Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames: Luimnig

by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien)

Descriptive Bynames: Luimnig

Meaning:

"[of] Limerick"

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:

Old Irish Gaelic (c700-c900) genitive form:

Luimnig

Frequency & Dates:

Number of men found in the annals with this name: 2

Found in Years: 861, 969

Research Notes:

The meaning of this byname is given in regards to a man's name in 861 (FM vol. 1, p. 498, footnote "h"):

Luimneach - This was originally the name of the Lower Shannon; but at this period it cease to be the name of the river, and was usually applied to the Danish fortress at Limerick.

[Answering a question about a standardized form of this byname:]

The DIL gives Luimnech as the nominative for the city name (there's also an o-/a-stem adjective luimnech meaning "cloaked"). Assuming the name in the annals citation above has the byname in the genitive, it's being treated as if it were an adjective in -ech. So your standaradized form of the byname (i.e., in the genitive) would either be Luimnigh as in the annals, or Luimnig if you're habitually using that variant for final "gh". [email from Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn - 16 Mar 2004]

Sources:

Further information about the byname Luimnig, may be found in:

FM (vol. 1, p. 498, footnote "h")

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)

[] (d. 861)

A M861.11 Fiach Luimnigh ["Fiach of Luimneach"]

(d. ?)

I I969.3 N Ímar Luimnich

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Number of men found in the annals with this name:	2
Found in Years:	861, 969

[Standardized form of this man's name]
Annals	Entry	Context	Citation (formatting preserved)

[] (d. 861)
A	M861.11		Fiach Luimnigh ["Fiach of Luimneach"]

(d. ?)
I	I969.3	N	Ímar Luimnich