Toirdhealbhach
'instigator' or 'shaped like Thor'; disputed
Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobair, Turlough O'Connor, was king of Connacht and high king with opposition, a great builder of castles and bridges, and the patron who commissioned the Cross of Cong. Turlough O'Carolan, the blind harper, is the name's other giant. Turlough O'Carolan (1670–1738), blind from smallpox at eighteen, travelled Ireland on horseback composing for his patrons and left some two hundred harp tunes that are still the backbone of Irish traditional music.
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