Irish Names Introduction Overall View of Cultural Influences
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Irish Names by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada 2003-2012 Kathleen M. O’Brien Introduction In Ireland during our period, there were several distinct cultures which each had their own naming practices. Which name elements were used and how a name was formed varied by culture and time period. The cultures seen in Ireland at different times include Gaels, Norse, and Anglo-Normans. Further complicating the issue is the fact that documents written in Ireland during our time period were written in Latin, Gaelic, English, and possibly Norse. So, a person of Anglo-Norman descent could have easily been referenced in a Latin document, an English document, and a Gaelic document. And the form of their name would have been different in each language. An example of such forms can be found in references to Strongbow: Language Annals Entry Name Gaelic B M1170.11 Ricard mac Gillebert .i. Iarla ó Strangbouu Latin AH 1169 Ricardus filius fuit Gilberti Comitis Strongulensis Culture, time period, and document language are all factors that need to be considered when creating an authentic name or determining if an already-constructed name is authentic. Overall View of Cultural Influences 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 Written Language used by Gaels: Oghamic Irish Old Irish Gaelic Middle Irish Gaelic Early Modern Irish Gaelic c. 500 – c. 700 c. 700 – c. 900 c. 900 – c. 1200 c. 1200 – c. 1700 Cultures in Ireland and their Gaels as a cohesive culture in Ireland influence on Gaelic naming practices: Norse/Danish settlers living as a cohesive culture in Ireland Norse/Danish names adopted into the Gaelic naming pool Anglo-Norman / English settlers living as a cohesive culture in Ireland Anglo-Norman names adopted into the Gaelic naming pool the Catholic religion p. 1 Irish Names by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada 2003-2012 Kathleen M. O’Brien Gaelic Culture and Gaelic Naming Practices in Ireland Information about Gaels and Gaelic Culture in Ireland: [Information regarding clan structure in Ireland – a quote from Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages:] - In the case of Ireland, the greater part of the humbler classes certainly did not belong to any recognised clans or descent-groups other than their immediate family groups (father and sons, or a group of brothers). In the case of persons like these, devoid of political influence or property, the clan would have had no functions which could serve to hold it together. Conall Mageoghagan, writing in 1627, refers contemptuously to persons of this sort as ‘mere churls and labouring men, [not] one of whom knows his own great-grandfather.’ The phrase is significant; in a lineage-based society the keeping of genealogies is of primary importance. Not only is membership of the clan conferred by descent, but the precise details of this descent may determine a person’s legal rights in, for instance, the property of the clan. [p. 9] Important Developments and Changes in Naming Practices among Gaels: - Throughout most of our period, names of prominent saints were considered too holy to give to children. Instead, parents wishing to reference a saint in their child’s name would give their child a devotional name formed from that saint’s name. For example, parents wishing to reference Saint Ciarán when they named their son, would name him Gilla Ciaráin ‘servant of [Saint] Ciarán’ or Máel Ciaráin ‘devotee of [Saint] Ciarán’ rather than simply Ciarán. - occasionally Biblical names (forms of Daniel, Abel, etc.) show up as the names of religious men; the same names rarely or never appear in the general population - Construction patterns used in early names tended to be simple, usually only naming the person’s father. Over time more complex constructions came into use (see the charts on the next two pages for examples). - 900s - family / clan names come into use - 1100s - Norse given names begin appearing in the Gaelic naming pool - c. 1300 - Anglo-Norman names begin appearing in the Gaelic naming pool [The section “From Pelican: Capitalization of Gaelic Particles: mac versus Mac” in the Cover Letter to the June 2002 LoAR explains the issue of capitalization of particles in Gaelic names:] Capitalization of name elements in period Gaelic documents was less consistent than it is now, but it was not completely random. Most sources that reference Irish Gaelic names use standardized transliteration rules for rendering Gaelic text. For example, John O'Donovan, Annals of Ireland, by the Four Masters, is a facing page translation. Each left-hand page is a transcription which preserves capitalization as it appears in the original work. Each right-hand page is a 19th C translation of the corresponding left-hand page. The examples listed below (with 19th C translations) are taken from the year 1400 (vol. 4). A period after a letter indicates a punctum delens (which looks like a dot that appears above the preceding letter). A punctum delens is usually transliterated as an h following the letter in question. For example, {m.