Old/ unusual Irish boys names

I don't know if the mountain has anything to do with the saint Fuzzy, but it's hard to be sure of course. The origin of the mountain's name is uncertain - Tuathal's sickle is just one suggestion, and there are others too.
From Wikipedia -
" one of the earliest written accounts of the mountain byIsaac Weldin 1812, calls it Gheraun-Tuel, andSamuel Lewis'sTopographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) calls it Garran Tual; suggesting the first element was géarán ('fang')—which is found in the names of other Kerry mountains—and that the earlier name may have been Géarán Tuathail ('Tuathal's fang')."
It's Corrán Tuathail in Irish today though.

St Corán is well recognized around Youghal afaik, there's a well in his name there etc, but I don't know if much is known of his history.

Coran (Corán?) Is a saint's name too, well known around Youghal, Co. Cork.

Corrán also means sickle or crescent. Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain, is Corrán Tuathail and is thought to possibly mean Tuathal's sickle, though this is uncertain.

Tuathal is another name for you OP, can't remember if it's been listed upthread (sounds a bit like tool though...)

My wee boy is Corran he's the only one in the school

The length and breadth of Irish names is fascinating.

The only Enda I have ever met had the surname Teague. I piss you not. He was at university at the same time as me.

I love all those Mael and Giolla names. The thing with Mary in boys' names was they would all have been Máel Mhuire or Giolla Mhuire pronounced Mallory and Gillivray. The Norman-French apparently heard Mallory as Malheurie meaning unhappy and used it to satirise. When names had to be written in English, the Máel and Giolla were left out. Sometimes Marian was used, it seems to be a genitive case.

I just think giving a baby a ridiculous name that it’s impossible to pronounce is silly. And yes I’d say 90% people in Dublin (and I’d say rest of Ireland too) didnt hear half of these names mentioned here. I’m saying that - each to their own, If OP wants to give her baby a name that no one ever will know how to pronounce then why not? She can do it, nothing wrong with that. Just be prepared for a lifetime of teaching people how to spell and pronounce it: every phone call to insurance, every doctors visit, every school run, then every job interview etc.

Don't be silly.

I live in the US and have an Irish name - the vast majority of people get it right after I've pronounced it for them. It's not rocket science.

I'm in Ireland, my kids go to a gaelscoil and I haven't heard half of the names mentioned here

The OP asked for uncommon and unusual names

Thanks for the Irish Times article DFOD. My dad and some of his brothers all had the middle name Mary as mentioned in that piece. I don't think they were too happy about it Thanks too SeanChailleach, I didn't know Maeleachlainn was Malachy. Don't think they'd be said the same, but then I wouldn't say Conghaile the same as Connolly either as a pp mentioned. Maybe some do though? I've heard people saying Conall the same as Connell too, which I admit I don't like.

Hate the name Enda. Too similar to Edna which is one of the Worst Names EVER. I bet UK dwelling Endas get called Edna a lot.

For Enda I'd pronounce it N-da. not in-da if you know what I mean.

Having said that, I agree that some of the suggested names are extremely obscure and I wouldn't use them myself as they seem best left to Yanks trying to showcase their 0.145% Irishness from Ancestry.com. But OP is Irish too and I'm sure she can assess the rarity of the names as well - probably better - than I can.

I can't see any 'yanks" using any of the names mentioned on here. They stick with names like Sean and Conor usually or name their children after their irish grandparents. shame on them for showcasing their irishness though. if they only knew what the irish really thought of them ...

I'm in Ireland, my kids go to a gaelscoil and I haven't heard half of the names mentioned here 😬

I have an Ailbe!

I also LOVE Ferdia, Padraig, Naoise, Con, Art.

Often the names aren't obscure, it's just the spellings make them seem so. Malachy is fairly mainstream but I would not have guessed that was Máel Eachlainn.

Some people must literally comb through early Christian manuscripts looking for some obscure name that the mammies and daddies of all the Fiadhs and Senans could only dream of.

If Lourdes didn't scream Madonna to me I'd think it's a class name and would use it myself

I couldn't give a flying feck whether English people can manage to pronounce Irish names tbh - because despite the MN handwringing over Irish names, they can. Just as they manage Polish, Nigerian, Italian etc names. Some do struggle with my (Irish) name but once you correct them, they get it. And if they insist on mispronouncing it then I know not to spend time on small minded racists, don't I?

Having said that, I agree that some of the suggested names are extremely obscure and I wouldn't use them myself as they seem best left to Yanks trying to showcase their 0.145% Irishness from Ancestry.com. But OP is Irish too and I'm sure she can assess the rarity of the names as well - probably better - than I can.

www.irishtimes.com/culture/name-that-child-1.264902

This is a great article about the change in fashion in names in Ireland from 1901 to 1999 - says that there were only 27 different Gaelic names recorded in 1901 but by 1999 there were 180 - I suspect that there much more now. I still find the religious / Latin name fashion of the mid century quite interesting and liked reading about names such as Delores, Loretta and Lourdes for girls at that time.

Maeleachlainn is Malachy @LizzieAnt
Originally Máel Sechnaill. A Meath name, two high kings and used up to the mid 19th c.

Ó Corráin and Maguire "Irish Names" still best source for names, as they provide details.

I would have thought she's excellently placed to evaluate how difficult they'll be for English speakers given that a tiny minority speak Irish fluently and fewer still in that group use these names. Sniping politely in English about Irish names seems faintly ridiculous. Where I come from they say Jesus Mary and Joseph who gave you that if they don't like your name.

Conall
Cróchán

To be fair some of them are quite obscure. I've never met a Maeleachlainn, for example. Migildí is definitely my new favourite though