Geraldine: Oh, you Irish, you love your wacky spelling, don't you?
Campbell: You can say that again, her brother's called Breifne.
Geraldine: Oh, what, it spells Krtnqz?note
Aoife: That's the guy.
Campbell: You can say that again, her brother's called Breifne.
Geraldine: Oh, what, it spells Krtnqz?note
Aoife: That's the guy.
While most people in Ireland today speak English, Irish (a member in the Goidelic branch of the Insular Celtic languages, closely related to Manx and Scottish Gaelic, and less closely to Breton, Cornish and Welsh) is spoken as an everyday language in some areas and as a name source among those who otherwise speak English. Written Irish uses a version of the Latin alphabet like English, but the similarities end there—the correspondence between Irish spelling and Irish pronunciation is quite different from the correspondence between English spelling and English pronunciation. Eighteen letters plus vowel acute accents [´] (the fada) are used to write native words, the same letters as the English alphabet minus j, k, q, v, w, x, y and z. Lenited letters were traditionally represented by a dot [˙] above (the ponc séimhithe), but now a lenited letter is followed by "h" in modern printed Irish (e.g. Meḋḃ becoming Medhbh).note In addition Irish was not standardised until the 1930s, leading to a wide variation in spelling for names pronounced the same way.
To complicate matters further, some Irish names are old Celtic names that became associated with Biblical names (especially in their Latin form) when Christianity came to the island, some are Irish forms newly derived from Biblical names, and some are Irish forms of English names (or of the Norman French versions of these names, which is why Irish forms of well-known English names often have a "softer" sound with more open vowels), formed once English power on the island became prevalent. And then to complicate matters even further, many contemporary names in Ireland are Anglicized forms of Irish names... and switch back to the Irish version if they're used while speaking Irish.
You might also notice that Irish names are far less prevalent in older Irish media, such as the work of James Joyce. That's because the Church had an unofficial policy of discouraging Irish names until the mid-late 20th century, as they were seen as a connection to a pagan, pre-Christian Ireland — the old description was "a name a priest wouldn't pour water over".note The exception was extremely common names with clear Christian links, like Seán, Séamus, Pádraig or Mícheál, which were and still are omnipresent. There was also a lot of code-switching
, with many people having their legal name recorded in English, the prestige language, but going by their Irish name in daily life. This persists in the older generation down to the present day even among English monoglots — many elderly Séamies or Mauras have 'James' or 'Mary' on their birth certificates. Irish nationalists known by their Irish names usually changed them in adulthood as part of the Gaelic Revival — Éamonn Ceannt and Seán Mac Diarmada were born Edward Kent and John McDermott. But in the modern era, a Saoirse, Conor, Eimear or Eoin is much more likely to be under forty than over it.
Because of the similarities between Irish and Scottish Gaelic, there are many names which have very similar Irish and Scottish forms. Sometimes Scotireland is almost a real place.
In Ireland, the language is identified universally as Irish, not "Gaelic", by English speakers. The language's autonym (name for itself) is Gaeilge (IPA: 'ɡeːlʲɟə).
Examples:
An approximation of the pronunciation is given in brackets. Our goal is not to make you fluent Irish speakers, but to keep you from getting laughed out of the Irish pub. Also, like every language, Irish has accents and dialects, so the pronunciation guide given may not always be the one you hear. open/close all folders
Personal Names
- Aengus (ain-gus) was the name of famous kings. Means something like "unity of strength" from "aon" (one) and "gus" (strength). The Scots form Angus is more familiar in the wider world. Predominantly masculine.
- Áine (Awn-ya), sometimes misspelt Onya or Ainé.
- Aisling (Ash-ling), feminine, means 'dream-vision'. One of the most popular names for girls in the 80s/90s and has now become its own stereotype - an "Aisling" is a practical, serious-minded young woman from the country who lives and works in the city, probably played camogie, the kind who'd give you a lift to the Ploughing Match or a county final. In fact, there is a series of books based on an "Aisling".
- Aoife (EE-fa), derived from the Irish aoibh, meaning "beauty". Sometimes anglicised as Eva. A very popular feminine name in Ireland (it's held down a spot in the top twenty baby names since the 1970s) that oddly has never really become popular abroad despite its relative simplicity. Probably they're scared of all the vowels.
- Art (Art). Not a diminutive, but a proper masculine name, unrelated to Arthur.
