Argyll - What’s in a name? by and © Adrian C Grant 29th April 2020 Abstract Contrary to received wisdom, while the phrase airer Goídel did have a geographical application, the name of the County of Argyll in Scotland has an entirely unrelated etymology, being a name transferred from Airgialla/Oriel in Ireland. This paper examines and distinguishes the two, explaining the difference and how the conflation occurred. Introduction The historic Scottish county of Argyll comprised the bulk of the mainland area previously known as Dalriada, the homeland of the Scots before they conquered Pictland in the 840s AD. When I first considered this place name Argyll, what leapt out at me was its similarity to the original name for the territory including the Irish County Oriel - Airgialla/Oirghialla. I trusted the normal etymology offered - ie meaning “hostage givers” - and regarded this as a reasonable explanation for the Scottish Argyll also as I supposed that the first Dalriadans in Scotland would indeed have been required to give hostages to their overlords in Irish Dalriada, to keep them in line. The problem was that I could see no early use of the term to back this up - so although it remained my supposition it was no more than that. In this article I show why my instincts were correct - but not for the reasons or on the timescale which I had supposed. The received ‘wisdom’ The traditional approach to the explanation for the name Argyll is very adequately summed up on the Wikipedia page on the matter (accessed 8th April 2020): The name derives from Old Gaelic airer Goídel (border region of the Gaels). The early 13th-century author of De Situ Albanie wrote that "the name Arregathel means margin (i.e., border region) of the Scots or Irish, because all Scots and Irish are generally called Gattheli (i.e. Gaels), from their ancient warleader known as Gaithelglas." The De Situ Albanie is however of dubious authenticity. The first sentence here is far too definitive - indeed the paragraph would be far more accurate if it had been left out. Reconsideration It has been only too easy for academics and amateur enthusiasts alike to dismiss out of hand this entry in the Annals of the Four Masters under the year 835: “Gofraidh, son of Fearghus, chief of Oirghialla, went to Alba, to strengthen the Dal Riada, at the request of Cinaeth, son of Ailpin”. We should decompose this entry and examine its constituent parts. 1. Clearly the date 835 cannot be right. Kenneth was no more than 21 years old and it would appear that Aed mac Boanta was the king of Dalriada at the time and for some years thereafter. However if we accept Kenneth’s dates as King as being 843-858 and that he was preceded by his father then a date of 845 would be feasible If the numbers were written in roman numerals then DCCCXXXXV