Captain Don of Ballynashee

The Whit & Wizdom of

Captain Don of Ballynashee





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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE CELTS can be bought for $28.00(I've ordered one), and accessed from this link for free.

The Scottish Lion is one of the best catalogue for Scottish goods in the USA. You can call & ask for a free catalogue at 1-800-355-7268 toll free.

The Highlander is the leading Scottish Magazine in the USA. Call 1-800-607-4410 to subscribe at $17.50 per year.
P.O.Box 760
Vandalia OH 45377

There are several catalogues that feature video tapes on Scottish history & culture. One such catalogue is The World of A&E. Free catalogues are available by calling toll free 1-877-447-8679.

Tommy Old is an honorary Milligan, as well as a Scot of the Clans Auld & MacKinnon, I believe, regardless he is a good guy!




Meanings of some Irish Names - The original Celtic words are listed in parentheses.
Barry = from the Norman French surname de Barri
Brennan = O Braonain, descendant of Braonain (a word for sorrow)
Burke = from the Norman French surname de Burgh or de Bourg
Byrne = O Broin, descendant of Broin (bran means raven)
Casey = O Cathasaigh, descendant of Cathasaigh (cathasach means watchful)
Daly = O Dalaigh, descendant of Dalaigh (dalach means assemblyman)
Donohue = O Donnchadha, descendant of Donnchadha (donn means brown haired)
Dunne = O Duinne, a descendant of Duinn (donn means brown or brown haired
Fitzgerald = son of Gerald (a Norman French name)
Fitzpatrick = This name was originally Mac Giolla Padraig, meaning a descendant of a devotee of St. Patrick. In later years the Mac prefix as changed to the Norman "Fitz".
Flynn = O Floinn, descendant of Floinn (flann, meaning ruddy)
Kelly = O Ceallaigh, descendant of Ceallaigh (ceallach is the word for strife)
Kennedy = O Cinneide, descendant of Cinneide (ceann means head, eidigh means ugly)
Lynch = from the Norman French surname de Lench
McCarthy = Mac Carthaigh, descendant of Carthaigh (carthach means loving)
Murphy = O Murchadha, descendant of a murchadh (sea warrior)
O'Brien = O Briain, descendant of Briain (Brian Boru)
O'Connor = O Conchobhair, descendant of Conchobhair(/td)
O'Donnell = O Domhnaill, descendant of Domhnaill
O'Neill = O Neill, descendant of Neill (Neill of the Nine Hostages)
Quinn = O Cuinn, descendant of Conn
Regan = Riagain, descendant of Riagain
Reilly = O Ragailligh, descendant of Ragaillach
Ryan = O Malvilriain, descendant of Mavilriain (a name not identifiable)
Sullivan = O Suileabhain, descendant of Suileabhain (suil means eye and Levan is a Celtic deity. Therefore, this is the eye of the god)
Walsh = a person of Welsh origin




ANCIENT IRISH PROPER NAMES

AODH = (ee) "fire"; A frequent name among Kings and Chiefs. ANG. Hugh.
ART = "noble, great". The root of O'Hart.
BRANDUBH = " black hair".
BRIAN = bri, "strength"; an, "very great". The root of O'Brian, Brien, Bryant, Byrne, Byron, etc.
CAIRBRE = corb, "a chariot"; ri, "a king"; "ruler of the chariot".
CATHAIR = (cahir) cath, "a battle"; ar, "slaughter".
CATHAL = (cahal) cath, as above; all, "great". "a great warrior".
CATHBHAR = (cah-war) "a helmet", or, cath, as above; barr, "a chief".
CONCHOBHAR = "helping warrior".
CONN = "wisdom".
CORMAC = "the son of the chariot".
DIARMAID = "god of arms".
DOMHNALL = (donal) domhan, "the world"; all, "mighty". The root of MacDonald, MacDaniel, MacDonnell.
DONOCH = donn, "brown; cu, "a warrior". ANG. Dennis in Ire. and Duncan in Scotland.
EOGHAN = "a young man" or "youthful warrior". ANG. Eugene, Owen.
FEARGAL = fear (fhar), "a man; gal, "valour". "a valiant warrior". The root of Virgil, and O'Farrell.
FEIDHLIM = (felim) "great goodness".ANG. Felix.
FERGUS = "a strong warrior".
FIACHA = "a hunter".
FLANN = "blood". "of a red complexion".
MAOL = "bald or tonsured person". A spiritual servant or devotee of a saint. The root of the surname Moyles.
NIALL = "a noble knight or champion". The root of O'Neil, etc.
RUADHRAIGE = ruadh,"red"; righ,"a king","the valiant,or red haired king". ANG. Rory, Roderick, Rogers.
TUATHAL = (tool) Possessed of "large landed Properties". The root of O'Toole, Tolan, etc.
UALGARG = uaill, "famous"; garg, "fierce". "a famous and fierce warrior".




