RootsChat.Com
Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Meath => Topic started by: Kate98 on Sunday 16 May 10 14:22 BST (UK)
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Hello and thank you for the helpful info already posted about the pronunciation of Maid or Mead for Meath. Wondering if anyone can help localize this pronunciation further... Is the pronunciation "Mead" unique to Navan or is it found in other areas of Meath? Would someone from Westmeath or Roscommon pronounce Meath as "Mead"? I'm trying to determine which records are correct for three brothers and one sister in my Callan family who left Ireland in the 1840s. I have naturalizations for two of the brothers that list their county of origin as "Mead." A recently discovered baptism that is likely for their sister was from Stamullin Meath and this corresponds to the oral history passed down through her descendants that the family was from Meath. However, the obit for the third brother says he was from Westmeath. And a descendant of one of the brothers who's naturalization said "Mead" has said that the family was from Roscommon! I'm hoping the pronunciation "Mead" is localized enough to rule out some of the conflicting possibilities. Thanks, Kate
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Here's a link to previous "County of Maid" thread-
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,446632.0.html
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Thank you. Wasn't sure of the best way to restart the discussion since the last post on the topic was in early April. I'm hoping for a bit more info than what's been posted so far. Kate
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I don't think you can really narrow down an area based on the pronunciation. The way the name is written down could be due to several factors- pronunciation by the Irish person, nationality of person writing it down, degree of literacy of person writing it down.
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Thanks for your perspective. In the case of the naturalizations, the writer was a U.S. government employee who did not have an Irish last name and who was probably a native English speaker. His handwriting was polished. He was probably reasonably well-educated though perhaps unfamiliar with Irish county names. This leads me to believe he wrote the county name as he heard it. Reading the earlier discussion that said that certain Meath accents would make the word sound more like Maid or Mead caught my eye since it mentioned speakers from Navan as an example. This fit nicely with the other early records I've found linking the family to nearby Stamullin and Drumcondra. It seems like there is a reasonable chance that my ancestors pronounced the county as Mead, adding a small bit of evidence to the idea that they were from somewhere near Navan -- unless this pronunciation is widespread throughout Meath or perhaps even into Westmeath and/or Roscommon. Pronunciation aside, I'm starting to put more weight in the early records that mention Mead/Meath since they were generated for the individuals themselves by government or clergy. The records mentioning Westmeath and Roscommon relied on informants who gave info for deceased family members many years after they left Ireland.
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The example of the way the the county name is sometimes spoken in Navan (that I mentioned in the other thread on the subject) is from personal experiance in the areas of Navan & Trim - I've no idea if this is the case in all of county Meath, or even in other counties.
Shnae
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Thank you Shane, I appreciate your response. It's important for me to understand that Meath may be pronounced Mead outside the area of Navan and Trim. Nevertheless, knowing that it is pronounced Mead there is intriguing and may help to localize my family as I learn more. I will be alert for more info on the subject as I continue my research. Kate
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I think that if Meath is spelled "Mead" it is someones interpretation of the pronounciation of "Meath" said with a Meath accent. My mother is from Navan, Co Meath and I can understand how someone would think from the pronunciation that it might be spelled "Mead". Stamullen is another town in Co Meath.
Regards Canberragirl