Dear Michael: Thank you. I can now prove (at least to my satisfaction) that the Ó hAilche mentioned by Ó hUidhrín in the territory of the Éile in what's now north Tipperary are of straight Gaelic descent. Whether or not they're your Ó hAilche in the south of Tipperary is another matter. Best, - Jerry -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael O'Hearn Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 11:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] O'hAilche / O'Hally At the risk of beating this topic to death, I have come upon a document called "The "Danes" on Lough Neigh" by Rev. Dean B. Moody published in the Journal of the Craigavon Historical Society, Vol. 1 No. 2, which I believe answers the question of why Rev. Woulfe decided that the name was derived from Danish, and also why he says that the name means "English". To quote from the doucment: "In 840, we are told the Vikings pillaged Louth from Lough Neagh, led some bishops, priests and sages captive and slew others. The following year they were still on the Lough; but their activities are not recorded. "After this we have no record of Viking activity on Lough Neagh for nearly a century. In A.D. 928, however, a fleet of Vikings, led by the son of Ailche, plundered the islands of Lough Neagh and its borders. This son of Ailche, whose real name was Gormo Gamle, was a very active depredator. We hear of him operating also from the Viking settlement of Limerick. On one occasion he sailed up the Shannon to Lough Ree and from there he destroyed Clonmacnois and all the islands of the lake "and carried off a great spoil between gold and silver and other treasures." " Gormo Gamle (the Old) was the first king of all of Denmark, the name Gorm apparently being from Guthorm meaning "reverer of the gods". The first history of this period was written by Adam of Bremen who says that after Swedes had ruled in Denmark, a certain individual named Cnut won a victory over the Swedes. It is speculated that Cnut's father was Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, the last king of the former regime in Denmark descended from Norse rulers. Gorm was likely Cnut's son. He married Thyra whom Saxo has as the daughter of Aethelred I of England and probably a Christian. Saxo lists another named Gorm as Gorm the Old's forebear who was called "the Englishman" having been born in that country. But the time frame is such that it would be unlikely that there was another Gorm. Their two children were Cnut and Harald. In the Jamsviking Saga, both sons become Vikings and plunder the coasts of England and Ireland. Cnut is killed in Ireland apparently fulfilling a dream which he had related to Thyra before she agreed to the marriage. Harald becomes king after his father's death and conspires to trap Cnut's only son Gold Harald which he does after Gold Harald returns with much plunder and kills the king of Norway for which he is later executed, thus putting an end to Gorm's royal line. However, Sigurd's daughter became the mother of Ragnhild who was the mother of Harald Fairhair of Norway which would continue the royal line from Cnut's ancestors, if indeed Cnut was Sigurd's son. Michael O'Hearn ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com ====Irish American Mailing List===== Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message