Tadhg, also Taḋg ( , ), (pronunciations given for the name ''Tadhg'' separately from those for the slang/pejorative ''Teague''.) commonly anglicized as "Taig" or "Teague", is an Irish and

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

masculine name that was very common when the

Goidelic languages The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...

predominated, to the extent that it is a

synecdoche Synecdoche ( ) is a type of metonymy; it is a figure of speech that uses a term for a part of something to refer to the whole (''pars pro toto''), or vice versa (''totum pro parte''). The term is derived . Common English synecdoches include '' ...

for Irish-speaking man. The name signifies "poet" or "philosopher". This was also the name of many Gaelic Irish kings from the 10th to the 16th centuries, particularly in Connacht and Munster. Tadhg is most common in southwest Ireland, particularly in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

and

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

. The name has had a surge in popularity in the early 21st century; As of 2000 it was the 92nd most common name for baby boys in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, according to the Central Statistics Office, rising to 69th by 2005. By 2022, it had risen to the 7th most common name for newly registered male births.

Etymology

The commonly accepted meaning of Tadhg is "poet"Babies' Names,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1995, , entry for "Tadhg" or "storyteller". The ultimate derivation is from the Celtic , who were poets in early Celtic society. In any case, the name is widely attested in Gaulish and early British names. When the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, many Irish names and place-names were given English meanings. Due to similarity in sound, Tadhg is often listed as an Irish equivalent of the English-language names

Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

(Tim) or

Thaddeus Thaddeus (, , from ) is a masculine given name. As of the 1990 United States census, 1990 Census, ''Thaddeus'' was the 611th most popular male name in the United States, while ''Thad'', its diminutive version, was the 846th. Alternate forms * ...

. The name is also spelled "Taḋg" in

Gaelic type Gaelic type (sometimes called Irish character, Irish type, or Gaelic script) is a family of Insular script typefaces devised for printing Early Modern Irish. It was widely used from the 16th century until the mid-18th century in Scotland and t ...

with an

overdot When used as a diacritic mark, the term dot refers to the glyphs "combining dot above" (, and "combining dot below" ( which may be combined with some letters of the extended Latin alphabets in use in a variety of languages. Similar marks are ...

over the ''d'' to indicate it is

lenited In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language ...

; the "dh" serves a similar purpose in the modern spelling. Tadhg has been

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as "Taihg", "Tighe" and "Teague". Alternative spellings include "Tadgh", "Tadhgh" and "Tadg".

Synecdoche

Tadhg is also a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

and was once so common as an Irish name that it became synonymous with the typical Irishman in the same way that ''

Paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *A nickname or slur for an Irish person Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black ...

'' or '' Mick'' might be today. Hence, Irish phrases such as ' (lit: Tadhg of the market) or ' (lit: Tadhg of the street) are similar to the English language expression "

average Joe The terms average Joe, ordinary Joe, regular Joe, Joe Sixpack, Joe Lunchbucket, Joe Snuffy, Joe Blow, Joe Schmoe (for males), and ordinary Jane, average Jane, and plain Jane (for females), are used primarily in North America to refer to a comple ...

" or "the

man on the street ( ) is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase (originally ''Vox populi, vox Dei'' – "The voice of the people is the voice of God") that literally means "voice of the people." It is used in English in the meaning "the opinion of the majority of ...

" The

anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

Taig Taig, and (primarily formerly) also Teague, are anglicisations of the Irish-language male given name ''Tadhg'', used as ethnic slurs for a stage Irishman. ''Taig'' in Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland is most commonly used as a derogatory ...

'' (and formerly ''Teague'') has been used in English since the seventeenth century to refer to Irishmen. The Irish-language name is used defiantly in a Jacobite poem written in the 1690s: : Taig in

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

was used as an abusive and pejorative term by

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

s to refer to

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

People with the name

Traditional

Tadg mac Nuadat Tadg, son of Nuada, was a druid and the maternal grandfather of Fionn Mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. It is unclear whether his father was the short-lived High King Nuada Necht, the god Nuada Airgetlam of the Tuatha Dé Da ...

, a

Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

in the

Fenian Cycle The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle () is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his Kóryos, warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the ...

, grandfather of

Fionn mac Cumhail Fionn mac Cumhaill, often anglicised Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is the leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer and ...

Tadhg Ó Cuinn Tadhg Ó Cuinn (), was an Irish scribe and author. He is known for writing a ''Materia medica'' in October 1415. Little is known of his life apart from that. ''Materia medica'' Ó Cuinn is chiefly known from a ''Materia medica'' he compiled in ...

