How do you pronounce Gobnait?

[Thatextrainch]

I'm fairly familiar with Irish name pronunciations but this one has stumped me. A quick Google suggests 'Gob-nit' but is it really that simple as it's fairly English phonetic.

I'm meeting a Gobnait tomorrow and don't want to make a twat of myself.

Deborah = bee in Hebrew.
St Gobnait is reputed to have kept beehives and to have saved her convent's cattle by setting a swarm of bees on a cattle rustler.

In Irish mythology, Gobnait was the wife of the blacksmith god, Gabhan (pronounced Gowan)

She is a patron saint of ironworkers. Evidence of smithing and iron working has been found at the Ballyvourney site associated with her religious community.

Thanks @mathanxiety you have solved a mystery for me. Gavin and Gabnat are family names and my auntie asked me years ago why. I was thinking "gamhain" which means "cub" but yep it's that name.

It's the bee connection that makes me rather like it, but it would be a bold choice for a child, I think.

It's a funny one. The spelling is Old Irish. A modern Irish spelling would be gabhna. The Italian name Gabbana has the same meaning of "smith/ craftsman".

Gobnait: The Irish for Abigail.

I have an Abby, the odd teacher used to call her Gobnait while doing the roll. She used to tell them her name was Abby, not Abigail.

Love most Irish names, this is not one.

I've only ever heard it said Gub-net.
There's a social enterprise in Sri Lanka named Gobnait - it produces raw honey

I don't think there's any actual link between Gobnait and Abigail apart from the letter G.

It could be that this tenuous link was sufficient to warrant 'Irish College Name' status, and it snowballed into 'Gobnait means Abigail'. But it doesn't.

@MaudGonneMad

I quite like it! A grand Wesht Cork name.

Absolutely! Don’t mess with a Gobnait.

And didn’t St G. save Ballyvourney from brigands and plague, armed with only a trusty swarm of bees?

@mathanxiety

I don't think there's any actual link between Gobnait and Abigail apart from the letter G.

It could be that this tenuous link was sufficient to warrant 'Irish College Name' status, and it snowballed into 'Gobnait means Abigail'. But it doesn't.

Yes, exactly. There were always some fairly tenuous connections. Ditto in French, where I became Marie-Yvonne for fairly arbitrary reasons, being called neither Mary or Yvonne or anything resembling them.

@Chiliprepper

Not very seasonal but always reminds of this song m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbejNNCTr7k

Some pronounciation clues in there too OP

My absolute favourite Christmas listening, was exactly what I thought when I saw the thread title

@mathanxiety

I don't think there's any actual link between Gobnait and Abigail apart from the letter G.

It could be that this tenuous link was sufficient to warrant 'Irish College Name' status, and it snowballed into 'Gobnait means Abigail'. But it doesn't.

A-bee-gail? Maybe not.

@LizzieAnt you're probably closer than you think. Bee in Old Irish is "ab" so Abby would be a great name for a beekeeper.

Really? That's interesting, thanks

I would automatically assume gob nate.

YY to a-BEE-gail
The Missing Link.