Gaelic English             Gaelic English
AODH HUGH             EAMONN EDMUND
BERACH BARRY             ELISHE ALICE
BRIAN BERNARD             GRAINE GRACE
BRIDGIT DELIA (a nickname)             LIAM WILLIAM
CATHAL CHARLES             MAIRE MARY
CEALLAIGH KELLY             McGOWAN SMITH (occ.)
CONNAD KENNETH             PADRAIC PATRICK
DATHI DAVID             RUADHRI RORY,RODGER
DHONAL DANIEL, DONAL             SEAMUS JAMES
DIARMID JEREHMIA, DARBY             SEAN JOHN
DONOGH DENIS, DONAT             TOMOLTACH TIMOTHY,THOMAS




Here are a few Latin forms for some Irish given names:

Bartholemew BARTHOLOMAEUS
Dennis DIONYSIUS
Edward EDUARDUS
Eugene EUGENIUS
John JOANNES or JOHANNES
James JACOBUS
Joseph JOSEPHUS
Charles CAROLUS
Lawrence LAURENTIUS
Martin MARTINUS
Matthew MATTHAEUS
Maurice MAURITIUS
Patrick PATRITIUS
Paul PAULUS
Peter PETRUS
Timothy TIMOTHEUS
William GUILIELMUS



Phonetics.........

We used to learn our 'ah' b' 'c' and not the 'ay' 'b' 'c'. Today children learn their 'ay' 'b' 'c' in school.

The f�da (accent) over a letter kind of lengthens and softens the sound of a letter.......so, s� (him) is shay and s� (her) is shee (as in beep)

There are 18 letters in the Irish alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u. We also 'borrow' the letters j, q, v, w, x, and z in what are known as loan words.

We have the basic vowels: a, e, i, o, and u. These may either be short or long, and the difference in the length of a vowel, when one type is exchanged for the other in a word can change the meaning of that word.

The following gives some indication of how the vowels are pronounced. Remember that your accent differs again to any of ours and what you have when you say these words are an approximation, the sound will be somewhat different when spoken by an Irish person.

Vowel: English word which contains this vowel as sounded
a cat
� with fada* law
e che (rry)
� with fada* may
i shin
� with fada* mean
o done/lot
� with fada* more
u bus
� with fada* cool

*a fada is an accent above the letter - I've put that here in case some peoples browsers don't read that accent.
To put a f�da on a word in mail (MSIE) or with your word programme hit the letter key and your 'Alt Gr' key at exactly the same time

The vowels combine with each other in a number of ways, for example i and u combining with ia and ua, which sound like eea and ooa.

In the middle of words the combinations a(id)h, o(id)h, eidh and eigh also consist of two vowel sounds pronounced like the English eye or my.

Accents vary from place to place with the dialect. I speak Galway Irish, Donegal Irish sounds like a foreign language mainly becasue of the accent, Kerry Irish I understand better given that I had teachers from Kerry.

and bringing the above a bit farther.........

Also, (e)amh is pronounced like 'ow' in the english cow and how; for some dialects (e)abh, obh, omh, odh, ogh are also pronounced in this way as 'ow'; while in others they are pronounced like a long o sound as in the English more.

The combinations umh and ubh are pronounced like a long oo sound as in the English word cool.

The combination ao does not represent two sounds. In Ulster and Connaught Irish it is usually pronounced ee; in Munster Irish it sounds like the vowel in the English may; aoi is usually pronounced ee

In some counties they have 'e' and sound it like 'a'. In some counties they drop their 'h' in words and names, some counties will pronounce the word Bally as Balla or even it can be spelled Baile or Ballagh..

Accents and words........

Some people will sound an 'rd' combination as 't'.
The 'H' can be dropped from a name, making for example the surname 'Harmon' become 'Armon'

'O' can be pronounced 'Au' making Odlum become Audlum

The vowel sounds are substituted for one another left, right and centre in any surname or placename it seems.

We add 's' we take it away, as and when we feel like it or so it may look - but this is really related to the accent in the area.

Banaghan can become Bannan losing the 'gh' sound

A 'v' sound can become a 'w' sound

Bee can be pronounced Bay.

Boy - Bye

Matthew - Machew



"One of the most striking and interesting of the phenomena to be observed in a study is the tenacity with which families have continued to dwell for centuries, down to the present day, in the very districts where their names originated. This obtains in almost every county in Ireland. Thus, the births registered for the distinctive Kerry names of Brick, Brosnan, Culloty, Kissane, MacElligott and MacGillycuddy, to take more or less random examples are entirely confined to that county. "

A few words about prefixes: Mac is the Gaelic word for "son" and is sometimes written Mc, despite the widely held notion that Mac is Irish and Mc is Scottish. Both are found in the two Gaelic national traditions. O is really a word all by itself, signifying "grandson." The apostrophe that now usually appears after it is simply the result of a misunderstanding by English-speaking clerks in Elizabethan time, who took it to be a form of the word "of." That other distinctively Irish prefix, Fitz, derives from the French word fils, meaning son.