- The Irish-language redub of Arthur is retitled Art Ó Ruairc — which, as a Bilingual Bonus, was also the name of several ancient kings of Breifne.
- Bairre (Barry), is a diminutive of Fionnbharr meaning 'spear'. The modern anglicised form Barry is the most common use.
- Brían (Breen), is an Irish spelling (with an accent on the 'i') and pronunciation of a name that exists in France, Britain, and Ireland (in variations of Brian and Bryan) and is usually pronounced with the vowel sounds separated outside Ireland. It is, however, particularly popular in Ireland because of the tenth century king, Brían Bóruma, better known as Brian Boru, who reconfigured the internal politics of Ireland (taking the high kingship to Munster) and famously defeated a Norse army at the Battle of Clontarf. The actor Brían F. O'Byrne starred in FlashForward (2009).
- Caitlín (Kat-LEEN) Not pronounced "Kate-lynn". The anglicized spelling is "Kathleen" and it is a diminutive form of "Caitríona" or "Catherine", so the "Kate" part of "Katelynn" isn't that far off the mark.
- Caitríona (Cat-REE-na) is "Catherine". Also Scots, and the eponymous heroine of a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.
- Caoimhe (Kwee-va). In parts of Ireland it's pronounced (Kee-va). Occasionally pops up in media with the more anglicized spelling "Kiva".
- Caoimhín (Kwee-veen) is a name well-known in its anglicized form of "Kevin". It is most often associated with Saint Kevin of Glendalough, but dates to pre-Christian times and may mean something like "kind" or "honest". As with Caoimhe, above, is pronounced (Kee-veen) in some parts of Ireland.
- Cathal (Koh-hul) Translates directly as "battle ruler" or "mighty". Often equated to "Charles" but with no etymological connection ("Charles" comes from an old Germanic word meaning "free man"; an etymological translation to a Germanic language would produce something more like "Baldric" or "Hilderic"). Cathal Brugha was a twentieth century Irish patriot. (His name looks more intimidating than it is - Koh-hul Brew-a.)
- Cian (KEE-un), means "ancient". Very common, has remained in the top twenty boys' names every year since the 1990s.
- Ciarán (Keer-AWN or KEER-awn depending on dialect), meaning "little dark-haired one". Equally common in Anglicized form as "KEER-un", spelled either Ciaran, Kieran, Kieron, etc. St Ciarán was the first abbot of the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise.
- Ciara (KEER-ah), feminine form of the above. Never, ever "See-aara". A C in a Celtic language is always a K sound, never an S sound.
- Cillian (KILL-ee-uhn), probably derived from "little church". Another popular one in the twenty-first century, in the top 100 since 1990.
- Ciarraí (KEER-ee, the Irish form of "Kerry"). Extremely unusual as a given name in Ireland, because it's a placename, literally meaning "the place of the people of Ciar". The anglicized "Kerry" is somewhat more popular, though outside Ireland a Kerry is more likely to be found in Wales, where it's the anglicized version of the girl's name Ceri.
- Colm (Kol-um), means "dove". As in Meaney, Feore, Wilkinson and Ó Cíosóig (good luck pronouncing that last one). Anglicized as "Callum", as in Blue. "Callum" is more frequent in Scotland, and "Colm" is predominant in Ireland.
- Conchobar/Conchobhar (modern Cro-khoor, old Con-kho-var)note Origin of the name 'Conor'. 'Connor' while a popular spelling outside Ireland is generally restricted to the surname "O'Connor" in Ireland unless the lad's parents adopted the American spelling. Its meaning is "lover of hounds" and has been the name of a few legendary high kings of Ireland.
- Cormac (Kore- muck), means "raven". As in Cormac McCarthy.
- Cú Chulainn (Coo Kull-en), means "the hound of Culainn". The name of the great hero of Irish myth. Not really used as a personal name, unlike his birth name, Setanta (see below).
- Dáithí (Daw-hee), means "swift". Usually translated as "David" but again they're etymologically unrelated. A notable example is Daithi De Nogla.
- Darragh or Dara (dar-a) probably derived from doire, the Irish word for "oak tree".note The version Daire can also be used as a female name.
- Deirdre (deer-dra'), not "deer-dree" as in Hunt-Langton-Barlow-Rachid-Barlow. Listen to how Lady Deirdre Skye of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri pronounces her name (although somewhat confusingly, she's supposed to be a Scot—who speaks in a highly RP-ified accent). Often seen outside Ireland as "Deidre", pronounced "DEE-dree", but this appears to be some sort of mutation.
