Boy's name
Manchán
“MAN-a-khawn”
from manach, 'a monk'
Why it is said that way
A helping vowel opens the ch out, and the fada lengthens the a: MAN-a-khawn.
- ch → the back-of-the-throat sound in loch — not ch as in church
- á é í ó ú (the fada) → a long vowel — and never optional
The story behind the name
Several Irish saints, one of them patron of the diocese of Limerick. The shrine of St Manchán of Lemanaghan is one of the great surviving works of Irish medieval metalwork.
Where the name belongs
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