#cara o'carrick

[theoakleafpancake]

The O'Carrick Family/Hibernia Spiel

(just a few things I looked up and kind of correlated to RA because I'm lowkey obsessed with the entire family as a whole and I don't know what else to do with this knowledge so you, dear reader, are now imbued with it)

"Carrick is ancient Scottish and Irish name that is derived from teh Gaelic word 'carraig' meaning 'rock.'" Dunno if this was Flanagan's intentions or not, but it actually does fit what we know of the family on a metaphorical sense.

Back centuries, people from Ireland were said to have dark skin (and blue eyes). I rest my case.

The name Caitlyn (of Irish origin) means "pure." We know next to nothing about Caitlyn, but it fits her.

Alternatively, the name "Ferris" (also of Irish origin) means "strong man or ironworker." I find that hilariously ironic.

Also alternatively, and someone has probably pointed this out already, Halt's name is from "England's ancient Anglo-Saxon culture...comes from when the family lived near a grove or woods." However, unlike Ferris's name, it does fit.

How royal succession worked in medieval Ireland is actually highly debated and uncertain. There's a whole article here on how this could have worked but my brain says no to summing it up. But something in there mentions that brother to brother succession was usually avoided, so if Halt had become King and let's say he produced one or several heirs, the likeliehood of Ferris having to kill the entire royal family would be pretty high.

Another basic point is that seniority rules, but that seems obvious.

There's an irish myth/legend of "the message of the butterflies...They move between worlds and bring messages and warnings. They are said to be souls, waiting to be reborn on earth." Nothing too specific I found solely interesting—don't get me wrong, it is cool—but I mainly found it eye-catching cause of Will's given nickname in The Emperor of Nihon-Ja. Not that Will is Hibernian, but Halt might've known that.

Leprechauns. "Little People." That's it.

Back to royal families again. One of the popular ways of succession was tanistry, an early Irish law, where the "reigning chief" would choose which of the male relatives to succeed him. Said chosen one also had to be elected from certain people. An interesting idea if the twins' father had chosen Ferris. But this was also banned during the years of James I due to the violence and wars it caused.

Isidore of Seville is known to be "one of the earliest medieval writers [of] Ireland." Ireland is referred to in his notes as "Hibernia." Maybe that's common knowledge already, but I didn't know that. And after the Normal Invasion, it was known as "Dominus Hiberniae."

In another article, it was stated that Ireland was "a country divided into two 'nations.'" The Anglo-Normal settlers, and the older Gaelic Irish. Ferris's name is of Irish descent. But Halt's is Anglo-Saxon and while it's not Anglo-Norman, their namesakes were from different sides. Take with that what you will.

I find it funny that the harp is literally one of the symbols of Ireland and yet Halt is so utterly tone-deaf.

[artsysurvivor]

[Image ID: Two heart-shaped gold lockets, one open and one closed. The top one is closed with two hands with gloves on holding a heart with a simple crown above it. It's held on to a chain by an elongated sea-shell like hole. The bottom is open, and on the left, hand-carved into the space, is "Cara is fearr go deo *scratchy heart* -C". Both are shaded and lit from the top right. /End ID]

I imagine Caitlyn gave this to her brothers for one of their birthdays...

Design on the front: It's a simplified version of the Claddagh Ring; the hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty. (Which we know the O'Carrick siblings represent well...especially Halt and Ferris...haha...)

"Cara is fearr go deo": "Best friend forever"