R. Ó Maolalaigh

Am Buadhfhacal Meadhan-Aoiseach Meranach agus mearan, mearanach, dàsachdach, dàsan(n)ach na Gaidhlig

The epithet meranach is found in Irish sources from the eleventh century. The same element may be present in the Irish surname Merna(gh) and perhaps also in the early thirteenth-century Scottish epithet Marrenah. It is suggested that the underlying element is meranach (‘delirious, mad, insane’), which survives in Scottish Gaelic mearan(ach). The rich variety of forms which survive (or survived until recently) in Scotland are discussed. Parallels are drawn with the use of dasachtach as an epithet of the Scottish king Domnall mac Causaintin (†900AD) and the survival of dasanach, dasannach and related forms in Scottish Gaelic. These epithets may in origin have referred to the persons classified as mer and dasachtach in early Gaelic law. The epithet meranach / meranach from mer (‘finger’) is also considered in the context of the name Gofraidh Crovan / Gofraidh Merach; the epithet Crovan is explained as deriving from crobh+an rather than crobh+bhan as has been previously suggested.