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The Daltaí Boards » Archive: 1999-2004 » 2002 (July-December) » Eoin/Eógan/Eoghan/Seán/John: An t-ainm céanna? « Previous Next »

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Seosaimhín Nic Rabhartaigh
Posted on Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 01:38 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Dia dhíobh ar fad,
Chonaic mé an díospóireacht faoina h-ainmneacha seo faoin cómhra dén teideal "O Kane".
Mar go bhfuil an "definitive" leabhair agam:

"Irish Names" le Donnchadh O Corráin agus Fidelma Kelly( Lilliput Press),
shíl mé gur chóir dom an ábhar a phlé chomh maith.


Eogan/Eoghan/Eoan:" born of the yew"

"Eógan" was one of the twenty most popular names in early Ireland, having among its bearers "Eógan" of the Cenél Eógan, "Eógan Brecc", ancestor of the Déisi and many others through the ages. The name "Eógan" was latinised to "Eugenius", a Greek name meaning "well born" as early as the Old Irish period. "Eógan" has no connection with "Eugenius" whatsoever. It was a fabricated parallel (as are many of the name variants that exist in Ireland).

According to O Corráin and Kelly, the name has been anglicised as:
"Owen", "Oyne","Oynie" especially in Connacht (and by confusion with the borrowed name Eoin)"John".
In the south of Ireland, it is generally anglicised "Eugene" and "Gene" (from the fabricated Latin parallel "Eugenius" as explained above).
In Scotland "Eógan" has become "Evan" and "Ewen".

Eoin: A borrowing of the Biblical name "John" from the Latin form "Joannes".

The name was re-borrowed from the French form " Jehan", which gave us the Irish forms "Seaán", "Seón", "Seóinín" (variants of the name in use in the middle ages). This name did not become popular in western Europe until after the first crusades although it was quite popular in England from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, after which it became very common. It was brought into Ireland by the Anglo-Norman settlers but it was soon adopted by the Irish. Among the forms in use in the thirteenth century are "Ioan" and "Eoan". and later in Modern Irish "Seán" or "Seáinín" (diminutive). "Shane" is a phonetic rendering of the Irish "Seán", as is "Shawn" a phonetic rendering of the name found in the U.S.A. The rendering "Shawn" does not reflect the pronunciation of the name "Seán" found in Modern Donegal Irish, however, where it is pronounced "Shan".

"Irish Names" by Donnchadh O Corráin and Fidelma Kelly is a scholarly work, wherein one is sure to find the original form of any Irish name one is interested in and the correct spelling. I have quoted from their book extensively. They have, in the compilation of their book used such sources as the Genealogical Manuscripts "The Great Book of Lecan" (c. 1400) and "The Book of Ballymote" (c.1390) a part of which contains the Lebor Gabála ( Book of Invasions: the origin myth of the Irish)
An extensive list of their other sources which include the annals, martyrologies, other genealogies and literary works written in early and medieval Ireland is given at the back of their book.

Tá súil agam gur bhain sibh taitneamh as an méid seo thúas.
Seosaimhín

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alec1
Posted on Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 01:43 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Go raibh maith agut a Sheosaimhín

An-suimiúl ar fad.

alec

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