Posts tagged with "branch"

Cad iad na sloinnte eile i gcraobh ghinealaigh Uí Chinnéide?  What are the other surnames in the Kennedy family tree?  The English equivalents are given at the end of the blog.  Agus cárbh as na teaghlaigh?  Seo cuid acu, ar a laghad (here are some of them, at least). 

 

Mac Gearailt:  Ba é “Mac Gearailt” an sloinne a bhí ar sheanathair Éadbhaird, John Francis, ar thaobh a mháthar, Rose.  Tomás Mac Gearailt a bhí ar shinseanathair Éadbhaird agus b’as an mBrú, Contae Luimnigh é. 

 

Ó Murchú: an sloinne a bhí ar Philib, sinsinseanathair Éadbhaird agus athair a shinseanmháthar, Bríd, as Ráth na gCosarán, Contae Loch Garman. 

 

Ó hÍcí: an sloinne a bhí ar Shéamas, sinseanathair Éadbhaird agus athair a sheanmáthar, Mary Augusta.  B’as Contae Chorcaí é.   

 

Ó hAnnáin: an sloinne a bhí ar Mhícheál, sinseanathair Éadbhaird, ar thaobh a mháthar.  B’as Contae Luimnigh é. 

 

Mac an Choiligh nó Mac Colgan: an sloinne a bhí ar Philib, athair Rose Anna (sinseanmháthair Éadbhaird), as Contae an Chabháin.  As with many Irish surnames, one needs to know the family history to be certain which Irish original pertains, since the same English could be used for several different Irish surnames.    

 

No doubt there are many more géaga (branches) in this craobh ghinealaigh, so once again, this is just barr an chnoic oighir. 

 

So, how did you do figuring out leaganacha (versions) Béarla na n-ainmneacha seo?   

 

Mac = son = fils = fitz, so that gives us the “Honey Fitz” side of the family.

 

Logainmneacha: An Brú, Contae Luimnigh = Bruff, Co. Limerick; Ráth na gCosarán = Gusserane, with the “Ráth” (fort) element having disappeared. 

 

Ó Murchú [say: oh MUR-uh-khoo] Murphy; Ó hÍcí, Hickey; Ó hAnnáin, Hannon; and Mac an Choiligh [mahk un KHIL-ee], Cox, lit. “son of the rooster,” OR Mac Colgan [mahk KOL-ug-un], which can be Cox or, in a different lineage, and perhaps more typically, is Culligan or Quilligan or a variation of that.  The “Colgan” element most likely means “son of Colga,” a personal name based on “colg” (sword, blade, bristle, anger)

 

And just to review the “grands” and the “greats,” which we had worked our way several months ago:

 

seanathair [SHAN-AH-hirzh] grandfather, sinseanathair, great-grandfather, and sinsinseanathair.  Likewise, seanmháthair [SHAN-WAW-hirzh], sinseanmháthair, sinsinseanmháthair.  The prefix “sin” is always pronounced like English “shin” (the one you “bark”). 

 

You might have noticed that the letter “i” can disappear at the end of any of these words, or of “athair” and “máthair” themselves.  Examples would be the phrases “sloinne an athar,” “in ainm an Athar,” and “ar thaobh a mháthar.”  The loss of the “i” for “athair,” “máthair” and their compounds signals possession.  These phrases mean “the surname of the father,” “in the name of the Father,” and “on the side of the mother.

 

Nótaí

1) craobh [kreev or krayv] typically means “branch” but is used in the phrase  “family tree.”  Within the craobh, you have géaga.

 

2) The question “Cá as iad?” is more common in everyday conversations since it is in the present tense (Where are they from?).  Cárbh as iad?” is the past tense form of the same question (Where were they from?) and is perfectly straightforward for this context.  And, of course, some speakers would say “Cá as dóibh?” for the present but the change to the “where” element () would still apply for the past “Cárbh as dóibh?”

  For the week of April 5 to 12, 2009, many Philadelphians probably saw more samples of the Irish language in the media than ever before in the city’s history.  Why?  This year, Philadelphia hosted the first Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne (World Irish Dance Championship) to be held outside Ireland or the U.K.  Over 6000 dancers attended, most accompanied by family members, bringing about 20,000 visitors to the city.

 

  In addition to highlighting the name of the event in Irish, the organizing body, An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (www.clrg.ie) uses numerous Irish terms, even when its members are speaking English.  Key among these are “feiseanna,” (basically “festival” but CLRG uses it for regional competitions), ADCRG (Ard Diploma Choimisiúin le Rincí Gaelacha, with “ard” meaning “high”) and TCRG (Teagascóir Choimisiúin le Rincí Gaelacha, a Coimisiún-certified teacher).    

 

  The original meaning of “oireachtas” isn’t exactly “championship,” though; that would generally be “craobh” (literally, a branch).  An “oireachtas” is a gathering (business or cultural), or a deliberative assembly.  A related word is ”oireacht,” which historically meant an assembly of freemen or members of a tribe, gathered for deliberation; it could also mean a gathering or assembly in the general sense. 

 

  “Oireachtas” isn’t generally used now for everyday meetings.  Those could be “cruinniú,” (meeting, gathering) or a “tionól” (gathering, assembly, typically a large group of people, not just the handful that could constitute a “cruinniú”).

 

  “Oireachtas” is also the name of the legislature or national parliament of Poblacht na hÉireann (the Republic of Ireland) which has two houses, Dáil,  and Seanad.  There was also a predecessor, the Oireachtas in Saorstát Éireann (the Irish Free State, 1922-37.). 

 

  Yet another use of the word is “Oireachtas na Gaeilge,” a literary and cultural festival celebrating the Irish language and held in Ireland since the 1890s.  It is similar to two other Celtic events: in Wales, the Eisteddfod, which in revival dates to 1792, and in Scotland, Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail, run by An Comunn Gàidhealach, which dates to 1891.

 

  Finally, if you know anyone with the surname Geraghty, Gerrity, Gearty, or Gerty, they probably had a distant ancestor who was an “oireachtach” (advisor, assembly-man).  From “oireachtach” to “Gerty,” you might well ask!  Consider the possessive form, Mag Oireachtaigh (sometimes Mac Oireachtaigh), meaning “son of the advisor or assembly-man.”  The final “ch” has been softened to a vowel sound (-aigh, like “ee”) since we’re saying “of the advisor,” not just “advisor.”  The “ch” in the middle of the word may get softened or silenced when anglicized.  And often the full “mac” or “mag” sound (for “son”) gets shortened to just a “c” or “g” before vowels (as in “Keown” from “Mag Eoin”).  This results in names like Geraghty (with a silent “gh”) or Gerty.

 

Bhur mblagálaí – Róislín

 

 

 

 

 

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