Conchobhar
possibly 'lover of hounds' or 'wolf-lover'
The ch is the sound in loch and the bh is a v that all but disappears. Said in full it is KON-a-khoor, and it is very commonly worn down to KRUH-hoor. It is the name behind Connor and O'Connor.
- bh, mh → v — or w in the middle of a word
- ch → the back-of-the-throat sound in loch — not ch as in church
Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster in the Táin, presides over the Red Branch warriors from Emain Macha — and over the tragedy of Deirdre, which his own possessiveness causes. Ten centuries later the O'Connor kings of Connacht took his name into history; two of them were the last High Kings of Ireland.
Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z