1. Where did the name Ciarrai come from?
I chose an Irish persona because Sir John Ean Airgead had an Irish
persona and I was in his household and admired him. (I was actually in
John's household before my first event, a story that I might go into
some other time). Looking in the encyclopedia under Ireland, I saw a
picture of County Kerry and decided Kerry would be a good name for my
persona (I may have been partially influenced in this decision because
of Kerry Livgren, the genius behind the rock group Kansas.) Later, I
found out the the Gaelic spelling of Kerry was Ciarrai. I no longer
remember how I chose my surname. Shortly after I picked this name,
someone pointed out to me that one of the members of the Irish group
Clannad was named Ciaran O Braonain
but that is a coincidence.
2. How is Ciarrai pronounced?
This is really two questions, 1)How do I pronounce Ciarrai? and 2) How should Ciarrai be pronounced?
I had no idea how to pronounce Ciarrai when I adopted the name. I ended up telling people
something like KEY-are-ee. My favorite mispronounciation (of what was already a mispronounciaton)
sounded like curare. Various pronounciations guides on the web differ but KEH-ehr-ree seems to
be a fairly common suggestion. In other words, much like Kerry but with something Irish done to
the 'r'. I would have been better off simply using Kerry.
3. Does Ciarrai's heraldic device have any special signifigance?
A little. The device is blazoned "sable, a sun or between four oak leaves".
Actually, that is not exactly what is registered with the SCA College of Arms
(I had to add a point of difference) but that is what I painted on my shields.
The root word for the name Ciarrai is the Old Irish ciar which means
"dark" so the background of the device is black to make a
cant. The sun
seemed an appropriate charge for an Irish persona and is also an allusion to my
persona's fiery temper. The oak leaves are specifically white oak leaves (quercus alba)
and are there because white oaks are my favorite trees.
Was Ciarrai the first unbelted fighter (neither a squire nor a knight)
to win a Crown List in Meridies?
This is a question that I have actually been asked a couple times since
I left the SCA. The answer is no. My royal father, Kane Redfeather,
was an unbelted fighter when he won his first crown. I was his King's
Champion and, when I won the next Crown, his Prince. So I was the second
unbelted fighter to win a Meridian Crown List. The confusion
may arise because Kane and I had both been squires at one time but had
given up our belts. Some more trivia from that time period that may (or may
not) be of interest is that Kane won the next Crown List after me, so he
was my father and son. The next time I fought in a Crown List I took third
(beating Kane this time). I was taken out by Sir Stephen Wolfe but my own
knight, John Ean Airgead, won the tournament. So I have a trifecta: I
fought in three crown lists and took first, second and third.
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