- Diarmuid or Diarmaid (Dar-mid or Dear-mid). Often anglicised as Dermot. Literally "without enemy"; associated to "Jeremiah" and may have been mutated into George on occasion. The surname "MacDiarmuid" ("son of Diarmuid"), anglicized as "MacDermot", seems to be the origin by a secondary back formation of the name "Kermit".
- Donndubháin (Dah-na-vun). A man's name meaning "dark-haired". Also common as a surname, O'Donndubháin. Usually anglicized as Donovan, though Donathan is not unheard of.
- Éamon(n) (Ay-mun). Guardian (mund) of the riches (ead). Associated with the English "Edmund" etymologically and "Edward" by tradition. Éamon de Valera was born Edward de Valera.note
- Emer/Eimear (Eee-mer). Sometimes misspelled Eimhear or Éimear. In mythology, this was the wife of Cu Chulainn. She was said to possess the six gifts of womanhood: beauty, voice, speech, needlework, chastity and wisdom. The epitome of the Proper Lady.
- Enda (Enn-dha). Despite appearances it is a masculine name with no etymological connection to "Edna" — the Taoiseach (i.e. Prime Minister for you foreigners) 2011-17 was Enda Kenny, and he was widely hailed for doing a decent job of it (not that everyone liked him or his policies, but he restored a measure of respect and dignity to the office after the previous two had gotten up to some truly embarrassing shenanigans). It means "birdlike" or perhaps, metaphorically, "free of spirit".
- Eoghan (Owen) — Literally means 'born of the yew' but associated with the English "Eugene" (recently seen as a pronunciation joke in the film Leap Year.)
- Eoin (Owen). — Derived, as is the English "John", from the Biblical "Yo(c)ha(n)nan", presumably via the Latin "Iohannes". Sometimes in anglicized Irish placenames, the word "Owen" is a transliteration of the word abhainn meaning "river". Eoin Colfer is the author of the Artemis Fowl series of fantasy novels.
- Fergal or Fearghal (fair-gal). Could be a word meaning "courageous", or could be from fear (meaning "man", pronounced "far") and geal (meaning "bright", pronounced "gyal") which would mean "bright man".
- Fergus (fair-gus). From fear for "man" and gus meaning "strong", so "virile warrior".
- Fiadh (FEE-a) - Simultaneously "deer", "wildness" and an old-fashioned word for "respect". Virtually didn't exist as a name before the twenty-first century, just a noun. However, it saw a meteoric rise from just eight baby girls in 2009 being given the name to the most popular girl's name in the country in 2021. Also spelled "Fia"note , although that version is significantly less common.
- Fionn (Fyun) or Finn. "Fair-headed". A man's name. Fionn MacCumhaill (pronounced Mac Cool) was a legendary warrior, leader of the Fianna. Not to be confused with the Scandinavian name Finn, meaning "someone from Finland", or the Welsh Ffion, a girls' name.
- Fionnuala (Finn-oola). "Beautiful" or more literally "fair shouldered". Actually more frequent in its shortened form of "Nuala", considered a name in its own right.
- Gobnait (Gub-nat). A rare name that's now mostly now know because of Frank Kelly's (of Father Ted fame) skit. It's actually a woman's name though. St Gobnait, from County Cork, is the patron saint of bees.
- Gráinne (Graw-nyah) - Grán is an Irish cognate of "grain", and "Gráinne" may refer to a harvest goddess. Not to be confused with the word gránna (Graw-nah) meaning "ugly". Grá is the Irish for "love" which may be picked up in the association of Gráinne to "Grace", although there is no etymological connection. It is also sometimes associated with "Gertrude". Gráinne does not have the old-fashioned associations of either "Gertrude" and "Grace"; rather it is associated with the historical female clan leader and indefatigable pirate Gráinne Ní Mháille, also known as Granuailenote and "Grace O'Malley", said to have sailed a flotilla of ships up the Thames to tell Elizabeth I to stay out of her business; and to the beautiful and free-spirited Gráinne of the mythological story of "Diarmuid agus Gráinne".
- -ín (een). Not a name in itself, "-ín" is the diminutive ending in Irish and is often seen in names (for example, "Caitlín" and "Róisín"). A name that does not already have an "-ín" may be pronounced with one attached as a nonce expression of affection. The anglicized form is usually spelled "-een", and shows up, for instance, in the word "smithereens", and in the name of Pusheen the cat.
