Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames: Riabhach

© 2000-2001 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.0, updated 20 December 2001

Descriptive Bynames: Riabhach

Meaning:

"[the] Swarthy"

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:	Riabhach
Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) genitive form:	Riabhaigh

Frequency & Dates:

Number of men found in the annals with this name:	11
Found in Years:	1236, 1248, 1259, 1261, 1288, 1307, 1311, 1327, 1340, 1344, 1360, 1361, 1365, 1390, 1433, 1441, 1473, 1476, 1573

Research Notes:

Woulfe (p. 664 s.n. Riab.ac.) gives the meaning of this byname as "grey, brindled".

[Answering a question about the meaning of Riabhach:]
ríabach "of an indefinite, dusky hue, swarthy", from a probable original sense "streaked, striped" [email from Talan Gwynek - 07 Jun 2001]

Sources:

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

• Woulfe (p. 664 s.n. Riab.ac.)

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	Citation (formatting preserved)
[Cathal Riabhach mac Giolla Brude Uí Ruairc] (d. 1236)
Co	1236.18	Cathal Riabach mac Gilli Broide h. Ruaircc ri h. mBriuin
C	M1236.10	Cathal Riabhach mac Giolla Brude Uí Ruairc tighearna Ua m-Briuin
Co	1248.18	Amlaib mac Cathail Riabaig h. Ruairc
C	M1248.14	Amhlaoibh mac Cathail Riabhaigh Uí Ruairc
Co	1259.5	Art mac Cathail Riabaig h. Ruairc
Co	1261.7	Art mac Cathail Riabaig hUi Ruairc
Co	1344.2	Tomas mac Cathail Riabaig h. Ruaircc
Co	1390.5	mac Cathail Riabaig
[Conchobhar Riabhach Mag Amalgaid] (d. 1441)
Co	1441.7	Conchobar Riabach Mag Amalgaid taisech Calraigi
[Conchobhar Riabhach mac Duinn Cathanaigh mhic Maghnusa Mheg Uidhir] (d. 1473)
C	M1473.3	Cathal Riabhach mac Duinn Cathanaicch mic Macchnusa Meg Uidir
[Domhnall Riabhach] (d. 1361)
Co	1361.2	Domnall Riabach adbar rig Laigen
[Domhnall Riabhach mac Gerailt Cháomanaigh] (d. 1476)
Co	1476.4	Domnall Riabach mac Gerailt Chaemanaig ri Laigen ["Domnall Riabach son of Geralt Caemanach [Mac Murchada], king of Leinster"]
C	M1476.14	Domhnall Riabhach mac Gearailt Caomhanaigh tighearna Laighen
[Donnchadh Riabhach mac Taidhg Uí Cheallaigh] (d. 1573)
E	M1573.4	Donnchadh Riabhach mac Taidhcc Uí Cheallaigh
[Donnchadh Riabhach Ua Conchobhair] (d. 1288)
Co	1288.4	Dondchad Riabach mac Magnusa meic Murcertaig Mumnig
Co	1307.16	Diarmaid mac Donnchada Riabaig
Co	1307.18	Tadcc mac Briain meic Andrias meic Briain Luignig meic Toirrdelbaig Moir
Co	1340.4	Conchobar mac Dondchada Riabaig meic Magnusa meic Murcertaig Mumnig
[Donnchadh Riabhach Mac Diarmata]
Co	1360.3	Diarmait mac Donnchada Riabaig Meic Diarmata
Co	1365.5	Maelruanaid mac Dondchada Riabaig
[Lochlainn Riabhach Ua Dedaid] (d. 1311)
Co	1311.12	Lochlainn Riabach h. Dedaid
[Máelechlainn Riabhach mac Domhnaill mhic Taidhg Uí Chonchobhair] (d. 1327)
Co	1327.6	Mailechlainn Riabach mac Domnaill meic Taidc h. Conchobair
C	M1327.2	Maoilechloinn Riabhach mac Domhnaill mic Taidg Uí Choncobair
[Tadhg Riabhach Ua Dubda] (d. 1433)
Co	1433.5	Tadc Riabach h. Dubda ri h. Fiachrach Muadi

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Feminine Given Names | Feminine Descriptive Bynames | Masculine Given Names | Masculine Descriptive Bynames

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