SORBS failure (???), so trying to send to the list again. '---------------------- Many thanks, Charles. Con is the genitive of Cu/ - 'Hound' or 'Wolf'. (The Gaeil never lost the knowledge that dogs are a kind of wolf.) So I'm guessing that "Con Muighe na nGall" was taken from a genealogy where it appeared as "X mac Con Muighe na nGall", which means "X son of Cu/ Muighe na nGall". Cu/ = Hound/Wolf Muighe = of plain na nGall= of the Foreigners So the name means 'Wolf of the Plain of the Foreigners' or 'Hound of the Plain of the Foreigners'. Wolves were greatly admired by the Gaeil, much as the Masai honor lions. European folklore treats wolves as evil beasts, but not Irish folklore. Werewolves (literally 'men-wolves') were not regarded as uncommon (they're mentioned in Fe/ineachas as conriochta - 'of wolf form'). The early Irish church didn't like them but most Gaeil didn't regard them as evil by definition. As an example, the royal dynasty of the Osraighe are hereditary werewolves. I tried to find Muigh na nGall on Google. Couldn't find it or its alternate spelling Maigh na nGall. Muigh and Maigh are archaic words. Modern Irish words for 'plain' are machaire and ma/. I couldn't find any reference on Google to "Ma/ na nGall" but there is a Machaire na nGall on Gola Island, Co. Donegal (referenced in this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gola_Island ) That seems a bit off the beaten track so I'll try to check Onomasticon Godelicum when I get home tonight. Best, Jerry Cló an Druaidh / The Druid Press www.druidpress.com ________________________________ From: Charles Cain <cain@umich.edu> To: dna-r1b1c7@rootsweb.com Sent: Wed, June 29, 2011 10:41:07 AM Subject: [R-M222] Con muighe na nGall O'Cathain Cooey-na-Gall O'Cathain is actually Con muighe na nGall O'Cathain (As per an earlier report by John). Is there a literal translation of "Con muighe na nGall" (since the topic came up earlier)? Just interested how the word "foreign" is embedded in the name as my internet source suggested. Charles PS He must have had some serious mojo if he could send 140 families packing (to Scotland). Maybe I will try that sometime....gotta make a list... R1b1c7 Research and Links: http://clanmaclochlainn.com/R1b1c7/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DNA-R1B1C7-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks Jerry....I would never have guessed! It is interesting how others thought it meant something like "a terror to foreigners" but maybe they wanted a more fierce sounding translation. Thinking about it, how often do we pay attention to the literal translation of English names? For most of us a name is just a name. Given that this particular O'Cathain seems to be historical, can we place more trust in a name from a genealogy source? Charles Jerry Kelly wrote: > SORBS failure (???), so trying to send to the list again. > > > '---------------------- > > > Many thanks, Charles. > > Con is the genitive of Cu/ - 'Hound' or 'Wolf'. (The Gaeil never lost the > knowledge that dogs are a kind of wolf.) So I'm guessing that "Con Muighe na > nGall" was taken from a genealogy where it appeared as "X mac Con Muighe na > nGall", which means "X son of Cu/ Muighe na nGall". > > Cu/ = Hound/Wolf > Muighe = of plain > na nGall= of the Foreigners > > So the name means 'Wolf of the Plain of the Foreigners' or 'Hound of the Plain > of the Foreigners'. > > Wolves were greatly admired by the Gaeil, much as the Masai honor lions. > European folklore treats wolves as evil beasts, but not Irish folklore. > Werewolves (literally 'men-wolves') were not regarded as uncommon (they're > mentioned in Fe/ineachas as conriochta - 'of wolf form'). The early Irish > church didn't like them but most Gaeil didn't regard them as evil by > definition. As an example, the royal dynasty of the Osraighe are hereditary > werewolves. > > I tried to find Muigh na nGall on Google. Couldn't find it or its alternate > spelling Maigh na nGall. Muigh and Maigh are archaic words. Modern Irish words > for 'plain' are machaire and ma/. I couldn't find any reference on Google to > "Ma/ na nGall" but there is a Machaire na nGall on Gola Island, Co. Donegal > (referenced in this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gola_Island ) That > seems a bit off the beaten track so I'll try to check Onomasticon Godelicum when > I get home tonight. > > > Best, > Jerry > > > Cló an Druaidh / The Druid Press > www.druidpress.com > > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Charles Cain <cain@umich.edu> > To: dna-r1b1c7@rootsweb.com > Sent: Wed, June 29, 2011 10:41:07 AM > Subject: [R-M222] Con muighe na nGall O'Cathain > > Cooey-na-Gall O'Cathain is actually Con muighe na nGall O'Cathain (As > per an earlier report by John). > > Is there a literal translation of > > "Con muighe na nGall" > > (since the topic came up earlier)? > > Just interested how the word "foreign" is embedded in the name as my > internet source suggested. > > Charles > > PS He must have had some serious mojo if he could send 140 families > packing (to Scotland). Maybe I will try that sometime....gotta make a > list... > > R1b1c7 Research and Links: > > http://clanmaclochlainn.com/R1b1c7/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DNA-R1B1C7-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > R1b1c7 Research and Links: > > http://clanmaclochlainn.com/R1b1c7/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DNA-R1B1C7-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >