Names and Naming Practices in the Fitzwilliam Accounts from 16th Century Ireland

by Heather Rose Jones
(Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, contact@heatherrosejones.com)

© 1999 by Heather Rose Jones; all rights reserved.

The records are kept partly in Latin and partly in English, and certain trends can be seen that distinguish the two (beyond the use of Latin grammatical endings), so I have treated them separately.

Throughout this article, I have used italics to indicate actual manuscript forms, and boldface to indicate standardized forms for reference. When standardized Gaelic forms are used, they are standard modern (pre-spelling reform) Irish. I have attempted to use the word "Gaelic" to refer to linguistic origin (i.e., names and words derived from Irish Gaelic and not borrowed from other cultures or languages), "Gaelicized" to refer to non-Gaelic elements that have undergone characteristic changes due to the Gaelic sound-system that are reflected even in English written forms, and "Irish" to refer to constructions, practices, etc. associated with Ireland, whether or not they are of Irish Gaelic linguistic origin. "Anglo-Irish" refers to the people and culture of English origin resident in Ireland. Note that some of these families had been resident in Ireland for several centuries at the time of this manuscript, however both linguistic and cultural distinctions make it worth keeping them distinct from the "native" Irish living in English-controlled society. These distinctions can be tricky to interpret. Some native Irish families that threw their lot in with England took on English- style surnames. Some Anglo-Irish families "went native" and took on Irish-style clan-names.

Because of the small size of the data, and to give readers a better feel for what these names look like, I have included a full form for each unique individual in the discussion on name patterns.

The Latin-Context Names

As the entries in which the names appear primarily concern payments by the individuals in question, they all occur in the ablative, following the preposition de (from). Women's names that are Latinized as first-declension (ending in "-a") have an ablative identical to the nominative. Mens names that are latinized as second-declension (ending in "-us") have an ablative in "-o". A few names appear as third declension, with ablative in "-e". This seems confined to names that came into English use via Latin forms (e.g., Johannes, Michaelis) that normally take this declension. Occasionally, a name is treated as indeclinable (e.g., Salemon).

Only given names are Latinized in the document, and patronyms are not "translated" into a Latin form. Names follow English spelling practices with the exception of Latin-origin or Biblical names that follow the traditional Latin form, even when different from the expected spoken English form (e.g., Johannes).

Given Names

The following given names appear in the Latin section. I have given the corresponding Latinized nominative as the heading, rather than the English version -- which should be readily identifiable. The heading is followed by an asterisk if no example of the name appears in combination with a linguistically Gaelic (or clearly Gaelicized) element.

Men

For a total of 18 different names, representing at best estimate 26 men. The most popular is Johannes (4), followed by Iacobus and Ricardus (3), then Edmoundus (2), with the rest at one each. Only two names appear to be of Gaelic linguistic origin. Morgho almost certainly represents Gaelic Murchadh (note that in this case the final "-o" is not a Latinate ablative ending), and Phallie, based on O'Corrain & Maguire's discussion, is likely to represent Gaelic Failghe. Some of the other entries may be substitutions for Gaelic names, or for Gaelicized borrowings. Thadeus is known to have been substituted for the unrelated Gaelic Tadhg, and Johannes in the Latin records may stand for either English John or Gaelicized Seán, as both are clearly present in the English- context records (see below).

Women

For a total of four different names, most likely representing four women. All the names are of non-Gaelic origin. It is impossible to tell whether the Latin forms might represent Gaelicized versions of the names in question (assuming even that the names have distinct Gaelicized pronunciations).

