Why Y?
It is a fair question. Why is my name spelt N-y-l-e and not correctly N-i-a-l-l ?
It’s a stage name isn’t it?
Well no. The spelling on my birth certificate is the one with the Y. Y! Y?
It’s sort of straight forward but then it isn’t. The name “Niall” is a Gaelic boy’s name meaning “Champion” and pronounced in Irish “Neal”. In English it is pronounced Nile but more often Neil. Quite simply my mother wanted me to be called N-i-a-l-l but pronounced Nile and not spelt like the Egyptian river. So that’s it in a nutshell. Nile with a Y. That’s me. The P in the middle? Well that should be obvious. I’m Irish. It can only be Patrick. Or is it Paddy, Padraig, Paraic, Patsy, Pat, Paddi, Paidi...