MEANING: From each meaning “steed, horse.” The daughter of a king of the Irish province of Connacht, she was renowned for both her beauty and her fashion sense. “A smock of royal silk she had next to her skin, over that an outer tunic of soft silk and around her a hooded mantle of crimson fastened on her breast with a golden brooch.”

MEANING: “noble, brave.” The poetic name for Ireland, Innis Ealga, means “The Noble Isle.”

MEANING: aoibhinn ”pleasant, beautiful sheen, of radiant beauty.” Often interpreted as “little Eve.” One Aoibheann was the mother of St. Enda of Aran who died c. 530 AD.

MEANING: aoibheann “pleasant, beautiful, radiant.” “Eibhlin a Ruan” was a 17th century love-song composed by the harpist Cearbhall O’Dalaigh who used it to persuade his beloved to elope with him on her wedding day and it is still a popular piece of music at Irish weddings.

MEANING: Eimear possessed the “Six Gifts of Womanhood” – “beauty, a gentle voice, sweet words, wisdom, needlework and chastity!” She was bethrothed to the warrior Cuchulainn (read the legend) when they were children and they loved each other very deeply. But Cuchulainn had “a wandering eye” and Eimear endured this, realizing “everything new is fair,” but when he made love to Fand, wife of the sea god Manannan, Eimear confronted the lovers. After seeing the strength of Fand’s love she offered to withdraw. Touched by this display of unselfishness, Fand left Cuchulainn and returned to the sea. When Cuchulainn died Eimear spoke movingly and lovingly at his graveside.

MEANING: A contemporary name ean + the diminutive -in means “little bird.”

MEANING: eithne means “kernel of a nut or seed” but it may also be related to Aidan meaning “little fire.” There are at least nine St. Eithnes. One 6th century St. Eithne was the mother of St. Columba. Before the birth of her son an angel appeared to her displaying a beautifully colored cloak covered with wonderful flowers. When she reached for the cloak it rose into the air, and spreading out, floated over land and sea until it seemed to rest upon the hills of a distant land. This vision foretold that her little son was to travel over the seas and there win great distinction and honour.

MEANING: The feminine of the name Aidan meaning “little fire.”

MEANING: ean means “bird” and suggests “birdlike” or “freedom of spirit.” St. Enda was a sixth-century monk associated with the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. The name is used for boys and girls.

MEANING: eithne means “kernel of a nut or seed” but it may also be related to Aidan meaning “little fire.” There are at least nine St. Eithnes. One 6th century St. Eithne was the mother of St. Columba. Before the birth of her son an angel appeared to her displaying a beautifully colored cloak covered with wonderful flowers. When she reached for the cloak it rose into the air, and spreading out, floated over land and sea until it seemed to rest upon the hills of a distant land. This vision foretold that her little son was to travel over the seas and there win great distinction and honour.

MEANING: From et meaning “jealousy.” Etain surpassed all other women of her time in beauty and gentleness and thus was an object of jealousy herself. When the fairy king Midir fell in love with her his wife, Fuamnach, transformed Etain into a scarlet fly that was blown over the ocean for seven years. When she was finally able to return to Ireland she fell into a glass of wine which was drunk by a woman who longed for a child. In this way Etain was reborn and she later married a High King of Ireland.

MEANING: A name thought to have Norman roots that means “wished-for” or “longed-for child.”

MEANING: A name thought to have Norman roots that means “wished-for” or “longed-for child.”

MEANING: A name thought to have Norman roots that means “wished-for” or “longed-for child.”