surname, imported to Ireland by English settlers.
In late-period Anglo-Irish records, the name <Hugh> was often used as an
English equivalent of the common Gaelic name <Aodh>, pronounced \AY\ in
late-period Irish Gaelic.  Similarly, <Mac Hugh> was used as a 16th century
English rendering of <mac Aodha> "son of Aodh", and <Hughes> may sometimes
have been used as a translation of <O/ hAodha>, a Gaelic clan name derived
from <Aodh> [2, 3, 4, 5].  <mac Aodha> is pronounced \mahk AY-@\, and <O/
hAodha> is pronounced \oh HAY-@\, where \@\ represents the schwa sound of
the <a> in <sofa>.

<Se/amus mac Aodha> or <Se/amus O/ hAodha> would be a fine name for a
late-period Irish Gael.  In English records or among English speakers, the
first of these names could have become <Shemus Mac Hugh>.  The latter might
perhaps have become <Shemus Hughes>, but we are less are certain this is
correct.


We 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  16 Mar 1999


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References

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

[2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_
(Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation).

[3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic
Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.n. Hughes.

[4] O/ Clerigh, Lughaidh, _Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Ui/ Dhomhnaill -- Life of
Hugh Roe O'Donnell_ ed. Paul Walsh, Irish Texts Society, vol. 42 (Dublin:
Irish Texts Society, 1948).

[5] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, 'Names and Naming Practices in the
Fitzwilliam Accounts from 16th Century Ireland', Proceedings of the Known
World Heraldic Symposium, Tir Ysgithr, AS XXXIII (Tucson, 1998), pp.
151-158.