Index of Names in Irish Annals: Alaxandar, Alaxandair (Alasdrann, Alasdar)
by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien)
© 2000-2007 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.7, updated 25 February 2007
Masculine Given Names: Alaxandar, Alaxandair (Alasdrann, Alasdar)
The name Alexander was introduced into Scotland when the son of
King Malcolm III (Canmore) and his wife Margaret was given this name.
In time, this Alexander became king of Scotland (reigned 1107-1124)
and he is referred to in the Annals of Ulster in entry U1124.5.
It is important to note that he is the only example found
in the annals of a
person with any form of this name was who born in Scotland before 1200.
It is worth noting that there were two other kings of Scotland named Alexander.
One reigned from 1214 to 1249. The other reigned from 1249 to 1285.
The first examples of men in the annals with a form of this name (but who
are not King Alexander) are men who are natives of Scotland who are listed in entries for
the year 1299. The majority of the subsequent references to men with forms of this name
are referring to men from Scotland. There are a few references to men who cannot be
conclusively identified as Scotsmen: they may be Scotsmen or they may be Irishmen. Men from
Scotland are identified with an S in the Context column in the raw data table on this page.
The name Alexander first migrated into Gaelic as Alaxandar (also Alaxandair).
Later, a diminutive form Alasdrann (also Alasdrainn) appeared. Examples of this
diminutive begin to appear in the annals in entries for the mid 15th century.
At some point later, a second diminutive appeared. Modernly, that diminutive takes the form
Alasdair. There are a few examples of forms close to this spelling in the annals.
These are:
It is worth noting that the Annals of Connacht (noted by the code "Co" above)
consistently uses archaic spellings. The Annals of Ulster (volume 3 is represented by the
code U3 above) also uses archaic spellings fairly consistently. As a result, the spellings
shown in these entries are not necessarily typical for spellings that would have been
used in the 15th and 16th centuries.
These four examples are enough to imply that some form of what we know today as Alasdair
seems to have been in rare use by the 16th C among Scotsmen, and perhaps Irishmen. However,
the data shown on this page indicates that Alaxandair and Alasdrainn were
still the common forms of this name even through the 16th C.
Spellings:
What we know as a set of Irish Annals are manuscripts that were each compiled during a
particular time period, usually using older material as sources. For example, when
the Annals of the Four Masters were written from 1632 to 1636, they covered events
that occurred centuries and millenia before (including legendary history). So, when
an entry in this set of annals refers to a person who lived in the year 738, the
spelling used for that person's name is very likely not using the spelling that
would have been used in 738.
Standard forms of this name (based on spelling systems of different periods) would be:
| Middle Irish Gaelic (c900-c1200) nominative form: | Alaxandar, Alaxandair |
| Middle Irish Gaelic (c900-c1200) genitive form: | Alaxandair |
|
| Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) nominative form: | Alaxandar, Alaxandair (Alasdrann, Alasdar) |
| Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) genitive form: | Alaxandair (Alasdrainn, Alasdair) |
Frequency & Dates:
| Number of men found in the annals with forms of Alaxandar, Alaxandair: | 18 |
| Found in Years: | 1124, 1299, 1318, 1366, 1368, 1419, 1465, 1466, 1468, 1484, 1485, 1488, 1494, 1501, 1503, 1504, 1508, 1537, 1577 |
| Number of men found in the annals with forms of Alasdrann: | 15 |
| Found in Years: | 1465, 1487, 1488, 1495, 1499, 1501, 1508, 1521, 1522, 1524, 1528, 1532, 1533, 1536, 1540, 1542, 1577, 1581, 1586, 1588, 1590, 1591, 1601 |
| Number of men found in the annals with forms of Alasdar: | 3 |
| Found in Years: | 1465, 1513, 1522 |
Research Notes:
[Followup to a message of mine regarding forms of the name Alaxandar, Alaxandair appearing in
Irish Annals but referring to men from Scotland:]
[There is also a reference to an Raghnall mac Alaxandair who is heir to Cloinne Alaxandair.]
Black, s.n. Macalaster: "Ranald Makalestyr, who obtained a lease of lands
in Arran, 1455, is afterwards referred to as Ranald Alexandri, Reginald
McAlestir..."
[Alaxandar Mac Caba]
Black, s.n. MacCabe: "In the Book of the Dean of Lismore, the name appears
as M'Caybba...". Also: "The family of MacCabe are now widely spread through
the midland counties of Ireland....they are evidently a branch of the
MacLeods of Arran, and would appear to have migrated to Ireland in the 14th
century." That last is from O'Donovan, so his "now" is about 1850.
