Dia dhuit,
My name is Br. Brendan and I am an Irish-American monk. I have just begun to learn Gaeilge and I've found it a fascinating and unique language! I'm very happy to have found this forum as well, although the users seem very advanced. I hope my posts are acceptable in their simplicity.
My question is this: My surname is TUMILTY and I've always wondered at the etymology of this name. I haven't had much luck researching its origin, but I did find this piece of information:
Quote:
(Celtic) Big, Bulky [Irish Tomaltach-filial form Mac Tomaltaigh, nepotic form O' Tomaltaigh; tomalt, size, bulk + the pers. suff. -ach] Tomaltach, tighearna Cianachta Glinne Geimhin, décc.
(Tumilty, lord of Cianachta, etc., died).— Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 752.
According to Concannon, 'Mion-Chomh- rádh’, p. 129, ‘Thomas’ has been used to replace the Irish ‘Tomaltach’.
— Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison
I looked in my Irish dictionary and found this:
Quote:
toirtiúil, a2. Large-sized, bulky.
I was unable to find an entry for the word, "tomalt" that means 'size' or 'bulk'. Is this a different dialect, or perhaps an obsolete word? Now, I did find this entry in the same dictionary:
Quote:
tomhail, v.t. & i. Eat, consume.
Perhaps my ancestors were big eaters and thus became quite large?
Any input on this question would be appreciated!
Speaking of names, I was given the name "Brendan" when I joined this monastery because of my Irish heritage. I noticed the name is spelled "Breandán" in Irish. I will use this spelling whenever I can!

Go raibh maith agaibh!