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The early Irish had an extraordinary variety of personal names. Indeed, some twelve thousand names are recorded in the early sources. Yet only a handful of names drawn from a rich heritage are in current use in Ireland. Thousands of them fell out of fashion et a very early period. In the later middle ages the range of names in general use was greatly narrowed and when English became the dominant language of the country, common English, biblical and classical names frequently replaced native ones. This book contains just under a thousand Irish names selected from the annals, genealogies, mythology and historical literature of early medieval Ireland. The authors have also admitted a number of borrowed names which were once (or still are) well established, some introducted by early Irish clerics, some by the Anglo-Normans.

Fidelma Maguire is a graduate of University College Galway. She teaches history at Coláiste a Spioraid Naoimh, Cork. Donnchadh Ó Corráin is a history professor at University College Cork. He specializes in early medieval history, and has published numerous articles on the subject.