Index of Names in Irish Annals: Sín / Táethen

© 2000-2004 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.3, updated 29 February 2004

Feminine Given Names: Sín / Táethen

The only examples of the names Sín and Táethen are as allegorical names refering to the same person.

The annals citations referring to this woman give us no evidence that either name was used as a standard (non-allegorical) feminine given name by regular people.

Spellings:

What we know as a set of Irish Annals are manuscripts that were each compiled during a particular time period, usually using older material as sources. For example, when the Annals of the Four Masters were written from 1632 to 1636, they covered events that occurred centuries and millenia before (including legendary history). So, when an entry in this set of annals refers to a person who lived in the year 738, the spelling used for that person's name is very likely not using the spelling that would have been used in 738.

Standard forms of this name (based on spelling systems of different periods) would be:

Oghamic Irish (pre-700) forms:

[unknown]

Frequency & Dates:

Number of women found in the annals with this name:	1
Found in Years:	526, 527, 531, 534

Research Notes:

O'Donovan [FM (vol. 1, p. 175, footnote "i")] identifies the allegorical names used for this woman:

Gannadaigh. - In the Leabhar-Gabhala of the O'Clerys, the reading is Gamadaigh. In the historical tale on the death of Muircheartach, the concubine who burned the house of Cletty over his head is called by various names, as Sin, Taetan, Gaeth, Barbh, Gemadaig, Ochsad, and Iachtadh, all of which have certain meanings which the writer of the story turns to account in making this lady give equivocal answers to the king. The name Sin, means storm; Taetan, fire; Gaeth, wind; Garbh, rough; Gemadaigh, wintry; Ochsad, a groan; Iactadh, lamentation.

An example of her names may be found in CS531:

Badhadh Muircertaigh meic Erca a ttelcuma fhíona et a losccadh et a guin aidhche Samna a mullach Cleitigh uas Bóinn, ut dictum est a sancto Cairnecho:
rann

1. Isam omhan ar in ben
   Ima lúaidhfe ilar sín,
   Ar an fer loisgfidher,
   For taeb Cleitigh baidhfidh fíon.
2. [rann] Sín an ben ro marb thu
   A meic Earca mur adchiú;
   Bidh iomdha a hamnanna abhus,
   Cuirfédh nech for aineolus.
3. [rann] Ní hionmain an ben
   Dianad comainm Síon;
   Mo dáigh an ri loisgfes ten,
   A tigh Cleitigh baidfidh fín

[...]

Síon dixit ag indisi a hanmann:- rann

1. Osnadh, Esnadh, Sín gan ail,
   Gaeth garb et Gemadhaigh,
   Ochsadh, Iachtadh, rádh gan gáoi,
   Ite m'anmanda ar áen cáoi.

Muircertach Mac Earca immersed in a vat of wine, and burnt and mortally wounded, on the night of Samhain, on the summit of Cleitech, over the Boyne, as was said by Saint Cairnech:-

1. I am fearful of the woman
   Round whom many storms shall move;
   For the man who shall be burned
   On the side of Cleitech, wine shall drown.
   
2. Sín is the woman that killed thee, O, Mac Earca, as I perceive;
   Numerous will her names be here-
   She will set one astray.
3. Not beloved is the woman
   Whose name is Sín;
   As for the King, fire shall burn him,
   In the house of Cleitech wine shall drown him.

[...]

Sín said, recounting her names:-

1. Osnadh, Esnadh, Sín without blemish,
   Gaeth garbh, and Gemadhaigh,
   Ochsadh, Iachtadh-saying without falsehood-
   These are my names in every way.

Sources:

Further information about the names Sín and Táethen, may be found in:

The Sources page lists the Annals referenced below. Information about secondary sources is included on that page as well.

Raw Data

In the table below, I have separated individuals with a blank line. That is, when there are multiple entries in the annals that refer to a single person, those entries are grouped together.

Within the list of entries refering to a single person, I have sorted the entries primarily by orthography when it is obvious that what I am seeing is the same entry showing up in multiple annals. The entries that tend to use older spellings are listed first.

NOTE: The Annals referenced below under the code letters A, B, C, E, & F tend to use later spellings than the other Annals. In some cases, the spellings listed in these Annals may not be appropriate for the year referenced in the Annal entry.

In some Gaelic scripts, there is a character that looks approximately like a lowercase f, but without the crossbar. This character (represented by an underscored , e, in the entries below) sometimes represents e and sometimes ea depending upon the context of the text.

Annals	Entry	Context	Citation (formatting preserved)
T	T534.1		Táethen ingen airig Neill
T	T534.1		Sín
T	T534.1		Sín
A	M526.2		Sín ingin Sighe
A	M527.1		Sín at-bert an rann: As mesi Taeten inghen do-cher aireach Néll, As Gamadhaigh mo ainm ["Sin composed this quatrain: I am Taetan, the woman who killed the chief of Niall; Gannadhaigh is my name [...]"]
CS	CS531		Sín
CS	CS531		Síon
CS	CS531		Síon dixit ag indisi a hanmann:- rann Osnadh, Esnadh, Sín gan ail, Gaeth garb et Gemadhaigh, Ochsadh, Iachtadh, rádh gan gáoi, Ite m'anmanda ar áen cáoi. ["Sín said, recounting her names:- Osnadh, Esnadh, Sín without blemish, Gaeth garbh, and Gemadhaigh, Ochsadh, Iachtadh-saying without falsehood- These are my names in every way."]

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Feminine Given Names | Feminine Descriptive Bynames | Masculine Given Names | Masculine Descriptive Bynames

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