- Liam (leem). The Irish form of "William". Gets the same two-syllable treatment in America as "Brian" (where Liam being Brian's son is a lot more likely than the other way around.
- Maeve, Meadhbh, Meabh, Medb (Mayv). In the The Cattle Raid of Cooley, it is Queen Maedhbh of Connact who starts a war to get her hands on a fabulous bull in order to one-up her husband in the possession and status stakes. The King of Ulster, owner of the bull, would not sell it to Maedhbh even though she offered her "friendly thighs" as part of the bargain.
- Máire (Maura), is "Mary" as a woman's given name, although "Muire" (Mwayr-uh) is the name used for the Mary of the New Testament. Máirín (Maureen) is a form including the diminutive "-ín".
- Niall (Neal) More common in the Anglicised reading of Niall (Nile). The name is so ancient its meaning is actually unknown, with candidates including "champion", "avid one", "passionate" or "cloud".
- Niamh (Neeve), "bright, radiant". Extremely common. The mythological Niamh was the princess of Tír na nÓg that Oisín fell in love with.
- Nollaig (null-ug). Literally "Christmas" and so the Irish name equivalent to "Noel", "Noelle", and "Natalie".
- Nuada (Noo-uh-dah): Nuadha (Noo-a) in modern Irish. Most notable for Nuadha Airgeadlámh, Nuada of the Silver Hand, in mythology. It's never reached the minimum threshold of three babies in a year to show up on the baby name statistics, but there might be one or two out there in the modern world.
- Nuala (NOO-la). See "Fionnuala".
- Óg (Oge). Not a name, but Irish for "young". Used similarly to the English "Jr.", but placed after the given name rather than the surname. Unlike English, the opposite is usually Mór, bignote . So Seán Óg's father would be Seán Mór - Fijian/Irish hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín is the brother of Setanta, mentioned below.
- Oisín (UH-sheen). Means "young deer". "Oisín in Tír na nÓg" is usually one of the first mythological tales children hear.
- Órlagh/Órla/Orlaith (Ohr-lah). Means "golden princess" or, more loosely, "fair lady". Celtic Woman's Órla Fallon, the Irish singer, is a famous artist with this name. Often loses its fada in English, but it's an important distinction in Irish - "orla" (no fada) means vomit.
- Pádraig/Pádraic (Pawed-rig, Pawrik or Paw-drik). It is one of many Irish versions of Patrick.
- Peadar (Pad-der), the Irish form of "Peter".
- Róisín (ROE-sheen or Roe-SHEEN depending on dialect) — Literally "Little Rose", so "Rosie", or "Rosaleen", a slightly old-fashioned anglicized form of the name in Ireland.
- Rónán (roe-naun) — Means "little seal". More common as the anglicised Ronan (roe-nun).
- Ruairí (Roor-ree), more commonly found these days anglicised as Rory — means "red king". The anglicised version at least is becoming popular abroad.
- Saoirse (Seer-sha), as in the actress Saoirse Ronan. Means "freedom" and was once unisex (like "Sam" or "Alex"); nowadays almost always feminine. Saoirse Ronan is often seen pronouncing her own name as Sur-sha - while still valid, this is a distinctively upper-middle class Dublin pronunciation and not how most people would say it.
- Séamus/Séamas (Shay-muss). For example, Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney. WWE has a more phonetically spelled version in Sheamusnote . The chances of an Irish character having this name are pretty high (as it's the local version of James),note note Harry Potter. The classic American Private Detective is sometimes called a "Shamus".
Da Fino: I'm a brother shamus!The Dude: Brother Séamus? Like an Irish monk?
- Seán (shawn), now a very common name in English-speaking countries (albeit without the accent, which technically makes it sean ("shan"), simply meaning "old"). Anglicised as Shaun or Shawn. Another form of "John", but coming via the Romance languages rather than the Germanic (which gave us Eoin).
- Seóirse (shore-sha) is the Irish form of "George".
- Seosamh (shows-iv) is "Joseph".
- Setanta (seh-tanta) was Cú Chulainn's birth name, still given to boys. Setanta Ó hAilpín was a famous Irish/Fijian hurler turned Aussie Rules footballer.
- Síle (shee-lah) is a form of the Latin Cecilia, patron saint of music. Or just a woman in Australia. Often seen Anglicised as Sheelagh or Sheila.
