ANSTHRLD - Regarding the name "Kiera McFhlannchaidh"

Kathleen O'Brien kobrien at bmc.com
Thu Feb 25 17:25:32 PST 1999


>I am asking the list for assistance in documenting a name. 
>
>Feminine form; sound over spelling; region and time extremely flexible
>
>Kiera McFhlannchaidh
>
>1st element should be documentable as Irish (feminine of "Kiernan," no?)
>2nd element posing most difficulty - early origin of "Clancy?"
>    - derivative/variation of "McFhlanncaid?"


I am sending this message to the whole list in the hopes that one of you
can catch any mistakes I may have made.  :)

Here is the information that I've been able to assemble on this name.
(Thanks go to Magnus von Lübeck of Shadowlands for looking up this info as
well.  He caught a couple of entries that I missed.)

Hope this is of some help.  Please let me know if any of it is unclear.  I
am writing this through a massive sinus headache and am having trouble
keeping my train of thought.

Yours in service,
Mari

=====================================================
Regarding the desired name:  Kiera McFhlannchaidh

The first question to ask the submitter is whether she wishes a Gaelic name
or an Anglicized Gaelic name.  "Kiera" seems to be Anglicized and
"McFhlannchaidh" seems to be halfway between Anglicized and Gaelic.  (If it
read "Mac Fhlannchaidh" it would be entirely Gaelic.)

Here are some options for the submitter to choose from.  I've listed the
possible names first and placed the documentation at the end of this message.

GAELIC (earlier)
[means "... daughter of Flannchad"]
Cera ingen Fhlannchaid (early)
Ciar ingen Fhlannchaid (early)
Ciarnat ingen Fhlannchaid (early)

[means "... daughter of the son of Flannchad"]
Cera ingen mhic Fhlannchaid (early)
Ciar ingen mhic Fhlannchaid (early)
Ciarnat ingen mhic Fhlannchaid (early)

[means "... daughter of the descendants of Flannchad"]
Cera ingen uí Fhlannchaid (early)
Ciar ingen uí Fhlannchaid (early)
Ciarnat ingen uí Fhlannchaid (early)

GAELIC (later)
[means "... daughter of Flannchadh"]
Ceara inghean Fhlannchaidh (late) 
Ciar inghean Fhlannchaidh (late) 
Ciarnait ingean Fhlannchaidh (late) 

[means "... daughter of the son of Flannchadh"]
Ceara inghean mhic Fhlannchaidh (late)
Ciar inghean mhic Fhlannchaidh (late)
Ciarnait inghean mhic Fhlannchaidh (late)

[means "... daughter of the descendants of Flannchadh"]
Ceara inghean uí Fhlannchaidh (late)
Ciar inghean uí Fhlannchaidh (late)
Ciarnait inghean uí Fhlannchaidh (late)


ANGLICIZED GAELIC:
<Anglicized given name> <surname>

Where <Anglicized given name> is whatever the proper Anglicized form of
Cera/Ceara, Ciar, or Ciarnat/Ciarnait is.  Entries listed in MacLysaght &
OC&M below show fairly well that the male name Ciarán is Anglicized Kieran.
 But I was unable to find any explicit examples of how any of these three
female names would be Anglicized.  Given that Ciarán is Anglicized Kieran,
my guess is that Ciar would become Kier.  Given that Kerrane & Kirrane come
from Cearáin, my guess is that Cera/Ceara would Anglicize as Kerra/Kirra.
I do not know how Ciarnat/Ciarnait would Anglicize.

Where <surname> is any of: 
M'Clanachy, M'Clanaghy, M'Clanchy, M'Clanky, M'Clansy, MacClancy, Clanchy,
Clancy, O Flanchy, O Flanahee, or Flanahy.


DOCUMENTATION FOR GAELIC 
OC&M, p. 50 under Cera:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Cera & Ceara.  Pronunciation: "k'ar-a".  Means
"perhaps, 'red, bright red'.  Dating information: Mentions that there were
3 virgin saints of this name.

