Rónán

Rónán (anglicized Ronan) is an Irish language male given name meaning "little seal" (Rón meaning the animal "seal", and -án being a diminutive suffix) and was the given name of twelve saints throughout history,[1] including St Ronan of Locronan (a monk who settled in armorican Brittany), St Ronan of Iveagh, St Ronan of Iona, St Ronan of Ulster and St Ronan Finn, who was made famous in the legend Buile Shuibhne (The Madness of Sweeney).

The name may derive from the Irish legend that tells of a mother seal who is warned never to stray too close to the land. When the seal is swept ashore by a huge wave, she becomes trapped in a human form, known as a "Selkie" or "seal maiden". Although she lives as the wife of a fisherman and bears him children, known as "ronans" or "little seals", she never quite loses her "sea-longing". Eventually she finds the "seal-skin" which the fisherman has hidden and slips back into the ocean. However, she can't forget her husband and children and can even be seen swimming close to the shore, keeping a watchful and loving eye on them.[2]

People
First name
Surname
  • Alfred Ronan (born 1947), American politician
  • Colin Ronan (1920–1995), British astronomer and writer
  • Daniel Ronan (1914–1969), American politician
  • Ed Ronan (born 1968), Canadian ice hockey player
  • Frank Ronan (born 1963), Irish writer
  • George Ronan, first graduate of West Point to die in action
  • John Edward Ronan (1894–1962), Canadian composer of liturgical music
  • Niall Ronan (born 1982), Irish rugby player
  • Saoirse Ronan (born 1994), Irish and American actress

Places

Other
gollark: ARing is nigh.
gollark: I'm not, somehow!
gollark: The chance of them disintegrating into ashes is just 0.1% if you try and hatch the NDs, you see.
gollark: Yep!
gollark: Low turn AND EXPERIMENT count.

References
  1. "Who was St Ronan?". Saint Ronan's School.
  2. http://audio.babynamesofireland.com/audio/ronan.mp3
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