

MacNkill — J 



Oeliland 



Rinn 



Oiche 



Einne 



Oche 



Roeda 



Oirce 



Roide 



Oircthe 



Raeda 



Oirchen 



Raeidhe 



Oircthen 



Raide 



Olchindi 



Eaighe 



Reti 



Roeada 



Riada 



Ruaid 



Eighe= 



Ruisen 



Earhi Irish Population- Groups. 



67 



Sechlaind^ Thened 



Selcind Tethba 



Sochlend Timine 



Sogain Tine 



Suigin Toilgenn 



Sodhain Uais 



Soilciud hUiblig 

 Thede = DAI C6te hUiniche 



Themne Ulad 



Temrach Ulum* 

 Tened 



36. -rige has dative singular rigiu. Though I have uo iustanee establisliing 

 the gender as neuter, still the ending is to be identified with the neuter noun 

 rige ' kingship.' Hence it would appear that groups of this order originally 

 formed petty states each under its kiag. Historically, some of these groups 

 are large enough to form several petty kingdoms, while others must have 

 been mere village communities. 



37. In these compounds rigion = rige becomes* -nge. If the eponym 

 retains a second syllable endmg in a vowel, -7-ige suffers syncope, e.g. Neclitarge 

 (epon. in nwccu Nechtac), Osscirge, later by metathesis or analogy, Neehtraige 

 Osraige. The close correspondence between the territory of Osraige fdiocese 

 of Ossory, but anciently also extending much farther westward) and the place 

 assigned by Ptolemy to the Ousdiai makes it lilvely that the names also are 

 closely associated {Osse -rge = *Osdia-rigion ? Shoidd we not expect Uisserge ?). 

 \Vlien the eponymic element ends in r preceded by a consonant, only one r 

 appears in writing : Gdbraige = *Gabrorlgion (eponym Fer Da Gahar), Bibraige 

 = Corcu Bibidr, Odrrdge also Odorrigc. This arises from a usage in spelling, 

 cp. gohann, Goibniu. 



38. In Middle Irish, there is an increasing tendency to substitute -raige 

 for rige, and the later MSs. show a strong preference for -raide. In the 

 following list add -rige, -raige, where the hyphen appears : 



Ai-? Au-b-^ Allt- Arb- 



Aib- Alt- Amau-' Art- 



1 OUhind, Selcind, Sochlend, Soilcind, Toilgenn appear to be variants of one name. 



- Perhaps 



' Holder, Alteelt. Sps., gives leorigium, vicani Segorigienses, both from the Prussian Rhine 

 Province, ami Carbantorig\_i']on from southern Scotland. Witli the last cp. Corbeirige. 



^ " Ar slicht Kothar meic meic Fir Airbeir do Ernaib ita Aitride," Lecan 453. Re.id Airbrige? 



' Amanrige, Emenrige, will be found in Onom. Goed. under tiiath, and the topographical refe- 

 rences show that these are identical with Amanchaire, Emenchairi. In the latter we have probably 

 one more form of collective people-name, formed with the word corio-, ciiire. Cp. bancliuire, 

 Corimidi, Gaulish Coriosolites, Petrucorii. 



R.I.A. PROC, VOL. XXIX., SECT. C. [11] 