[email from Adelaide de Beaumont - 01 Jun 2001]
Sources:
Further information about the name Alaxandar, Alaxandair / Alasdrann / Alasdar, may be found in:
- OCM (p. 21-22 s.n. Alusdar, Alastar, Alusdrann).
The Sources page lists the Annals referenced below.
Information about secondary sources is included on that page as well.
Raw Data
In the table below, I have separated individuals with a blank line. That is, when there are multiple
entries in the annals that refer to a single person, those entries are grouped together.
Within the list of entries refering to a single person, I have sorted the entries
primarily by orthography when it is obvious that what I am seeing is the same entry
showing up in multiple annals. The entries that tend to use older spellings are listed first.
Special factors which may affect name usage are marked in the context column.
| AN | indicates a member of an Anglo-Norman family |
| AS | indicates an Anglo-Saxon |
| N | indicates a Norseman |
| P | indicates a Pict |
| R | indicates a person holding a religious office |
| S | indicates a person from Scotland |
NOTE: The Annals referenced below under the code letters A, B, C, E, & F tend to use
later spellings than the other Annals. In some cases, the spellings listed in these Annals
may not be appropriate for the year referenced in the Annal entry.
In some Gaelic scripts, there is a character that looks approximately like a lowercase f,
but without the crossbar. This character (represented by an underscored , e, in
the entries below) sometimes represents e and sometimes ea depending upon the
context of the text.
| Annals | Entry | Context | Citation (formatting preserved) |
| |
| [Alaxandar mac Mael Choluim] (d. 1124) |
| U | U1124.5 | S | Alaxandair m. Mael Choluim ri Alban ["Alexander son of Mael Coluim, king of Scotland"] |
| |
| [Alaxandar Mac Domhnaill] (d. 1299) |
| Co | 1299.2 | S | Alaxander Mac Domnaill |
| |
| [Alaxandar Mac Dubhghaill] (d. ?) |
| Co | 1299.2 | S | hAlaxander Mac nDubgaill |
| |
| [Alaxandar Mac Domhnaill] (d. 1318) |
| I | I1318.4 | S | Alexander M{ac Domnaill} |
| Co | 1318.8 | S | Mac Domnaill ri Oirir Gaedeal |
| C | M1318.4 | S | Mac Domhnaill tigearna Airir Gaoidel ["Mac Donnell, Lord of Argyle"] |
| |
| [Alaxandar Óg mac Toirdhealbhaigh Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. 1368) |
| C | M1366.8 | S | do Cloinn n-Domhnaill, .i. do Thoirrdhealbhach mac Domhnaill & do Alaxanduir a mhac ["the Clann-Donnell, i.e. Turlough, the son of Donnell, and Alexander, his son"] |
| Co | 1366.11 | S | Alaxandar an mac ["Alexander the son"] |
| C | M1366.8 | S | Toirrdhealbhach & a mac Alaxandair ["Turlough and his son Alexander"] |
| Co | 1366.11 | S | Alaxandar Mac Domnaill |
| C | M1366.8 | S | mac Toirrdhealbhaigh (Alaxandair) ["Turlough's son, Alexander"] |
| Co | 1368.13 | S | d'Alaxandar Oc Mac Domnaill do tigerna na ngalloclaech ["Alaxandar Oc Mac Domnaill, the lord of the gallowglasses"] |
| C | M1368.11 | S | Alaxandair Óg Mac Domhnaill tighearna na n-Gall-occlach ["Alexander Oge Mac Donnell, Lord of the Gallowglasses"] |
| Co | 1368.13 | S | Alaxandar Occ mac Toirrdelbaig Meic Domnaill Consabla na ngalloclaech & oigri Clainni Domnaill ["Alaxandar Oc son of Toirrdelbach Mac Domnaill, constable of the gallowglasses and heir of the Clann Domnaill"] |
| C | M1368.11 | S | Alaxandair mac Toirrdhealbhaigh Méc Domhnaill consabal na n-Gall-oglach ["Alexander, the son of Turlough Mac Donnell, Constable of the Gallowglasses"] |
| |
| [Alaxandar] (d. ?) |
| Co | 1366.11 | S | Ragnall mac Alaxandair oigri Clainni Alaxandair ["Ragnall son of Alexander, heir of the Clann Alaxandair"] |