- Sinéad (Shin-aid). Irish form of "Jane".
- Siobhán (Shuh-vawn) — Joan/Jane/Jeanne/Johanna. A butchered version of the name has become somewhat popular in America, pronuonced as though it were English (See-Oh-bhan). It's become well enough known that when one contestant on American Idol was named Siobhan, even though she pronounced her name correctly, Ryan Seacrest and the radio hosts still pronounced it wrong.
- Sorcha (Sor-ika) — means "bright" or "radiant". The actress Sorcha Cusack (currently playing Mrs McCarthy on Father Brown) is a well-known bearer of this name. Her sisters, Niamh and Sinéad, are also recognized actresses, the latter is married to Jeremy Irons.
- Stiofán (shtuff-awn) is "Stephen".
- Tadhg/Tadgh (Tie-g). (in Ulster: Taig) The Anglicized "Teague" mostly shows up as a surname outside Ireland. Tadhg means "poet" or "philosopher" and is assimilated to "Timothy" (which in Greek originally means "honoring God").
- It's sadly fallen out of use in Ulster due to frequently being used as an insult toward Irish Catholics people by Loyalist Protestants.
- Úna (ooh-na) may be associated either to the word "uan" for lamb, or the Latin "una" for "one" or "unity". Anglicized as Una, Oona, or Oonagh. "Oonagh" was a Queen of the Fairies. The most famous modern bearers used the spelling "Oona", and are related: Oona O'Neill was Eugene O'Neill's daughter; she later married Charlie Chaplin, and their daughter Geraldine named her own daughter Oona Chaplin after her mother. It also sometimes shows up in England pronounced with a more Latin-inspired "Yoo-na", most notably the actress Una Stubbs.
Places, Institutions and Organisations
- Oireachtas (Irr-okht-us). The Irish parliament. It sits in Leinster House, Dublin—incidentally the architectural inspiration for the North Portico of The White House (the White House architect, James Hoban, was born in County Kilkenny).
- Dáil Éireann (Dawl). The lower house of the Oireachtas, akin to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. A delegate is addressed as Teachta Dála (t-YOCK-ta DAW-la) or more commonly "TD", while its chairperson is the Ceann Comhairle (k-YOW-n KOH-ur-le).
- Seanad Éireann (Shannud). The upper house — the Senate. Akin to the Canadian Senate, though partly elected through a restricted franchise.
- An Taoiseach (On Tea-shokh). The Prime Minister of Ireland, derived from an old term for "chief". Much like the British PM, the Taoiseach is picked by the President from the ruling party in the Dáil. Only referred to as a Prime Minister by foreigners. The prime minister of another country is not a Taoiseach, incidentally, but a Príomh Aire, which literally means "prime minister".
- The deputy to An Taoiseach is known as An Tánaiste (On Taw-nish-tah), derived from a historical position which is usually known in English as "tanist" (and is cognate with "thane").
- Áras an Uachtaráin (Oras on Ooch-terawn). The official residence of the President of Ireland. Note that the President's Irish-language title "Uachtarán na hÉireann" is otherwise not used in English.
- An Garda Síochána (On Gar-dah Shee-a-kawn-ah). The Irish police force. Means Guard(ian)s of the Peace; the Gardaí are often known colloquially as "the Guards". "Garda" (gar-dah) is singular (one garda = a cop) although "guard" is an equally common term; "gardaí" (gar-dee) is plural (two gardaí = two cops). Because the force was formed during the Civil War, the gardaí are mostly unarmed: like the British police (though unlike the police in pre-independence Ireland and the PSNI in Northern Ireland), firearms are not routinely carried by your average officer. Detectives and some uniformed officers (less than 10%) do carry weapons though.
- Raidio Teilifís Éireann (Rah-dee-oh Tell-a-feesh Air-un) is the Irish equivalent to The BBC, just a lot less, well, good. Can be picked up in Stroke Country due to signal overspill and via Sky Digital — but down the years, the initials RTÉ have been said to stand for "Reception Terrible Everywhere". The government has slightly more influence over the news coverage — banning the broadcasting of statements by the IRA and other groups for a while. (See The Troubles).
- Some of the UK terrestrial channels can be picked up in the Republic (usually from Northern Ireland, but some viewers in the east and south can pick up signals from Wales) and listings are covered in the Irish press. BBC One, BBC Two and the Channel 4 networks are available on the Irish carriage of Sky Digital.
