Pronunciation /ˈteɪɡ/ Language(s) Gaelic languages | Gender Masculine Word/name Tadc | |
Meaning poet, philosopher, storyteller | ||
Tadhg (alternative spellings include Tadgh and Tadg) (/teɪɡ/, /tiːɡ/ or /taɪɡ/), is an Irish and Scottish Gaelic boy's name that was very common when the Gaelic languages predominated, to the extent that it is a synecdoche for Irish Gaelic man. The name signifies "poet" or "philosopher". This was also the name of many Gaelic Irish kings from the 10th to the 16th centuries, particularly in Connacht and Munster. Tadhg is most common in south-west Ireland, particularly in County Cork and County Kerry.
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The name has enjoyed a surge in popularity recently; in 2005 it was the 69th most common name for baby boys and in 2010 the 40th, according to the Central Statistics Office in Ireland. In the form "Taig" the name is used as a term of derogatory abuse for an Irish Catholic.
Etymology
The commonly accepted meaning of Tadhg is "poet" or "storyteller". The ultimate derivation is from the Celtic *tazg(j)o-, who were poets in early Celtic society. In any case, the related name element Tasgo-, Tasco-, or Taxo- is widely attested in Gaulish and early British names around the time of the Roman conquest (see, e.g., Tasgetius, Tasciovanus, Moritasgus).
When the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, many Irish names and place-names were given English meanings. Due to similarity in sound, Tadhg is often listed as an Irish equivalent of the Judeo-Christian names Thaddeus, Timothy (Tim) or sometimes Thomas, but these names are not actually related.
The name is also spelled "Taḋg" in the Irish uncial alphabet with an overdot over the d to indicate it is lenited; the "dh" serves a similar purpose in the modern spelling. Tadhg has been popularly anglicized as "Tighe" and "Teague". Alternative spellings are "Tadgh", "Taigh", "Taidgh" (found in North London). The name is found once in an Old Norse Viking source spelled as "Taðkr".
Tadhg is also a synecdoche and was once so common as an Irish name that it became synonymous with the typical Irishman in the same way that Paddy or Mick might be today. Hence, Irish phrases such as Tadhg an mhargaidh (lit: Tadhg of the market) or Tadhg na sráide (lit: Tadhg of the street) are similar to the English language expression "average Joe" or "the man on the street"
Williamite and Jacobite
In the late 1680s, the name "Taig" appears in the satirical Williamite ballad Lillibullero, which includes the line: "Ho brother Taig hast thou heard the decree?" In 1698, John Dunton wrote a mocking account of Ireland, titled Teague Land — or A Ramble with the Wild Irish. Thereafter, the derogatory use of the term was frequent.
However, there is also evidence from this era of the name continued to be used as a source of pride for assertive Gaelic Irish people. An Irish language Jacobite poem written in the 1690s includes the following lines:
Translation:
Although the term has rarely been used in North America, a notable example of such use was when John Adams successfully defended the British Army soldiers responsible for the 1770 Boston Massacre by pleading to the jury that the soldiers were acting in self-defence against:
"... most probably a motley rabble of saucy boys, negros and molattoes, Irish Teagues and outlandish jack tarrs. —And why we should scruple to call such a set of people a mob, I can't conceive, unless the name is too respectable for them:"
"Taig" and the Troubles
In the context of segregation in Northern Ireland and sectarianism in Glasgow, the term "Taig", is used as a racist epithet and derogatory term for a Roman Catholic, used by Northern Irish Protestants and Ulster loyalists. In this sense it is used in a similar way to the word Fenian, but is more ethnic or racial in terms of abuse against people of Gaelic descent than "Fenian", which more commonly signifies Irish republican. Extremist loyalists have also used in graffiti slogans such as "Kill All Taigs" (KAT) and "All Taigs Are Targets".