(), Irish scribe and author

Gaelic nobility

Tadg mac Conchobair Tadg mac Conchobair (died 900) was a King of Connacht from the Uí Briúin branch of the Connachta. He was the son of Conchobar mac Taidg Mór (died 882), a previous king, the second of his three sons to rule in succession, succeeding his brother ...

(died 900),

king of Connacht The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named ...

Tadg mac Cathail Tadg mac Cathail (died 956) was King of Connacht. References * ''Leabhar na nGenealach'', Dublin, 2004–2005 * ''Annals of the Four Masters'', ed. John O'Donovan, Dublin, 1856 * ''Annals of Lough Ce'', ed. W.M. Hennessey, London, 1871. * ''Iri ...

(died 956), king of Connacht *

(died 962),

king of Ailech The Kings of Ailech were the over-kings of the Medieval Ireland, medieval Irish Provinces of Ireland, province of Ailech in north-western Ireland. It encompassed the territories of the Cenél nEógain and Cenél Conaill. After the battle of Cl ...

Tadhg mac Muircheartach Tadhg, also Taḋg ( , ), (pronunciations given for the name ''Tadhg'' separately from those for the slang/pejorative ''Teague''.) commonly anglicized as "Taig" or "Teague", is an Irish and Scottish Gaelic masculine name that was very common ...

(died 971), king of Uí Díarmata *

Tadhg Mór Ua Cellaigh Tadhg Mór Ua Cellaigh, 36th King of Uí Maine and 1st Chief of the Name. Background Ua Cellaigh was the first King of Uí Maine to bear the surname Ua Cellaigh, derived from his grandfather, Ceallach mac Finnachta, who was in turn a sixth-gener ...

(died 1014), king of Uí Maine *

Tadc mac Briain Tadc mac Briain (died 1023) was the son of Brian Boru and Echrad, daughter of Carlus mac Ailella of Uí Áeda Odba. Tadc had one son, Toirdelbach Ua Briain (Turlough O'Brien), with his wife Mór, daughter of Gilla Brigte Ua Maíl Muaid of Cenél F ...

(died 1023), contender for

king of Munster The kings of Munster () ruled the Kingdom of Munster in Ireland from its establishment during the Irish Iron Age until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earli ...

* Tadg in Eich Gil (died 1030), king of Connacht *

Tadhg mac Muirchertach Tadhg mac Muirchertach was one of the early kings of Moylurg {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Magh Luirg or Magh Luirg an Dagda, anglicised as Moylurg, was the name of a medieval Irish kingdom located in modern-day County Roscommon, Republic of I ...

(''fl.'' 11th century), king of Moylurg *

Tadg mac Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair Tadg mac Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (died 1097) was King of Connacht. Tadg was a senior son of Ruaidrí na Saide Buide, who was deposed in 1092 by Flaithbertaigh Ua Flaithbertaigh. The succession became confused, with O'Hynes of Aidhne been made kin ...

(died 1097), king of Connacht * Tadhg mac Muireadach Mac Cárthaigh (died 1123),

king of Desmond The following is a list of monarchs of the Kingdom of Desmond. Most were of the MacCarthy Mór ("great MacCarthy"), the senior branch of the MacCarthy dynasty. 12th century MacCarthy MacCarthy claimants O'Brien claimants MacCarthy 13th ...

* Tadhg Mor mac Maelruanaidh (died 1124), king of Moylurg * Tadhg Ua Cellaigh (abducted 1145), king of Uí Maine *

Teige Ua Con Ceannainn Teige Ua Con Ceannainn (nó Tadhg; ) was an apparent King of Uí Díarmata. Overview The succession to the kingship of Ui Diarmata after the death of Aedh Ua Con Ceannainn in 1119, to the death of Cú Ceanain Ó Con Ceanainn in 1224, is unclear ...

(''fl.'' 1152), king of Uí Díarmata * Tadg Gláe macDiarmata Ó Briain (died 1154), claimed king of Desmond * Tadhg Cael Uisce Ó Briain (died 1269), tanist of Thomond * Tadhg mac Diarmata (died 1281), king of Moylurg * Tadhg Ó Cellaigh (died 1316), king of Uí Maine *

Tadhg Óg Ó Cellaigh Tadhg Óg Ó Cellaigh (died 1340) was King of Uí Maine and Chief of the Name. References * ''The Tribes and customs of Hy-Many'', John O'Donovan, 1843 * ''The Surnames of Ireland'', Edward MacLysaght, Dublin, 1978. * ''The Anglo-Normans in ...

