ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 958 http://www.s-gabriel.org/958 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 11 Jun 1998 Greetings, Here's the information we found on , which you wanted to use as an Irish name between 850 and 1250, and your arms "Per pale gules and vert, a harp Or." We did find your name in period, although not with the spelling you gave. From about 850 to 1200, the most likely spelling is or ; after about 1200 the most likely spelling is . We found a number of Irish men's names that were common during your period. We've included spellings from before and after 1200. (1) EARLY LATE Carthach Carthach A/ed Aodh Cellach Ceallach Cairpre Cairbre Cina/ed Cinaodh Colma/n Colma/n Eochaid Eochaidh Fedelmid Feidhlimidh Feradach Fearadhach Fergus Fearghus Indrechtach Ionnrachtach Lugaid Lughaidh Ma/el Du/in Maol Du/in Ma/enach Maonach Maine Maine Muirchertach Muircheartach Muiredach Muireadhach Murchad Murchadh Niall Niall O/engus A/engus, Aonghus Ro/na/n Ro/na/n Ruaidri/ Ruaidhri/ Scandla/n Scannla/n Se/tna Se/adna Sechnassach Seachnassach Senach Seanach Suibne Suibhne Tadc Tadhg Tigernach Tighearnach Tuathal Tuathal So you could combine these to form a name in an early or late spelling-- for example, or . Many of these names aren't pronounced the way an English speaker would probably expect; if you let us know what names you're interested in, we can offer reasonable rough indications of their pronunciations. Armory was invented around 1150 and was carried to Ireland by the English. It was not adopted by the native Irish population for some time thereafter, so it is unlikely that a native Irishman would have used arms by 1250. Strictly speaking, it is not period for your persona to use arms at all. However, many people whose personas would not have used arms do use arms within the SCA. If you're using harps to say "I am Irish," we suggest that you look at a different design. In period, people didn't incorporate "national symbols" in this way--Irish people were no more likely to use harps in their arms than anyone else. In fact, harps weren't really a symbol for Ireland in period. The arms of Ireland (Azure, a harp Or) were first adopted by James I, king of Ireland, Scotland, and England. We found conflicts for arms that include both one harp and three, although we found a number of designs that use six harps. We recommend against using a field that's split between two colors, since this is very rare in period heraldry. Thus we can suggest the design "Vert, six harps Or" as an alternative that is consistent with medieval heraldry and apparently free of conflict. Talan Gwynek, Zenobia Naphtali, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy Prytydes verch Catmael Caermyrdin, Margaret mac Duibhsidhe, Rouland Carre, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Charles O'Connor contributed to this letter. We hope that this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. In service, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel (1) O'Brien, M. A., ed., Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). Examples taken from throughout the work.