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I think there is a semantic disconnect here. Most of the time we're not talking about "Anglicization" as such. Some of your examples are names with common origins (e.g. Patric and Padraig), others are hybrids combining combining the Irish version and English version of a name with yet another origin (Kathleen, from Greek Ekaterina, through a combination of English Katherine and Irish Caitlin); in other cases English speakers have adopted an Irish name unaware of its pronunciation (e.g. Caitlin with the pronunciation kei:tlin rather than kha:tli:n?); in yet other cases the English version will be a development of a Scots Gaelic, Cumbrian, Welsh or Manx (a branch of Gaelic with English orthography) name, or even a development of an Irish name which has been naturalized and altered over the centuries (Irish names have been in use in Britain, with no standardized spelling, since the disintegration of the Roman empire, thus we have Cunorix and Coline in Wroxeter c. 470 later Anglicized as Cynric [y representing ü] and Ceol [via earlier Ceaulin]). None of these are really examples of "Anglicization" of more recent Irish names. There generally will not be any hard and fast rule when it comes to actual Anglicization though. You have to remember how it happens. Either an English-speaking individual hears an Irish name and creates what they personally think is an English approximation, or an Irish immigrant will alter their own name to fit in with their new acquaintances' way of writing and speaking. With no rule to follow, and no clear idea of standard English orthography (un-embellished by the many exceptions for foreign words in place already), they make unique choices about simplifications, changes in pronunciation, and adaptations in spelling, and the use of "folk etymology" (adapting the form of a word to fit another more familiar word, e.g. Cearbhall to Carroll (similar to Carol, familiar as a version of Charles), or Tool(e from Tual (short for Tuathal, in the same way Alfred is short for Athelfred).

This message was edited 6/6/2016, 5:32 PM