Desmond is not in the Bible. It is Irish — an anglicised Deasmhumhain, meaning “south Munster,” the region in southern Ireland that was once a kingdom. A geography, carried as a surname, then given as a name. Its most famous bearer was an Anglican archbishop who spent two years listening to people describe the worst things human beings do to each other, and who insisted the whole time that this was Christian work. What does the name Desmond mean? South…

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