Most certainly, Honora can not be Johanna - as Johanna - as a name, is the feminine version of John, as is Jane and Joan. Honora, or Hanora in Latin, means Honour, not Ioannes (John)

Also, Helen can never be "Nora' ( except to the ignorant); it is a Greek name - Nora is an abbreviation of Honora (Honour), or Hanora.

Diarmuid has been very incorrectly Anglicised as Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jerry and Darby, and recently as Demot.

Brennan (O Brenain) as a surname in Irish Gaelic, means 'Sorrow'. But Brenainn or Brenainn (a borrowing from the Welsh Celtic language, as a first name), was Latinised as Brandensus, or Brendanus, Anglicised to Brendan.



LATIN FIRST NAMES
Adalbertus Albert or George
Adam (Ade) Adam
Adeliza Adelize
Adranus Adrian
Aedus Hugh
Aemilia Emily
Agna Agnes, Nancy
Agna, Agnetis, Agneta Agnes
Ailmerus Aylmer
Alanus Alan
Albertus Albert
Albinus Aubin
Alda Aude
Alesia, Alicia Alice
Alfredus, Aluredus Alfred
Alicia Alice, Elsie, Alyssa
Alienora, Eleanora, Elianora Eleanor
Aloisius Aloysius, Louis, Luis
Alvredus Alfred
Amabilla Amabel
Amfridus Amfrey
Amica, Amata, Amia Amy
Amphelicia Amfelice
Anastasia Anastasia or Nancy
Andreas Andrew
Anna Anne
Antonius Anthony
Appolonia Polly or Pauline
Arcturus, Artorius, Arturus Arthur
Audoenus, Audoinus, Oeneus, Oenus Owen
Audomarus Aymer
Augustinus Austin
Avelina Evelyn
Avicia Avice
Baldricus Baudry
Bartholomeus Bartholomew
Basilia Basile
Basilius Basil
Baudewinus Baldwin
Beatrix Beatrice
Benedictus Benet
Bertrandus Bertram
Blasius Blase
Blasius Blaise
Bricius Brice
Brigida, Brigitta, Brigid Bridget
Caritas Charity
Carolum, Carolus Charles, Carl
Caterina, Katerina, Katharina Catherine
Catharina Catherine, Kathryn, Kathleen, Caitlin
Cecilia Cecily
Cecilius Cecil
Christiana, Christina Christine
Christophorus Christopher
Claricia Clarice
Clemencia Clemence
Clemens Clement
Colecta Colette
Constantia, Custancia Constance
Daniele Daniel
Denisia, Dionisia Denise
Deodatus Theodore
Desiderata Desiree
Desideratus Didier
Dionisius Dennis
Dionisius, Dionysius Denis
Donatus Duncan
Dorothea Dorothy
Droco, Drogo Drew
Duvenaldus Donald
Eadmundus Edmund
Eadwardus Edward
Eduardus Edward, sometimes Eamon
Egidia Gille
Egidius Giles
Eleanora SEE Alienora
Elena Ellen
Elianora SEE Alienora
Elias Ellis
Elisius Elisha
Elisabetha Elizabeth, Beth, Betty, Isabel, Lisa
Emericus Emery
Emma Emme
Erchenbaldus Archibald
Ernisius Ernis
Etheldreda Audrey
Eudo Eudes
Eustachius Eustace
Eva Eve
Falcasius Fawkes
Felicia Felice
Fidelia Vera or Faith
Fides (Fidis) Faith
Folcho SEE Fulco
Francisca Frances
Franciscus Francis, Frank
Francus Frank
Fridericus Frederick
Fulco, Folcho Fulk
Galwanus Gawain
Garnerius Warner
Genofeva Genevieve
Georgius George
Gerardus Gerard
Germanus Germain
Geroldus SEE Giraldus
Gilebertus, Gislebertus Gilbert
Ginevra Jennifer
Giraldus, Geroldus Gerald
Godefridus Godfrey
Godelacius Guthlac
Goditha Goodith
Goisfridus, Gosfridus Geoffrey
Goscelinus Jocelin
Gottfridus/Godefredus Godfrey
Gratia Grace
Griffinus Griffin
Griselda Grizel
Gualterus Walter
Guarinus SEE Warinus
Guenliana Wenteliana
Guglielmus, Gulielmus, Gulielmo William
Gwendoloena Gwendolen
Hamo Hamon
Haraldus Harold
Hasculfus Hasculf
Hawisia Hawise
Helena Helen, Ellen, Nell, Aileen, Eileen, Nora
Helewisa Helewise
Hereweccus, Henricum, Henricus, Herveius, Henricus Henry
