The worst kid's name you've ever heard?

D0NNELLY wrote: »

Hang on a bleeeeeeeeedin' minute. Each parish has their own patron saint?

Every parish had at least one saint. There were far, far more recognised (in local tradition) saints in Ireland until the 19th century when the Catholic Church had an 'Ultramontane' (led by Cardinal Paul Cullen) revolution where it was Romanised and all these "dubious" local saints and the huge tradition of visiting the local holy well named after said obscure local saint went out of favour with the newly Romanised Catholic Church in Ireland. Out, too, from this revolutionary new Catholic church were the other remnants of Celtic Christianity such as the festivals of Bealtaine, Lúnasa and so forth (they kept Imbolc, and colonised it with the cult of St Brigid, Brigid's Cross and the like)

The "superstar" English names of Michael, Patrick, Brigid, Mary and so forth came into favour strongly in the 19th century and these old Irish first names which signified where you were from died out. You'd still find an odd rebel parent holding out against the tide- a Lonán (little blackbird), say, named after the patron saint of Trevet near the Hill of Tara and if in Meath probably indicating a connection to that area (or it could be connected to one of the ten other areas on the island where the patron saint was one of ten other distinct saints called Lonán). In Gaelic Ireland the Irish never called their children Pádraig or Máire out of reverance to the Saint and Virgin Mary; a son would be called Giolla Phádraig (Servant of Pádraig) and a daughter Maol Muire (devotee of the Muire gan Smál/ the Virgin Mary)

A cynic might suggest that after centuries of resisting the Protestant Reformation, the Irish in the 19th century had another foreign reformation imposed upon them - but this time it managed to persuade the natives that they were returning to "true" Irish Christianity by becoming Romanised.

I just saw a post on FB about a little boy called Maison. Not Mason. House.

My grandad on the death of Johnny Cash: "Who cares? wWth a name Cash he's probably a traveller from Galway". Sometimes I miss my grandad's racist, right wing bullsh1t!