Bynames

Bynames of Irish Patronymic Origin

Brenan	(1) Patronym from Gaelic Bréanainn.
Brian	(1) Patronym from Gaelic Brian.
Connell	(1) Patronym with two possible origins. It may be a reanalysis of mac Dhomhnaill, or it may derive from ó Conaill.
Doughan	(1) Patronym from Gaelic Dubhchú (genitive Dubhchon).
Kellie	(1) Patronym from Gaelic Ceallach (genitive Ceallaigh).
McKegan	(1) Patronym from Gaelic Aodhagán (genitive Aodhagáin).
McWilliam	(1) Patronym from English William.
Odempsie	(2 - probably both the same man) Patronym from Gaelic Díomasach (genitive Díomasaigh). (Note that although MacLysaght gives the origin as the adjective "proud", O'Brien gives several examples as a given name, in the form Diummasach.)
Odoyne	(1) Patronym from Gaelic Donn (genitive Doinn).
Othole	(2 - probably both the same man) Patronym, most likely from Gaelic Tuathal (genitive Tuathail). Note that the the manuscript elsewhere has "th" where the sound is clearly English "t", so the spelling does not necessarily indicate a "th" pronunciation.
Shane	(2), shene (3 - probably representing one man and one woman in all) Patronym from Seán, Gaelicized borrowing of John.
She	(3 - probably the same man) Patronym from Gaelic Séaghdha (genitive identical).
Gaelic Descriptive Bynames
Bretenaugh	(1) The Gaelic ethnic byname Breatnach meaning "British", usually specifically meaning Welsh.
Duf	(5 - probably all the same man) Probably the descriptive byname Dubh (black), although it could theoretically be a patronym from the identical given name.
Fian	(2 - probably both the same man) Possibly the descriptive byname Fionn (white, fair) or a patronym from the identical given name, however this is not normally represented as being disyllabic as here (nor could this represent a palatalized "f" with "a" as the main vowel, as the opposite is the case in fionn -- "i" is the main vowel, and "o" marks the non-palatalization of the final consonant).
More	(2 - probably both the same man) Gaelic descriptive byname Mór (big, great).
Oge	(3 - probably all the same man) Gaelic descriptive nickname Óg (young, sometimes "junior").
Roe	(1) Gaelic descriptive byname Ruadh (red).
Gaelic Locative Bynames
Fynglas	(1) MacLysaght (Finglas) identifies this as an Gaelic locative byname, from Gaelic Fionnghlas. The name could also be interpreted simply as a compound of fionn (white, fair) and glas (blue, green, gray), both of which occur as descriptive nicknames in Gaelic.
Galtrim	(1), Galtrym (2 - in title "Baron of Galtrim") Locative byname from Gaelic Calatruim (Hogan) (possibly modern Trim, ca. 25 miles NW of Dublin?). Note that the Patrick Hussey appearing in the manuscript is identified as "Baron of Galtrim".
Surnames of English Origin
Brandon	(1) This name may be either a patronym, from Gaelic Bréanainn, or an English surname of locative origin, Brandon. (MacLysaght)
Buttler	(1) English surname of occupational origin. The Butlers were an important Anglo-Irish family, and the one in this manuscript is identified as domina (lady).
Dowdall	(1) From the English locative byname Dowdall (see Reaney & Wilson's entry for this name).
Fitzgerald	(1) An Anglo-Norman patronym from Gerald. In English records of Irish patronyms, fitz is sometimes substituted for mac, however it was also used in surnames of purely English origin.
Fitzwilliams	(1) An Anglo-Norman surname of patronymic origin from William (see previous). The final "-s" is commonly found in patronyms of this construction and is probably simply an English genitive ending. This is the surname of the family whose accounts these are.
Lumberte	(1) Probably the English surname Lombard of locative origin.
Plouncket	(1) English surname, originally of French locative origin. (See Reaney & Wilson under Plucknett.) The Plunketts were an important Anglo-Irish family.
Other
Aphoell	(2 - both the same man) A Welsh patronym from ap Hywel.

Note on the women's bynames

Names in the English Records

Given Names

Men

Artt	Art (1), Arte (3). All four probably the same man.
Barnaby	Barnabee (1)
Brian	Brian (2), Bryan (6). Probably representing only three men.
Ceallach	Calloghe (1)
Conn	Con (1)
Donnchad	Donnawghe (1)
Eoghan	Owen (7), Owin (1), Owyn (1). Probably representing three men. Despite the Anglicized forms, this is probably not the Welsh-origin Owein.
Henry	Henry (1)
Hugh	Hewgh (1)
James	James (3). All possibly the same man, although one is bynamed More, which may conceivably identify a father and son).
John	John (2 - different men); Shane (2), Shene (1). Two of these may be identical to one of the Johns.
Laoighseach	Leyso (1)
Maredudd	Meredethe (1)
Michael	Michaell (1), Mighell (1), Myhell (1). The two latter are probably the same man.
Niall	Nele (1)
Patrick	Patrick (1)
Feidhlim	Phelim (1)
Richard	Richard (1), Richarde (1). Two different men.
Toirdhealbhach	Tirrillawghe (1), Tyrrillawgh (1). Probably both the same man.

Bynames

Continue to second part.

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