Ciarraige
/ˈkʲiəɾˠaɟə/noun
An ancient Irish tribal group and the name of a people from whom County Kerry takes its name.
Did you know?Ciarraige is an ethnonym built from the Irish personal name Ciar, meaning “dark” or “black,” so the name of Kerry ultimately preserves a very old “dark people” identity.
Etymological Timeline
Old Irish
Gaelic
Ciarraige
“the Ciarraige, an Irish kin-group or tribal people”
Proto-Celtic
PCelt
*kīro-
“dark, black, swarthy”
Old Irish
Gaelic
Ciar
“dark, black-haired; also a personal name”
Middle Irish
Gaelic
Ciarraige
“the descendants or people of Ciar”
Modern English
English
Kerry
“the county name derived from the Ciarraige”