| C | M1366.8 | S | Raghnall mac Alaxandair oighre Cloinne Alaxandair ["Randal, son of Alexander, the heir to Clann-Alexander"] |
| |
| [Alaxandar Mac Dubhghaill] (d. 1419) |
| Co | 1419.17 | S | Alaxandar Mac Dubgaill |
| Co | 1419.18 | S | Alaxander Mac Dubgaill |
| |
| [Alaxandar Mac Domhnaill] (d. ?) |
| Co | 1468.34 | S | Oengus mac Alaxandair Meic Domnaill |
| D | M1468.26 | S | Aengus mac Alaxandair Mec Domhnaill |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Eoin Móir Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. ?) |
| D | M1465.5 | S | Eoin mac Alasdrainn mic Eoin Mhóir Mec Domnaill |
| U3 | U1465.6 | S | h-Eoin, mac Alexandair |
| U3 | U1465.11 | S | Eoin, mac Alasdair, mic Eoin Mhoir Mic Domnaill |
| U3 | U1495.3 | S | Eoin Cluasach, mac Eoin Mic Alaxdrainn, .i. macam uasal do Clainn Domnaill na h-Alban ["John the large-eared, son of John Mac Alexander, namely, a noble youth of the Clann-Domnaill of Scotland"] |
| |
| [Alaxandar mac Somhairle Mhic Caba] (d. ?) |
| U3 | U1466.12 | | Cu Mara (.i. in Gilla Gruamda), mac Alaxandair, mic Somairle Mic Caba ["Cu-Mara (namely, the Gloomy Gillie), son of Alexander, son of Somairle Mac Caba"] |
| |
| [Alaxandair Ruadh] (d. 1484) |
| U3 | U1484.15 | S | An t-Eidhre & Eoin Cathanach, a mac, [unrelated] & in mac dob' fherr aigi, .i. Alexandair Ruadh ["The Heir and John Cathanach, his son, [unrelated] and the best son he had, namely, Alexander the Red"] |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Colla mhic Thoirdhealbhaigh] (d. 1487) |
| D | M1487.20 | S | Alastrann mac Colla mic Toirrdhealbhaigh |
| |
| [Alaxandair mac Connla mhic Lochlainn] (d. 1485) |
| U3 | U1485.13 | | Alaxandair, mac Connla, mic Lochlainn |
| |
| [Alasdrann] (d. ?) |
| Co | 1488.4 | S | Domnall Gorm mac Alustrainn |
| U3 | U1488.8 | S | Domhnall Gorm, mac Alexandair, mac Mic Domnaill |
| |
| [Alaxandar mac Giolla Easpaig Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. 1494) |
| D | M1494.16 | S | Alaxandair mac Gille Espuicc Mec Domhnaill, .i. fer ionait Mec Domnaill ["Alexander, the son of Gillespick Mac Donnell, the representative of Mac Donnell"] |
| U3 | U1494.17 | S | Alaxandair, mac Gilla Espuic Mic Domnaill, .i. fer inaid Mic Domnaill ["Alexander, son of Gilla-espuic Mac Domnaill, namely, deputy of Mac Domnaill"] |
| |
| [Alasdrann Ballach] (d. 1499) |
| Co | 1499.2 | S | Alusdrann Ballach |
| |
| [Alaxandar Mac Domhnaill] (d. ?) |
| U3 | U1501.15 | | tri mic Colla, mic Alaxandair Mic Domnaill, .i. Toirdelbach & Donnchadh & Ludar ["three sons of Colla, son of Alexander Mac Domnaill, namely, Toirdelbach and Donchadh and Ludar"] |
| |
| [Alasdrann Mór Mac Cába] (d. ?) |
| U3 | U1501.7 | | Somhairli, mac Alastrainn Oig, mic Alastrainn Moir Mic Caba |
| |
| [Alaxandar (or Alasdrann) Óg mac Alastrainn Móir Mhic Cába] (d. ?) |
| U3 | U1501.7 | | Somhairli, mac Alastrainn Oig, mic Alastrainn Moir Mic Caba |
| E | M1504.10 | | Brian mac Alaxandair Oicc Mic Cába |
| U3 | U1504.15 | | Brian, mac Alaxandair Oig Mic Caba |
| E | M1508.11 | | Niall mac Alaxandair Mic Cabba |
| U3 | U1508.9 | | Níall, mac Alaxdrainn Mic Caba |
| |
| [Alaxandair (or Alastrann) mac Tomás Plunced] (d. 1503) |
| U3 | U1495.23 | AN | do muinntir Alastraind, mic Tomais Pluinced ["of the people of Alexander, son of Thomas Plunket"] |
| U3 | U1503.12 | AN | Mac Tomais Pluingced [unrelated], .i. Alaxandair ["The son of Thomas Plunket, namely, Alexander"] |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Mhic Dubhghaill] (d. 1513) |
