What's in a name? Only the IRISH know for sure...

I have to say, there are some really unusual names in Ireland. While visiting my fiance' in April, I met some of his friends and relatives that had names I didn't know existed. Mind you, Fergal, Diarmid, and Finnbar were all lovely men, but I am trying to imagine naming a precious little newborn "Finnbar"! What would you call him for short? Finn? Finny? I was told that it's a religious name, taken from Saint Finnbar. It may be blasphemous, but I can't keep from thinking of the acronym, "FUBAR"...

Last names are similarly intriguing, for example, the name "Deacy". I thought it would be cool if the Deacy family named their kids Acey and Washington, but I think I was the only one who was amused by that notion. Sigh...my humor is sometimes lost on the Irish!

Here's a photo that I snapped, interestingly enough, in St. Finnbar's cemetery. Notice the name on the Celtic headstone; this may explain a lot about the name selection process in Ireland...

Which brings me to Seamus. This name confuses everyone. It is the Irish version of James. Most people call Seamus "Jim", but I like Seamus. He just looks like a Seamus. The real confusion came when I first told my mother about him. She said, "What's his name? Amos?" to which I replied, "No, Mom...it's Shay - mus..." She said, "Oh, it's Shame-Fuss?" You gotta love my mom, who took an unusual name and made it into something EVEN MORE...weird! Then she asked me to spell it! I said, "No, Mom...believe me, that won't help!" Sure enough, I sent her some photos of Eleni and I with Seamus in Ireland, complete with captions. Then, when the three of us visited my parents a couple of months ago, Mom called him "See-mus"! We finally got it straightened out, but maybe we should've just called him Jim...

Poor, sweet Seamus--I still can't resist the temptation now to call him Shamefus.