ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1800
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1800
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From: "Sara L Friedemann" 
15 Oct 1999

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Fionnuala ni Fhearghus> or <Fionnuala ingen
Fhearghus>, meaning "Fionnuala daughter of Fearghus," is an authentic 14th
century Irish feminine name.  Here is the information we have found.

Your name is nearly perfect as it is.  <Fionnuala> is the modern spelling of
a name that was spelled <Fionnghuala> in your period.  This name was
extremely popular in Ireland in the later middle ages, and is a great choice
for your given name. [1]

<Fearghus> was also a common name throughout the Middle Ages. [1]

The word <ni/> (spelled with an accent on the <i>) did not exist in Gaelic
until after our period. It evolved from the phrase <inghean ui/>, used in
Irish Gaelic to identify a woman as a member of a clan.  For your period,
the correct word meaning "daughter" is <inghean> [2].  A lady named
<Fionnghuala> the daughter of <Fergus> would have been known as either
<Fionnghuala inghean Fhearghuis> or <Fionnghuala inghean Fhearghusa>, with
the change in spelling of the father's name a requirement of Gaelic grammar.
This would be pronounced \fy@-NOO-@-l@ EEN-y@n YAR-ghoosh\ or \YAR-ghoos-@\,
with \oo\ as in <book>, \@\ representing the intial vowel sound in the word
<about>, and \gh\ being the voiced version of \kh\, which is the "ch" sound
in Scottish <loch> or German <Bach>.

We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not
hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further
questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval
Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn.

For the Academy,
--Aryanhwy merch Catmael
     October 15, 1999

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References & Notes:

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

[2] <inghean> is the late-period spelling of <ingen>, appropriate for after
circa 1200.