Rosaleen is an Irish female

first name First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared an ...

. It is an Anglicized version of the Irish name

Róisín Róisín, sometimes anglicized as Roisin or Rosheen, is an Irish female given name, meaning "little rose". The English equivalent is Rose, Rosaleen or Rosie. People * Roisin Conaty, English comedian * Roisin Dunne, guitarist in the group 7 ...

, the diminutive of "rose" in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

; it therefore means "little rose". It has use in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

since the 16th century, possibly popularised by

Rosaline Rosaline () is a fictional character mentioned in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A Capulet, she is the cousin of Juliet, niece of Lord Capulet, and Romeo's original romantic interest. Although an unseen character, her ro ...

in Shakespeare's

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

. The name featured in " Dark Rosaleen" by

James Clarence Mangan James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan (; 1 May 1803 – 20 June 1849), was an Irish poetry, Irish poet. He freely translated works from German, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and Irish, with his translations of Goethe gaining special interest. St ...

, a

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

poem disguised as a love song, in a time when

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

expression was outlawed in Ireland. Thus the name is a poetic

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

of Ireland. ''Dark Rosaleen'' is also the name of a novel by Elizabeth O'Shea Dillon, published in 1884, which was serialised in ''

United Ireland United Ireland (), also referred to as Irish reunification or a ''New Ireland'', is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically: the sovereign state of Ireland (legally ...

''.

People with the given name

* Rosaleen Davey (born 1947), Irish visual artist * Rosaleen Linehan (born 1937), Irish stage, screen and television actress * Rosaleen Love (born 1940), Australian science journalist and writer * Rosaleen McDonagh, activist, playwright and Irish Traveller * Rosaleen Mills (1905–1993), Irish activist and educator * Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds (born 1960), British businesswoman, artist and disability rights campaigner *

Rosaleen Norton Rosaleen Miriam Norton (2 October 1917 – 5 December 1979), who used the name of "Thorn", was an Australian artist and occultist, in the latter capacity adhering to a form of pantheistic / Neopagan Witchcraft largely devoted to the Greek god ...

(1917–1979), New Zealand-born Australian artist and occultist

References

{{given name English feminine given names Feminine given names English given names Irish feminine given names