Boy's name
Muircheartach
“MWIR-kher-takh”
muir + ceartach, 'skilled in seacraft' — 'navigator'
Why it is said that way
Two ch sounds, both the loch one: MWIR-hyar-tach. It means navigator, and it is the name behind Murtagh and Moriarty.
- ch → the back-of-the-throat sound in loch — not ch as in church
The story behind the name
Muirchertach Ua Briain, Brian Boru's great-grandson, was the most powerful king in Ireland around 1100 and gave the Rock of Cashel to the Church — a grand gesture that conveniently denied it to his rivals.
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