Dervla and Derval are female Irish given names, anglicised from Deirbhile and Dearbháil, respectively. Dearbhla is a Gaelicised hybrid of the two names.[1] Deirbhile means 'daughter of the filí' [poet]. Dearbháil, a common medieval name,[2][3] may mean 'daughter of Fál', Fál being a poetic name for Ireland;[2] or else 'true desire'.[4]
People with these names include:
Deirbhile, Dervla
- Darbiled or Deirbhile, an anchoress who founded a monastery at Erris in the sixth century
- Dervla Kirwan (born 1971) Irish actress
- Dervla Murphy (1931-2022) Irish travel writer
- Dervla Burke, musician in the country band Crystal Swing
- Dervla Magennis, contestant in series 1 of The Voice of Ireland
Derbáil, Dearbháil, Dearbhail, Derval
- Dearbháil iníon Tadhg mac Cathal (died 925), aunt of Cathal mac Conchobair, king of Connacht
- Derval O'Rourke (born 1981), sprint hurdler
- Derval Symes, visual artist
Dearbhla
- Dearbhla Walsh, film and television director
- Dearbhla Molloy (born 1946), actress
Fictional
- Dearbhla Dillon, character in the soap opera Fair City
- Dervla Nolan, character in the novel Dead Famous
- Dervla Dove, child character in the novel Flight of the Doves
References
- ^ Cresswell, Julia (1996). Collins Gem Irish First Names. HarperCollins. pp. 89–90. ISBN 9780004709420.
- ^ a b Corráin, Donnchadh Ó; Maguire, Fidelma (1981). Gaelic personal names. Academy Press. ISBN 9780906187395.
- ^ O'Brien, Kathleen M. "Derbáil / Dearbháil". Index of Names in Irish Annals. Medieval Scotland. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
- ^ Coghlan, Ronan (1979). Irish Christian names: an A–Z of first names. Johnston and Bacon. ISBN 9780717942503.