celbarr

Speculative, DIL suggests a comparison with cennbarr (q.v.). and posits the meanings 'headpiece, helmet'. The second is perhaps unlikely, inasmuch as the first citation (from Bruiden Da Chocae 'Da Choca's Hostel' depicts a high-status woman wearing a caelbarr as part of an extremely rich ensemble; on the other hand the citation from Tochmarc Ferbe is discussing a troop of warriors, though this does not require the word to mean 'helmet'. The second element is certainly barr (q.v.), but the first is uncertain. The Irish word cel 'concealment' is possible but not usually found in composition. The form caelbarr suggests the first element may in fact be cáel 'narrow', used in many compound nouns, but what this would imply for the appearance and use of the item is unclear. A second possibility is that the first element is in some way related to caille 'veil', but cel- is unlikely as a reduction of caille (a form in ca(i)ll- is more probable). In one citation, an undated (perhaps Middle Irish) passage in the law-texts uses this word of a caul (q.v.), specifically the membrane on a baby's head, rather than the headdress. However, given the use of English caul in medieval times for both the tissue and the headgear this use of celbarr is entirely explicable. Another version of this story uses the word cathbarr (q.v.).