Hervicius Hervey
Hieremias Jeremiah
Hieronymus Jerome
Hilaria Hilarius Hilary
Hoelus Howel
Honorah Nora/Norah
Honoria Honour
Hugo Hugh
Humfredus Humphrey
Idonea Idony
Ingelardus Engelard
Ingeramus Ingram
Isabella Isabel
Isenbardus Imbert
Ivo, Ivonus Ives
Jacobus James or Jacob
Joanees, Johannes, Joannes, Johannis, Joanis John, Sean, Eoin, Ian
Joanna, Johanna Joan, Jane, Jeanne, Jeanette, Joanne, Sinead, Siobhan
Jocea, Jocosa, Jodoca, Joceus, Jodocus Joyce
Johanna Joan
Johanna Honora
Johanna, Jonna Jane, Joan or Jean
Josephum Joseph
Josias Josiah
Juliana Gillian
Jurdanus Jordan
Katerina, Katharina SEE Caterina
Kenewricus Kenric
Landebertus Lambert
Laurencia, Laurencius Laurence
Laurentium Lawrence
Lecia SEE Leticia
Leonellus Lionel
Leonius Leo
Lucas (m.) Luke, Lucas
Lucia Lucy
Ludovicum, Ludovicus, Lodovicus Louis, Lewis, Ludwig
Luelinus Llewelyn
Mabilla, Mabilia Mabel
Magdalena Madeline
Malachias (m.) Malachy
Marcus Mark
Margareta Margaret
Margeria Margery
Maria Mary, Maureen, Maeve, Molly, Mame, Polly, Moire
Maria Anna Mary Ann, Marian, Marianne
Mariam Mae,Mary
Mariana Marion
Mariota Mariot
Marmaducus Marmaduke
Martinus Martin
Mathaeus Matthew
Matilda, Matildis, Matillis Maud
Mattheus Matthew, Matthias
Matthias (m.) Matthias, Matt
Mauricius, Meuricius Maurice
Mereducius, Moreducus Meredith
Michaelem Michael
Milisenda Millicent
Milo Miles
Mirabilis Mirabel
Miriela, Mirielda SEE Muriella
Misericordia Mercy
Mordacus Murdoch
Moreducus SEE Mereducius
Morganus Morgan
Moyses Moses
Muriella, Miriela, Mirielda Muriel
Nantia Nancy
Natalis Noel
Ni Nicholas
Nicholaus, Nicolaus Nicholas
Nigellus Niel
Normanus Norman
Odo, Otho Otes
Oeneus, Oenus SEE Audoenus
Olaus Olave
Oliva Olive
Orabilis, Orabilia Orabel
Patritius Patrick
Petronilla Parnel
Petrus Peter
Philippa Philippe
Pigotus Pigot
Placencia Pleasance
Radulfus, Radulphus Ralph
Randolphus Randal
Reginaldus Reynold
Reimundus Raymond
Reinerus Rayner
Reinfridus Remphrey
Ricardus Richard, Dick, Dirck
Richerus Richer
Roesia, Rohesia Rose
Rohelendus, Roulandus Roland
Rothericus Roderick
Rufus Rory, Rufus, Red
Rugerius Roger, Rory
Sabinus Sabin
Salamanus, Salamon Solomon
Samuelem Samuel
Sarra Sarah
Savaricus Savary
Scolastica Scholace
Serlo Serle
Sewallus Sewel
Sibella Sibyl
Stanislausum Stan
Stephanus Stephen
Suanus Sweyn
Teodoricus, Terricus Terry
Theodoricus Derek
Theodorus Theodore
Theophania Tiffany
Thomas, Thome, Thomasum Thomas
Timotheus Timothy
Tobias Toby
Turoldus Thorold
Turstanus Thurstan
Veronica Veronica or Bernice
Vincencius Vincent
Vitalis Viel
Vitus Guy
Walkelinus Waukelin
Warinus, Guarinus Warin
Warnerus Warner
Wenteliana SEE Guenliana
Wido SEE Guido
Willelmus, Guillelmus William
Wymerca Wymark




Naming Traditions

Our ancestors often used the following naming procedure when picking out a name for a new child. This explains why certain names are VERY common in a given family line. Watching for these patterns can help in your genealogy research.

1st son = father's father
2nd son = mother's father
3rd son = father
4th son = father's oldest brother
5th son = father's 2nd oldest brother or mother's oldest brother
1st dau = mother's mother
2nd dau = father's mother
3rd dau = mother
4th dau = mother's oldest sister
5th dau = mother's 2nd oldest sister or father's oldest sister





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