| U3 | U1513.18 | | Alustar, mac Ualtair Mic Uibilín |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Mhic Dubhghaill] (d. ?) |
| Co | 1521.2 | S | a mac .i. Alusdrann ["a mac" indicates he is the son of "Mac Dúbhgaill" who is mentioned earlier in the entry] |
| |
| [Alaxandar mac ... Mhic Domhnaill] (d. ?) |
| U3 | U1537.4 | S | Alexandar, mac Mic Domhnaill, .i. mac Rubhraighi |
| |
| [Alasdrann (or Alaxandar) Carrach mac Eoin Cathánaigh Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. 1536) |
| Co | 1522.6 | S | mac Meic Domnaill .i. Alusdur |
| E | M1522.3 | S | mac Mic Domnaill, Alastrann |
| E | M1524.4 | S | Mac Domhnaill [unrelated] Alasdrann mac Eóin Cathanaigh |
| Co | 1528.7 | S | Alusdrann mac Eoin Cathanaigh |
| E | M1528.8 | S | Alastrann mac Eóin Chathánaigh |
| Co | 1532.4 | S | Mac Domnaill [unrelated] .i. Alasdrann mac Eoin Cathanaigh |
| E | M1532.14 | S | Mac Domhnaill [unrelated] .i. Alasdrann mac Eóin Cathanaigh |
| U3 | U1522.2 | S | mac Mic Domnaill, .i. Aluster Carrach |
| U3 | U1533.12 | S | Alasdrand Carrach, mac Mic Domnaill |
| U3 | U1536.16 | S | Mac Domnaill na h-Alban [unrelated] (.i. Alastrann, mac Aeon Cathanaidh) ["Mac Domnaill of Scotland, ([unrelated] Alexander, son of John Cathanach)"] |
| Co | 1540.10 | S | mac Meic Domnaill na hAlpan .i. Colla mac Alusdrainn |
| E | M1540.7 | S | mac Mic Domhnaill na h-Alban Colla mac Alasdrainn |
| Co | 1542.9 | S | mac Alusdroinn Carraigh meic Meic Domnaill |
| E | M1542.13 | S | mhac Alasdrainn Carraigh Mic Domhnaill |
| E | M1577.5 | S | Domhnall mac Somhairle Buidhe mic Alaxandair, mic Eóin Cathanaigh mic Mec Domhnaill |
| E | M1586.4 | S | da mac Shemais mic Alastrainn, mic Eóin Chathanaigh mhec Mec Domhnaill .i. Domhnall Gorm, & Alastrann ["Donnell Gorm and Alexander, the two sons of James, son of Alexander, son of John Cahanagh, son of Mac Donnell"] |
| E | M1586.6 | S | Alasdrann mac Somhairle Buidhe, mic Alastrainn, mic Eóin Chathánaigh mac Mec Domhnaill na h-Alban |
| F | M1590.12 | S | Somhairle Buidhe, mac Alastrainn, mic Eóin Cathanaigh Mhec Domnaill |
| F | M1601.9 | S | Sémus mac Somhairle Buidhe mic Alastrainn mic Eóin Chathanaigh |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac an Chalbhaigh mhic Thoirdhealbhaigh mhic Eoin Charraigh] (d. 1577) |
| E | M1577.10 | S | Alastrann, mac An Chalbhaicch, mic Toirrdhealbhaigh, mic Eoin Charraigh |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Domhnaill Ballaigh mhic Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. 1581) |
| E | M1581.27 | S | Alastrann mac Domhnaill Bhallaigh, mic Mhec Dhomhnaill |
| E | M1581.27 | S | t-Alastrann |
| E | M1581.27 | S | Alastrann |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Séamais mhic Alasdrainn mhic Eoin Chathánaigh mhic Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. 1586) |
| E | M1586.4 | S | da mac Shemais mic Alastrainn, mic Eóin Chathanaigh mhec Mec Domhnaill .i. Domhnall Gorm, & Alastrann ["Donnell Gorm and Alexander, the two sons of James, son of Alexander, son of John Cahanagh, son of Mac Donnell"] |
| E | M1588.15 | S | Alastrann |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Somhairle Buidhe mhic Alasdrainn mhic Eoin Chathánaigh mhic Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. 1586) |
| E | M1586.6 | S | Alasdrann mac Somhairle Buidhe, mic Alastrainn, mic Eóin Chathánaigh mac Mec Domhnaill na h-Alban |
| |
| [Alasdrann mac Aodha Buidhe Mhic Dhomhnaill] (d. ?) |
| F | M1591.5 | S | h-Alastrann mac Aodha Buidhe Mhec Domhnaill |
Medieval Names Archive |
Index of Names in Irish Annals |
Masculine Given Names
Published by the Academy of Saint Gabriel.