Micheál
the Irish form of Michael, Hebrew 'who is like God?'
Worth knowing that ch has two sounds. Beside a or o or u it is the loch sound, but beside e or i it softens to something near a plain h, which is what happens here: MEE-hawl.
- 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
Michael Collins ran the intelligence war that won independence and was shot at Béal na Bláth at 31; Micheál Mac Liammóir co-founded the Gate Theatre and reinvented himself so completely as an Irishman that few knew he was born Alfred Willmore in London.
- Micheál Martin (born 1960) — Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland (2020–2022, 2025–present)
- Micheal O'Siadhail (born 1947) — Irish poet
- Micheál Mac Gréil (1931–2023) — Irish priest and academic
- Micheál Schlingermann (born 1991) — Irish soccer player and Gaelic footballer
Irish people with an English Wikipedia article whose given name is recorded as Micheál on Wikidata; descriptions from Wikidata.
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