Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames: na nGall
by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien)
© 2000-2006 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.0, updated 08 July 2006
Descriptive Bynames: na nGall
Meaning:
"[of] the Foreigners"
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) genitive form: | na nGall |
Frequency & Dates:
| Number of men found in the annals with this name: | 1 |
| Found in Years: | 1256, 1260, 1262 |
Research Notes:
The meaning of this byname is identified in Curtis:
"But suddenly the king of Leinster died at the Ferns on May 1st 1171, destined to be remembered
with execration as 'Diarmaid na nGall' ('of the Foreigners')."
[Curtis, p. 51]
This is Diarmaid Mac Murchada, who went to the English to get allies - resulting
in the Anglo-Norman invasion. Therefore, 'of the Foreigners' refers to his alliance with
the English.
"In Ulster the earldom was assailed by chiefs bent upon carving out new
lordships, and among these Cumhaidhe O'Cathain, called in English tradition
'Cooey na Gall' ('of the Foreigners', because he spent his youth among the English
and learned their use of armour and tactics), founded a lordship in the present
county of Derry, called Iraght O'Cahan."
[Curtis, p. 118]
P>
Sources:
Further information about the byname na nGall, may be found in:
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. ?) |
| Co | 1256.8 | | Fedlimid h. Conchobair & la a mac Aed nna nGall ["Fedlim O Conchobair and his son Aed na nGall"] |
| LC | LC1256.5 | | Fedhlim .H. Conchobair & la a mac, .i. Aodh na nGall |
| Co | 1256.8 | | Aeda na nGall |
| LC | LC1256.5 | | dOedh na nGall |
| Co | 1260.3 | | Fedlimid h. Conchobair & a mac Aedh na nGall ["Fedlim O Conchobair and his son, Aed na nGall"] |
| LC | LC1260.2 | | Feidhlimh .H. Conchobair & a mac, .i. Aodh na nGall |
| C | M1260.5 | | Fedhlimidh & a mhac, .i. Aodh na n-Gall |
| Co | 1262.3 | | Fedlim h. Conchobair & a meic Aed na nGall |
| LC | LC1262.2 | | Fheidhlim mic Cathail Croib Derg, & [unrelated] a mic, .i. Aodh na nGall |
| C | M1262.3 | | Fedhlimidh mic Cathail Croibhdeirg & a mic Aodh na n-Gall |
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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