} is transliterated as mh. The notation e represents a "long e" character. In some cases, it is transliterated as e. In other cases, it is transliterated as ea. hoiberd mac Emainn mic hoiberd a burc ("Hubert, the son of Edmond, son of Hubert Burke", pp. 768-769) cathbarr {m.}ág aon{g.}usa ("Caffar Magennis", pp. 768-769) Con{c.}o{b.}ar mac Do{m.}naill mic néill {g.}air{b.}, mic aoda, mic do{m.}naill óicc uí {d.}o{m.}naill ("Conor, the son of Donnell, son of Niall Garv, son of Hugh, son of Donnell Oge O'Donnell", p. 770) Modern transliteration standards render literal bynames with non-capitalized particles and family names with capitalized particles. For example, mac Néill would indicate that this man's father was named Niall, while Mac Néill would indicate that Mac Néill was his family name. In a period document, mac Néill could indicate that either that his father was named Niall or that his family name was Mac Néill. p. 2 Irish Names by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada 2003-2012 Kathleen M. O’Brien Patterns seen in Men’s Names Among Gaels - the list below is preliminary; it is constructed from a rough sample taken from various annals - all examples listed below have at least 5 men with names with this construction 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 Written Language: Oghamic Irish Old Irish Gaelic Middle Irish Gaelic Early Modern Irish Gaelic c. 500 – c. 700 c. 700 – c. 900 c. 900 – c. 1200 c. 1200 – c. 1700 Construction patterns A maqqas B A mac B found in the names of 5 or more men: A hua B A Ua B / A Ó B A mac B meic C A mac B mhic C A mac B huí C A mac B uí C A mac Meic B A mac Mhic B A mac B mhic C uí D Gaelic Particle of Relationship A mac B mhic C mhic D Nominative Case Genitive Case Meaning mac meic / mhic son hua / ua / Ó huí / uí grandson [later came to mean ‘male descendant’] p. 3 Irish Names by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada 2003-2012 Kathleen M. O’Brien Patterns seen in Women’s Names Among Gaels - the list below is preliminary; it is constructed from a fairly complete list of women’s names that appear in Irish annals. At this time, most of the women’s names have been sorted for the list below, but there are still a portion left to be sorted. 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 Written Language: Oghamic Irish Old Irish Gaelic Middle Irish Gaelic Early Modern Irish Gaelic c. 500 – c. 700 c. 700 – c. 900 c. 900 – c. 1200 c. 1200 – c. 1700 Construction patterns A inigena B A ingen B A inghean B found in the names of 5 or more women: A ingen B meic C A inghean B mhic C A ingen meic B A inghean mhic B A ingen B huí C A inghean B uí C A ingen huí B A inghean uí B A ingen B huí C ben D huí E A inghean B uí C bean D uí E A inghean B mhic C uí D A inghean B mhic C bean D mhic E A inghean B uí C bean D mhic E A inghean uí B bean C mhic D Gaelic Particle of Relationship A inghean uí B bean C uí D Nominative Case Genitive Case Meaning A inghean B mhic C bean uí D mac meic / mhic son ingen / inghean daughter A inghean B uí C bean uí D hua / ua / Ó huí / uí grandson [later came to mean ‘male descendant’] ben / bean wife A inghean uí B bean uí C p. 4 Irish Names by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada 2003-2012 Kathleen M. O’Brien Examples of Variation in a Woman’s Name These are examples of women referred to multiple times in the annals. All of these examples are grouped by person. By looking at the multiple ways the annals render the name of a woman, we can begin to guess which elements were inherited and which were literal. In some cases, the final patronymic element may actually be a family name or a chiefly title (indicating descent from a clan chief). Omitting a phrase B M1152.10 Dearbhforgaill, inghen Murchadha Uí Mhaoileachlainn, ben Tighernan Uí Ruairc B M1153.21 Derfforgaill, inghen Murchadha Uí Mhaoileachlainn T T1157.3 Derborgaill ingin Murchada h-Úi Mael Sechlainn MCB1 MCB1165.3 Dirboguill, ingean Murcadha Meg Floinn, bean Tigearnain h- Ruairc, ri Breithne & Mighe B M1167.16 Dearbforgaill inghen Murchadha Ui Maoil Sechlainn U U1186.9 Derbhorgall, ingen Murchaidh h-Ui Maeil Shechlainn LC LC1186.4 Derborcaill, ingen Murchada .H.