(died 1340), king of Uí Maine * Tadhg na gcoar Ó Ruairc (died 1376), king of West Breifne * Tadhg Ruadh Ó Cellaigh (died 1410), king of Uí Maine * Tadhg na Mainistreach Mac Carthaigh Mór (died 1428), king of Desmond * Tadhg Riabhach Ó Dubhda (died 1432),

king of Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

* Tadhg mac Tigernán Mór Ó Ruairc (died 1435), king of West Breifne * Tadhg an Glemore Ó Briain (died 1438),

king of Thomond The kings of Thomond () ruled from the establishment of Thomond during the High Middle Ages, until the Early modern period. Thomond represented the legacy of Brian Bóruma and the High Kings of Ireland of his line who could not hold onto all of ...

Tadhg an Chomhaid Ó Briain Teige O'Brien or Tadhg a'Chomhaid Ó Briain was Lord of Thomond from 1459 to his death in 1466, and Chief of Clan O'Brien. Reign He built the tower of Inchiquin Castle shortly before his father's death in 1459 and made it his new residence, be ...

(died 1466), king of Thomond *

Tadhg mac Diarmaid Ó Máille Tadhg mac Diarmaid Ó Máille (IPA: ˈt̪ˠəiˈmˠakˈdʲiəɾˠmˠədʲˈoːˈmˠaːlʲə), King of Umaill Umhaill or Umhall (anglicized as Owill or Owel) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory around Clew Bay in the west of what is now Coun ...

(died 1467), king of Umaill * Tadhg Caech Ó Cellaigh (abdicated 1476), king of Uí Maine * Tadhg mac Diarmata (died 1499), king of Moylurg * Tadhg Liath Mac Carthaigh Mór (died 1503), king of Desmond * Tadhg na Leamhna Mac Cárthaigh (died 1514), claimed king of Desmond * Tadhg Ruadh mac Toirrdelbach (died 1553),

king of Mide In medieval Ireland, the kings of Mide were of the Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the Uí Néill. Several were High Kings of Ireland. After the collapse of the kingdom in the 12th century its dynasty, the Ua Mael Sechlainn or Ó Melaghlins, were ...

* Tadhg mac Brian Ballach Ó Ruairc (died 1560), king of West Breifne * Tadhg mac Diarmata (died 1585), king of Moylurg * Tadhg mac Briain na Murtha Ó Ruairc (died 1605), king of West Breifne

Recent

* Tadhg Cooke, Irish contemporary musician *

Tadhg Ó Donnchadha Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (1874 – 1949) was an Irish writer, poet, editor, translator and a prominent member of the Gaelic League (''Conradh na Gaeilge'') and the Gaelic Athletic Association. He was editor of ''Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge'' (The ...

(1874–1949), activist for the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

Tadhg Furlong Tadhg Vincent Furlong (born 14 November 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays tighthead prop for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team. Furlong is widely considered to be one of the world' ...

(born 1992), Irish rugby player *

Tadhg Kennelly Tadhg Kennelly (born 1 July 1981) is an Irish-Australian former international sportsperson turned recruiter and coach. He is most known for his top-level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football being the first holder of bo ...

(born 1981), Gaelic and Australian Rules footballer *

Tadhg Dall Ó hÚigínn Tadhg, also Taḋg ( , ), (pronunciations given for the name ''Tadhg'' separately from those for the slang/pejorative ''Teague''.) commonly anglicized as "Taig" or "Teague", is an Irish and Scottish Gaelic masculine name that was very common ...

(1550–1591), Irish poet murdered allegedly for writing a satirical poem which insulted a rival aristocratic family *

Tadhg Purcell Tadhg Purcell (born 2 September 1985) is an Irish footballer who plays for Dunbar Rovers FC in the National Premier League. His main position is as a striker, although he can play on the wing. He spent his youth with Leicester Celtic, before ...

(born 1985), Irish soccer player *

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...

's 1977 novel ''

Flashman's Lady ''Flashman's Lady'' is a 1977 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the sixth of the Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman novels. Plot introduction Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book descr ...

'' features the comic character Daedalus Tighe, and John B. Keane's 1965 play '' The Field'', has a character named Tadhg McCabe.

References

External links

{{given name Irish-language masculine given names Masculine given names