ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2501 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2501 ************************************ From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 11 Apr 2002 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know what sort of byname was appropriate for a 13th century Irish woman named who was the wife of an Anglo-Norman man. Here is the information we have found. As you discovered, is a fine 13th century Irish woman's name, also Anglicized as and Latinized as [1, 2]. The slash in indicates an accent over the preceding letter. You mentioned that you have been using as a byname, but that you now understood it was not correct for your period. Indeed, as more resources for period names become generally available, we often find that things we considered correct based on the scholarship of the time turn out to be inappropriate. We do not believe that was used in women's Gaelic bynames before 1600 [3]. was the name of several early Irish saints, though it never became common and does not seem to have been used at all in the later me dieval period [2]. We haven't found the name used after 1061 [4]. If you want to choose a different name for your father, you might be interested in the following articles on the web: "Dated Names Found in O/ Corra/in & Maguire's _Irish Names_" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/ocm/ "Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ormond.html "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ The last article focuses on names from 11th century Ireland; if you find a name there that appeals to you, please write back and we will let you know if the name remained in use through your period. Around 1200, a major change in the spelling of Gaelic names occurred; the written form was altered to more nearly reflect the spoken form. The spelling change was not instantaneous; we would not be surprised to find a 13th century woman named whose father was named recorded using the earlier spelling or the later spelling . (later ) is the Gaelic word for 'daughter'; it was pronounced \EEN-y@n\, where \@\ is the sound of in or . The change from to is required by Gaelic grammar [6]. A 13th century Irish woman might have had her name recorded in several different ways depending on the language of the document. She would have been identified in Gaelic by a Gaelic name constructed according to Gaelic naming customs and in English by an English name constructed according to English naming customs. Latin documents might show still another different form of her name. We'll address each language separately. Gaelic documents of your period almost invariably record a woman by a given name plus a patronymic, a byname that identifies her as her father's child. Her name might also include additional bynames for further identification, but we would be very surprised to find a 13th century Gaelic woman recorded in Gaelic without a patronymic. Indeed, even people of obvious Anglo-Norman origin are recorded in similar fashion. We find a Gaelic record of 'Margaret, daughter of Walter Burke, wife of Aedh' who certainly would be more likely to appear in English records as [7]. We find several examples in Gaelic records somewhat later than your period that appear to identify Irish Gaelic women married to English men [7]: Fionnghuala ingen Ui/ Cheallaigh ben Meic Uilliam Bu/rc, 1379 Mor inghen Murchadha Ui Madadhain bean Meic Uilliam Cloinne Riocaird (.i. Riocard), 1383 Mo/r ingen Briain Ui/ Bhriain bean Aater A Bu/rc, 1421 Ben Mide ingen Domnaill meic Murcertaig ben Tomas Baret, 1422 Slaine inghen hI Briain ben Meic Uilliam Clainni Ricaird, (also recorded as Slaine inghen Ui Bhriain ben Mec Uilliam Cloinne Riocaird), 1481 Slaine inghean Airt Ui Neill an ben Meic Uilliam Cloinne Riocaird (Uillecc mac Uillicc ele), 1498 In each of these cases, the woman's given name is followed by a patronymic or clan affiliation and then by a byname that identifies her as her husband's wife. For example: Mo/r ingen Briain Ui/ Bhriain bean Aater A Bu/rc Mor daughter [of] Brian O' Brian wife [of] Walter Burke Two of these examples include simple forms of the husband's name: 'Walter Burke' and 'Thomas Barrett'. The rest of the examples are actually titles rather than names [8]. You asked about the Anglo-Norman family name . We find the following examples in England in your period [9, 10]: Eustace de Deueraus, 1204 Thomas de Euereus, Deuereus, 1279 John de Ebroicis, 1297 (this is a Latin form of the name) We have found no Gaelic examples of from your period in any spelling. The Deveraux were a powerful Anglo-Norman family in County Wexford during your period [11]. In modern Gaelic, the name is spelled [12]. If there were a Gaelic form before 1200, we'd expect it to have been spelled . It's possible that a form similar to the modern Gaelic form was used; it's also possible that the name was recorded exclusively in a Latin form. For example, the wife of a man known in English as might be recorded in Gaelic as or , both meaning literally 'Sla/ine daughter of Cathal wife of William Deveraux' [13]. In English records, we would expect a woman to be identified in the same ways. Anglo-Norman women of the 13th century did not take their husband's family names upon marriage, so there is no reason to suppose that an Irish woman would do so. A woman known in Gaelic as might have appeared in English records as or perhaps even as [14]. She might also appear as . We have an example of from a 14th century Latin document, but we believe that it was written by an English scribe and therefore represents an English spelling [14]. We expect that the more common Latinization of is [2]. When you select a name for your father, please write again and we'll try to find an appropriate Latin form. As an example, might appear in Latin as . is the Latin word for 'daughter', and is the Latin word for 'wife'; the at the end of and reflects the genitive case [15]. Note that in all three languages, a woman would most often have been identified only as her father's daughter (if not simply by her given name alone). The description of her as her husband's wife would have been used only when additional information was required. We would expect to be the most commonly used form. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Blaise de Cormeilles, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 11 April 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Donnchadh O Corrain, ed., "Annals of Inisfallen" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 2000). Entry 1259.5 includes a woman named (the first four digits are the year of the events recorded). See also "Background details and bibliographic information". http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100004/ The Annals of Inisfallen, from which this particular citation is taken, is a compilation of many different hands using a wide variety of spelling systems and manuscript styles. The particular section in which this entry falls is identified by the publishers as "Hand 31" and is identified as an "Anglo-Norman Literary" hand in contrast to the earlier hands, which are of clearly native Irish manuscript types. The writer of this section has an extremely eclectic spelling system, involving common use of , , , , and other letters not normally found in Medieval Irish in a way that appears to derive from Anglo-Norman practice. While many of the clearly Anglicized spellings by this hand are for ethnically English individuals, many are also for Irish individuals. Moreover, the eclectic spelling extends to the Irish text as well as the proper names. Hands 33, 34, and 36 show a similar spelling style (though more lightly applied in 34), and these are the only other hands identified as "Anglo-Norman" or "mixed" in their letter forms. Thus, entries written in these four hands cannot be taken as representative of Irish spelling and must be understood as showing significant English influence. [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Sla/ine, Ciaran. [3] is a modern Gaelic word used as a feminine form of in a clan surname: the feminine of is . Etymologically, it represents a contraction of the earlier phrase . Toward the end of our period, both and were sometimes pronounced \NEE\, and this pronunciation was reflected in period English spelling; however, the contracted spelling was not yet used in Gaelic. [4] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "The Annals of Ulster" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/. U1061.1 includes "Ciaran sui ecnaidh Erenn" 'Ciaran, eminent sage of Ireland'; the first four digits represent the year of the events recorded. Many names of popular saints were considered too holy for ordinary people to use; however, it was a common Gaelic naming practice to create new given names to show special devotion to these saints. We find the masculine given name 'devotee of Ciara/n' recorded in your period as in 1249 and 1263, so it would be a fine name for your father [5]. This spelling is an early form; we would also expect to find the later form . A woman's byname indicating that she was the daughter of a man by that name would be spelled or , both pronounced \EEN-y@n VEL CHEE-@-rahn~\ [6]. (Here \CH\ represents the soft sound in German , \@\ is the sound of in or , and \n~\ is the sound of in French or Italian or the sound of in Spanish .) [5] Cournane, Mavis, Vibeke Dijkman, and Ivonne Tummers, "Annals of Connacht" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997), entries 1233.6, 1249.16, 1263.11. (The first four digits are the year of the events recorded.) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011 [6] The change from to , and the changes from to and from to are required by Gaelic grammar. Part of the change puts the name in the genitive, or possessive, case, much like changing to in English . Other changes indicate lenition, a softening of initial consonants which occurs in some Gaelic names. If you are interested in why this happens, we recommend this article available on the web: Lenition in Gaelic Orthography http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotlang/lenition.shtml [7] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Feminine Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000), s.nn. Ma/irghre/ad, Fionnghuala, Mo/r, Ben Mide-Ben Mhi/, Sla/ine. [8] A or was the founder of the Burke family in Ireland; he went there in 1171 with Henry II and later became Earl of Ulster [9]. In Gaelic, his son was known as 'son of William Burke'. As a result, in later generations the head of this Anglo-Irish family was identified in Gaelic by the chiefly title or . Later, a member of the family named Richard became prominent. His branch of the Burke family was known as , and the head of that branch was known by the chiefly title , or head of the Clan Richard branch of the Burke family. [9] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Burke, Deveraux. [10] One form you mentioned, , appears to be a scribal abbreviation for the Latin . [11] MacLysaght, Edward, _More Irish Families_ (Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1982), s.n. Devereux includes the following: "Coming from France to England in the eleventh century, a hundred years later the chief men of the family took part in Strongbow's invasion of Ireland and, having obtained large estates in Co. Wexford, became the most powerful of the Norman settlers in that country. The name figures among the great landed proprietors in the early Ormond Deeds and other thirteenth century records; as early as 1229 John d'Evreux obtained extensive grants of lands in the Decies (Co. Waterford)." Note the spelling seems to be a modern form. [12] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985), s.n. Devereux. [13] The earlier spelling of these two names would be or . [14] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). Examples of 14th century women's names recorded include (anglicized from ) and (an English given name followed by an anglicized Gaelic patronymic). The author notes, "The text is in Latin, written by an English speaker, hence the forms of the names follow practices similar to those of Latin texts in England: Some names are entirely Latinized (e.g., Iohannes for vernacular John), others follow the usual English vernacular spelling but have Latin inflections added (e.g., de Radulfo), while others follow English spelling conventions and have no Latin inflections." http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ormond.html [15] O/ Corra/in and Maguire, s.n. Cathal state that is often given in non-Gaelic records as , though the two names are not related. is the Latin form of , and is 'of Carolus'.