subst. invar. See
A Guide to Ogam 119-20
,
Éigse xxviii 44, 50-1
. A word belonging solely to the
O.Ir. period, always used in apposition to a preceding npr.
(occasionally a place-name) and folld. by another npr. in gen.
case. Acc. to MacNeill,
Ériu iii 42 fg
. the combination moccu
+ gen. is equivalent to `
belonging to the gens or family of',
the follg. gen. being the name of the eponymous ancestor; in
Adamnán's Vita Columbae it is frequently preceded by the
abl. gente and possibly its use in Irish after a npr. involves an
ellipse. The latest contemporary use in AU is in the year 690,
the last instance in 789 (
comotatio . . . Mochuae micu
[= macu] Lugedon). Latest contemporary use is in 9th century in Mart. Óeng (see
Éigse xxviii 43-44
). The oldest form may be mocu, frequent in Adamnán; maccu is usual in L Ardm., macu and
maccu in AU; generally written with contraction m̅c̅. In the
Mid.Ir. period the word was often changed by writers who no
longer understood its exact meaning into mac uí, mac úa
(common forms in Mid.Ir. MSS., see variae lectiones in Fél.)
and by mod. edd. it is often printed as two words (so nearly
always in AU); Marianus Scotus translates it by filius nepotis
(
Todd Lect. iii 17.17
).
Exx. from Lat. lit.:
Fintenus gente mocu Moie,
Adam. VC
i ch. 2
(
Thes. ii 273.4
).
presbytero . . . Ernani filio gente mocu
Neth Corb, ib.
Lugbeus gente Mocu m.¤
,
i 28
=
Thes. ii 275.14
(cf.
Lugbeum Mocu Min,
i 15
=
Thes. ii 274.20
).
Trenanum
gente Mocu Runtir,
i 18
(
Thes. ii 274.30
).
senex . . . gente
Mocu Firroide,
iii 23
.
de Erco fure Mocu Druidi,
i 41
.
Miliuc
maccu Bōin,
Ardm. 9a2
(
Thes. ii 262.11
).
filium Milcon maccu
Boóin,
11a1
(
Thes. ii 264.28
).
Muirchu maccu Machtheni,
20b1
(
Thes. ii 271.34
).
hi nDruim Moccu Echach,
5b2
(
Thes. ii
260.22
).
Luguid Mocu Themne,
Thes. ii 281.8
.
To Channu
Mocu Fircetea . . . To Cummi Mocu Cein,
ib. 9
,
20
.
de . . . fide
Dubthaich maccu Lugir,
Ardm. 20a2
(
Thes. ii 271.27
).
From Irish lit.:
Dubthach maccu Lugir,
Ardm. 18a1
=
Trip. 344.7
(
Thes. ii 241.6
). Cronan macu Loeghdae (sic leg.),
AU 637.
Dolaissi maccu Imde (sic leg.),
638
.
Colman maccu
Delduibh,
653
.
Comgan macu Teimhne . . . Baetan maccu
Cormaicc,
663
. Daircill maccu Rētai (i.e. of Dál Rétai = D.
Riada),
677
.
Cronan macu Chualne,
690
.
Colmán maccu
Béognai,
Fél. Jan. 22.
féil Gobbáin . . . maccu laindrech
Láne,
Dec. 6.
Mellan Inse húasle Maccu Cuinn (Inchiquin in
Lough Corrib),
Feb. 7
; cf.
June 14
,
Oct. 11
and
30
.
do shíl
moccu Crecca,
Ériu iii 138.100
.
do Gubrith moccu Buén,
139.134
.
Mōin mocu āin Augaini
'M. aus dem Geschlecht des edlen A.',
Ält. Ir. Dicht. ii 7 § 4
(macco, maccu, macu, mac
ua MSS.).
Háonna macui Laigsie,
ACL iii 1.9
. Cluain maccu
Nois: gen.
Cluana maccu Nois,
AU 788
,
790
,
867
;
C. macu
Nois,
813
; but
Cluain mic N.,
547
,
548
,
C. mac N.,
817
;
Cluana
micu N.,
584
,
693
,
miccu N.,
834
,
mic N.,
598
,
870
. For other
exx. in place-names see
Hog. Onom.
s.v. Moccu.
In
Ält. Ir. Dicht. ii 17 § 2
Meyer reads:
mocui Chuinn . . .
machta `die Nachkommen Conns sind erschlagen' as if n
p.;
MSS. have m̅c̅ hui, m̅c̅ hu, m̅c̅ h.
Used absolutely of a single individual?
tiucfa macu
dochum domhuin . . . fer tren tuachail,
ZCP viii 196 § 21.