Dubh Essa (also spelled ''Dub Essa'', ''Dubhessa'', ''Dubhesa'', ''Dubheasa'', ''Dubh Easa'', ''Duibhessa'', ''Duibheasa'') was a medieval
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
feminine
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
, fairly common in 13th- and 14th-century
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
While the name may be a compound of Gaelic ''
dubh'' "dark" (probably referring to hair color, hence "black-haired") and ''
eas'' "waterfall, cascade, rapid" (
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
''easa''), its meaning is sometimes interpreted as "black nurse" ( la,
nutrix nigra).
[ Yonge, Charlotte M. (1884). . p. 254.]
Dubh Essa has also been
anglicized
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
as ''Duvessa'' (e.g., in
M. J. Molloy
Michael Joseph Molloy (3 March 1914 – 1994) was an Irish playwright. He was born and died in Milltown, County Galway.
Molloy originally intended to become a priest, but contracted tuberculosis as a young man. He began writing during his lon ...
's 1964 comedy ''The Wooing of Duvessa'').
Bearers
*
Dubh Essa ingen Briain, died 1052.
*
Dubh Essa ingen Amhalgadha, died 1078.
*
Dubh Essa ingen maic Aedha, died 1115.
*
Dubh Essa Níc Eidhin, died 1187.
*
Dubh Essa Bean Uí Dubhda
Dubh Essa Bean Uí Dubhda, Queen of Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe, died 1190.
Biography
The Annals of Loch Ce mention her death in 1190:
* ''Duibhessa, daughter of Diarmaid, son of Tadhg, wife of the Cosnamhach O'Dubhda, mortua est.''
Her husband, An ...
, died 1190.
*
Dubhessa Ní Diarmata, died 1229.
*
Dubhessa Ní hElide, died 1328.
*
Dubhessa Ní Fherghail, died 1328.
*
Dubhessa Bean Uí Chonchobhair, died 1328.
References
External links
Names in Irish Annals: Dub Essa / Dubh Essa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubh Essa
Irish-language feminine given names
Feminine given names