The Irish standard., 1916-09-30
IRISH NAMES
ANGLlCIZED
If 1 were asked to write a series of

II were asked to write series of
articles on famous contemporary
Irishmen l should at present have to
begin with Mr.. Ginnell. No doubt his
fame will have reached the other
SIDE" Denied admission to the pris-
on camps of the lads who took part
in the Instruction, he remembered
that Ginnell was his name only in
the House of Commons and other
anglicized places; but that, visiting
boys who said the Rosary in Irish,
he had a right to use his real name.
So when he reached the prison gate
next time and was asked to write his
name in the Visitors book, he wrote
Labras MacFhiounghail, instead of
Lawrence Ginnell, M. P. 1t had been
ruled by the Home Office that visitors
should sign their name on entering
and again on leaving so that no pris-
oners could get out and leave WIS.,
itor inside. Two months later he was
arrested for "deceiving the authori-
ties" tried by magistrate, and fined
one hundred pounds or six weeks in
prison. He has now appealed to quar-
ter sessions. He subpoenaed the lit
erary editor of "The Tablet" to prove
that the name he wrote was the orig
inal Irish, of which Ginnell is cor
ruption. The name in English would
be, if we follow the Gaelic sounds,
Mac Fingall. But that "F' after Mac
becomes "aspirate," and thus the
word, beginning practically with a
vowel, leaves us Hingall. In this case,
where Mac is followed by an aspirate
vowel, it becomes Mag, and we have
Nightingale. Then, dropping the Ma,
as is done in number of Irish names,
we get Ghingall; and finally for ecu
phony" and for English ears, Ginnell.
It is, after all, not much more
changed than some names that are
more common. A typical example,
both of corruption and variation, is
the old Irish name Mac Aoidh. Aoidh
is rendered in English as Hugh. 1t
was Christian name, not surname.
OF course it was a name in Ireland
before the English Hugh was heard
of, which is itself corruption Of the
Latin Cor rather Germany Hugo. But
the sound was something like Zee" in
Irish. Hence the name became Mac
ee, Mac Kee, MacGee, Magee (notice
how Mac became Mag before vowel)
and (by translation) MacHugh. Mac
Cue, and Hughes, intended to be
Hughson.
The word Tyrone" is another curl.
GUS illustration of how some Irish
words, and especially proper names,
have been mutilated beyond recogni-
ton in the process of transliteration
into English. Tyrone was the land of
the O'Neills This family had its de-
scent and its name from King Mall
(Neill of the nine hostages, who, in
the fourth century, penetrated the
Continent, as far as the Alps. Eogan,
one of his descendants, took the sur
name of O'Niall. Now the "g" in that
name Eogan is aspirate and in Eng
lish is often rendered "gh" so that
the name should be translated Eoghan.
1t sounds very like wv" which does
not exist in Irish. At least the Eng.
lish ear, not accustomed to the variety
and nicely of Gaelic sounds, judged
SO, and the English accordingly made
it "Owen." "Tir" is the Irish for
Land" or Country" That ct" has
three sounds in Irish; and in this
word it has the one which is called
Slender" 1t does not exist in Eng
fish; but an approximation to it is OBJ.
tanned by imagining a "Y" as inter-
vening Immediately after the 1T" and
before the following vowel. The
sound of "i' in Irish is Zee" Hence
we had first "Tyir" and now Tyr"
The genesis of Tyrone is accord
ingly: Tir-Eogan; Tir-Eoghan; Tir-
Owen; Tir-Owen; Tyr-Owen; Tyrone.
The Land of Owen" The name of the
great Mall has also been twisted into
many forms, at least in spelling If not
In sound. have met O'Neil, O'Neill,
Neale, Neal, MacNeil, etc.
Another example. The Irish IAN
cient) name for John was Coin. 1t
is the name of the fourth Evangelist,
who was always popular in Irish devo-
ton. From this was formed the fam
fly name MacCoin. The initial letter
is silent. Hence followed in English
the corruptions and variations: Mac
Owen, MaeGeon, Kowen, Cowen, Cone,
Cohen, Coen, Owens, Owenson, and
by translation in penal days espe.
cially, Johnson-a name borne by q
large number in Ireland of the real
old Gaelic stock.-Freeman's Journal.
sINN FEM SPREADS TO GLASGOW
AND LIVERPOOL,