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Gilbert/Galbraith as first names

RC
Roger Cousens
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 6:03 AM

Please forgive me, but as a new member I am likely to be asking lots of questions for a while, rather than providing information.

I am trying to sort out some strange discontinuities in the Moffat family of Clabby, Co. Fermanagh.  A Gilbert Moffatt (b.1769- ), sometimes written down as Gilly or Gilby, at some point is replaced by a Galbraith ( -1847).  I have assumed that these were two different generations, but unfortunately we are missing critical dates (before Clabby church was built, I assume they would have been buried at Fivemiletown, but those records are either missing or are held at PRONI and hence not accessible from Australia or during Covid; there is one Moff gravestone at St Johns Fivemiletown, for William and Mary - probably Gilbert's grandparents; we have been through all the Clabby and Tempo records).  [The spelling of Moffat is so inconsistent: I tend to call them Moffs.....]

A Moffett (unrelated, we think) from the Tyrone side of the border tells me that he had another Galbraith in his tree; in some documents he signed (or was entered) as Gilbert Moffett and some as Galbraith (e.g. on birth records of consecutive children).  Rather than being a clerical error, he believes that one was used just like a nickname.  Does anyone have any knowledge of such things?  I gather that in Ireland, Galbraith was used to mean "the Scot", or a Scottish import?  According to the Gaelic-English Dictionary, the English Gilbert  is Gillebride in Gaelic (I don't know how that would have been pronounced).  But my Googling can give me nothing more substantial.

Has anyone come across this interchangeability of Gilbert/Galbraith before?  If correct, it would clear up one of my biggest confusions with the Clabby Moffs (I end up with a Gilbert (1769-1847); or a Galbraith (1769-1847).........)
Best wishes

Roger Cousens

Please forgive me, but as a new member I am likely to be asking lots of questions for a while, rather than providing information. I am trying to sort out some strange discontinuities in the Moffat family of Clabby, Co. Fermanagh. A Gilbert Moffatt (b.1769- ), sometimes written down as Gilly or Gilby, at some point is replaced by a Galbraith ( -1847). I have assumed that these were two different generations, but unfortunately we are missing critical dates (before Clabby church was built, I assume they would have been buried at Fivemiletown, but those records are either missing or are held at PRONI and hence not accessible from Australia or during Covid; there is one Moff gravestone at St Johns Fivemiletown, for William and Mary - probably Gilbert's grandparents; we have been through all the Clabby and Tempo records). [The spelling of Moffat is so inconsistent: I tend to call them Moffs.....] A Moffett (unrelated, we think) from the Tyrone side of the border tells me that he had another Galbraith in his tree; in some documents he signed (or was entered) as Gilbert Moffett and some as Galbraith (e.g. on birth records of consecutive children). Rather than being a clerical error, he believes that one was used just like a nickname. Does anyone have any knowledge of such things? I gather that in Ireland, Galbraith was used to mean "the Scot", or a Scottish import? According to the Gaelic-English Dictionary, the English Gilbert is Gillebride in Gaelic (I don't know how that would have been pronounced). But my Googling can give me nothing more substantial. Has anyone come across this interchangeability of Gilbert/Galbraith before? If correct, it would clear up one of my biggest confusions with the Clabby Moffs (I end up with a Gilbert (1769-1847); or a Galbraith (1769-1847).........) Best wishes Roger Cousens