OC&M, p. 51 under Ciar:
	Lists the Gaelic spelling Ciar.  Pronunciation: "k'iar".  Means "dark,
black".  Dating information: mentions, "most important bearer of this name
is St Ciar, virgin patroness of Killkeary (Cell Cére) near Nenagh."

OC&M, p. 52 under Ciarnat:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Ciarnat & Ciarnait.  Pronunciation:
"k'iar-nit'" (there is supposed to be a - over the first "i" in that
pronunciation, but my editor can't type it.)  Means "dark lady".  OC&M says
this is the female form of Ciarán.  Dating information: none useful.  The
only reference for this name that OC&M mentions is "Ciarnat, mistress of
the legendary king, Cormac mac Airt", which does not in-and-of-itself imply
in-period use by human beings.  However, the male form of this name,
Ciarán, was certainly in use given that there were "some twentry-six saints
of the name."  Also, that OC&M says "Ciarán never became common as a
secular name in the early period" implies that it was used - just not often.

OC&M, p. 106 under Flannchad:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Flannchad, Flannchad, & Flannacha.  (These are
all nominitive spellings.  They will have to be put into the genetive in
order to occupy the byname portion of this name.)  Pronunciation:
"flan-ach-a".  Means "perhaps, 'red warrior, battler'."  Dating
information:  "This name was in use among the Eóganacht, Dál Cais and a
number of other noble families."  Also, from "it derives the modern surname
Mac Fhlannchadha (Clancy)".

MacLysaght, p. 111 under (O) Flanahy:
	Gaelic form given as "Ó Flannchaidh".  The only information in this entry
is "A rare Thomond name."

Woulfe, p. 363 under Mac Fhlannchadha:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Mac Fhlannchadha & Mac Fhlannchaidh.  Cites
this as being "the name (1) of an ancient family in Co. Leitrim... and (2)
a Thomand family.

Woulfe, p. 363 under Ó Fhlannchadha:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Ó Fhlannchadha & Ó Fhlannchaidh.  "A rare
Thomand surname."


DOCUMENTATION FOR ANGLICIZED GAELIC
OC&M, p. 51 under Ciarán:
	Lists the form "Kieran" as the Angicized form of the masculine given name
Ciarán.

MacLysaght, p. 178 under (O) Kerrane, Kirrane:
	Lists "(O) Kerrane, Kirrane" as being from "Ó Cearáin", perhaps variants
of "Ó Ciaráin" (Kieran). (demonstrates Anglicized spelling)

MacLysaght, p. 179 under (O) Kieran, Kerin:
	Lists "(O) Kieran, Kerin" as being from "Ó Ciaráin and Ó Céirín".
(demonstrates Anglicized spelling)

MacLysaght, p. 111 under (O) Flanahy:
	Gaelic form given as "Ó Flannchaidh".  The only information in this entry
is "A rare Thomond name."

Woulfe, p. 363 under Mac Fhlannchadha:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Mac Fhlannchadha & Mac Fhlannchaidh.  Cites
this as being "the name (1) of an ancient family in Co. Leitrim... and (2)
a Thomand family.  The Anglicized forms that Woulfe lists are: M'Clanachy,
M'Clanaghy, M'Clanchy, M'Clanky, M'Clansy, MacClancy, Clanchy, and Clancy.

Woulfe, p. 363 under Ó Fhlannchadha:
	Lists the Gaelic spellings Ó Fhlannchadha & Ó Fhlannchaidh.  "A rare
Thomand surname."  Lists the Anglicized spellings O Flanchy, O Flanahee,
Flanahy.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
"MacLysaght"    MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland, 6th edition
(Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 1991).

"OC&M"          O'Corrain, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names, 2nd
edition (Dublin, Ireland: Lilliput Press, 1990).

"Woulfe"        Woulfe, Patrick, Irish Names and Surnames, Special Revised
Edition (Kansas City, MO: Irish Genealogical Foundation, 1992).

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