Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames: Gall
by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien)
© 2000-2004 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.1, updated 02 May 2004
Descriptive Bynames: Gall
Meaning:
"Foreigner" (nearly always used to mean "English")
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:
| Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) nominative form: | Gall |
| Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) genitive form: | Gaill |
Frequency & Dates:
| Number of men found in the annals with this name: | 3 |
| Found in Years: | 1233, 1328, 1474 |
Research Notes:
Woulfe (p. 290 s.n. Gall) gives the meaning of this byname as
"the foreigner, the Englishman".
Woulfe (p. 313 s.n. Mac an G.aill) gives the meaning of this byname as
"son of the foreigner".
Woulfe (p. 314 s.n. Mac an G.oill) gives the meaning of this byname as
"son of the foreigner (Ir. "gall")".
The meaning "the Englishman; he was so called by way of reproach, for speaking the English language" is given in regards to a man's name in 1233 (FM vol. 3, p. 269, footnote "e").
Sources:
Further information about the byname Gall, may be found in:
- Woulfe (p. 290 s.n. Gall)
- Woulfe (p. 313 s.n. Mac an G.aill)
- Woulfe (p. 314 s.n. Mac an G.oill)
- FM (vol. 3, p. 269, footnote "e")
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.
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.
| [Standardized form of this man's name] |
| Annals | Entry | Context | Citation (formatting preserved) |
| |
| [Cathal Gall Ua Conchobhair] |
| FM | vol. 3, p. 268, year 1233 | | Serlus mac cat.ail gaill uí concob.air |
| |
| [Diarmait Gall mac Mhic Diarmada Gaill] |
| Co | 1474.19 | | Diarmait Gall mac Meic Diarmata Gaill |
| |
| [Donnchadh Gall mac Domhnaill Uí Conchobhair] |
| Co | 1328.8 | | Dondchad nGall mac Domnaill h. Conchobair |
| Co | 1328.19 | | Donnchad Gall mac Domnaill h. Conchobair |
Medieval Scotland | Medieval Names Archive | Index of Names in Irish Annals
Feminine Given Names | Feminine Descriptive Bynames | Masculine Given Names | Masculine Descriptive Bynames
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(Jan 2006)
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