When I was growing up, my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins called me Tommy. Occasionally, my mother would also call me Tommy (although it was Thomas when I was in trouble). Everyone else just called me Tom.
As you probably know, my last name is Smith. It’s a very popular surname (in case you were not aware of that), and surprisingly, the fifth most popular surname in Ireland. A very long time ago, it was found mainly in the town of Cavan, which was home to the Mac Gabhann clan. Smith is the Anglicized form of Mac Gabhann and the Smith surname is now found throughout Ireland.
According to my DNA matches on Family Tree DNA, a substantial proportion of my Irish distant cousins reside in Galway… for the superb Fish and Chips I suppose.
Since I am half-Irish, you can call me O’Smith if you want.
Just kidding… don’t.
I once had a friend who liked to call me Smithinski. This was because I am also half-Polish.
I have a middle name as well, but I don’t use it much. I suppose most folks don’t use their middle names… unless you are a Jim Bob, or a Billy Joe, or a Mary Lou, or a Barbara Ann, or something similar. By the way, the proper pronunciation of that last one can be a bit tricky… let me help you out… it’s /ba-ba-ba-baba-aran/.
Anyway… my middle name is Brian.
I mentioned earlier that my mother would call me Thomas when I was in trouble. If I was in deep trouble, she would call me Thomas Brian… as in “Thomas Brian, you get your a** home right now.” It was very helpful to grow up with an easy-to-interpret verbal barometer like that… especially one with three distinct severity levels… Tom (no problem), Thomas (get your alibis in order), Thomas Brain (hide).
Back to my middle name. Of those who knew what it was, most knew not why I had it. It was something I didn’t talk too much about, for I was not a person who liked to brag. You see, I am named after Brian Boru, High King of Ireland.
When I was born, my hair was red… I’ve seen color photos that show this to be true. The red hair did not last though… gone before I could walk. Yet, in my younger days, before turning gray, my hair would exhibit unruly tints of red whenever I ventured out under the summer sun for extended periods. I am told I had a great-grandmother whose hair was red… I never met her though… she died young.
I did keep the red-headed skin though, and I had freckles as a child, thus my skin does not tan easily (if at all), which has left me with the uncanny ability to obtain a really nice sunburn just by thinking about going outside on a sunny day.
And I do check my DNA matches often… waiting for the Boru surname to show up. It hasn’t yet, but I’m sure it will… eventually. Note, I do know that Brian Boru’s actual last name was something different, with Boru being added after his death; but I’m not letting something like that get in the way of discovering my true ancestry.
Besides… I don’t need more proof than I already have concerning my being a descendant of Brian Boru. Brian and I have so much in common… his first name and my middle name… the red hair thing… and also this amazing factoid: He first rose to power, as the King of Munster, in the year 978… and exactly 978 years later (in 1956), I would be born. Coincidence? I think not.
You can call me Mr. Boru if you like.