- RTÉ's broadcasting ban on the voices of IRA members ran between 1971 and 1994; which lasted considerably longer than the broadcasting ban British channels imposed on all Republican and Loyalist terror groups (1988-1994).
- There's also TG4 (Tee-jee Ka-hur), the (mainly) Irish-language television channel based in rural Galway born as Teilifís na Gaeilge ("tellufeesh na Gay-ilguh"). Its highest ratings are for its coverage of GAA matches, and, ironically, undubbed-from-English Westerns. As well as being broadcast on the Republic's transmitter network, TG4 also broadcasts on Sky Digital and on reduced power from a TV transmitter outside Belfast for audiences in Northern Ireland - a condition of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
- Main reason they changed the name was because a fourth channel opened shop and called themselves TV3, pushing T na G to the fourth channel on most listings despite the fact that they were there first. They became TG4 so that any further additional channels wouldn't be able to knock them further down the list. Even after TV3 renamed to Virgin Media One in 2018, the TG4 name still remains.
- Óglaigh na hÉireann. The Irish Defence Forces, aka their military. Pretty small and mostly does peacekeeping. Practically a division of the UN peacekeeping forces. The Irish people who want some... "action"... tend to join the Brits with Battleships.
- Some words are very common elements of place names. Here are a few of the most obvious. It's also important to point out that Counties are always referred to as County X, rather than X County, as is often the case in the US.
- Bally is an Anglicization of "baile" (boll-ya) which simply means "town". It's the "bally" part of Ballykissangel.
- Mór (moor) is the Irish for "big" and beag (byug) is the Irish for "small". Forms of both are often found combined in placenames such as "Tramore" (big strand/beach) or Ballybeg (small town).
- Cill (kill) is "church" in Irish. For example the Irish county names of Kilkenny (Church of St. Canice) and Kildare (Church of the oak wood). Then there's the Irish TV comedy show, Killinascully.
- Cluain (cloo-in) means a meadow. It is anglicised as "Clon-", as in Clonmel or Clontarf.
- Coil (qwill) is "woodland", and is also anglicised as kill.
- Sliabh (shleeve) and cnoc (k-nuck) mean "mountain" and "hill" respectively. Ben or binn means "peak", or, if largely surrounded by water, "headland".
- Carraig (cor-rig) means "rock" and appears in English as "crag", as in Craggy Island, or Carrick, as in Carrick-on-Shannon. The Scots Gaelic form is the root of the masculine name "Craig" as in "Craigslist" or Craig Ferguson.
- Droichead (drih-hid) means bridge and nua (new-a) means "new" so "Droichead Nua" is "Newbridge". The word átha (aw-ha) means "ford" so the town of "Drogheda" or "Droichead Átha" is both a bridge and a ford. Incidentally, the anglicized spelling "Drogheda" is pronounced "Draw-had-a". American or British tourists who ask directions to "Drog-hee-daa" may be laughed at.
- A dún (doon) is a type of fortification — a spectacular example is Dún Aengus (the Fort of Aengus) - while caisleán (cash-lawn) is the Irish for "castle". The county and town of Donegal (done-e-gall) is in Irish, Dún na nGall (doon nah nawl) which means "Fortification of the Foreigner", the foreigners in this case being most likely Vikings.
- Gleann (glown to rhyme with clown) means "valley". The English word "glen" is the same (although perhaps from the Scots Gaelic form of the word).
- Loch, often anglicized as "lough", means lake (in Scotireland there's the Loch Ness Monster after all). In the mountains south of Dublin there's a ancient monastic settlement called "Glendalough" because it lies in a valley with two lakes - dó (d-owe) is the Irish for two - and near Belfast, Lough Neagh (lock neigh) is the largest lake in the two islands.
- In the opening titles of the old RTÉ soap opera Glenroe, the name of the fictional village was shown morphing through various Gaelic script types in its Irish name, Gleann Rua, before settling on the Anglicised Latin script name of the series.
Other Terms
- céilí (kay-lee), a party/jam session/dance/alcohol consumption marathon. Cèilidh (pronounced exactly the same) is the Scots Gaelic equivalent, and is sometimes seen (inevitably without the accent) in older English sources as an Anglicisation of either word.
- bodhrán (bow-rawn, with bow as in taking a bow, sometimes pronounced bow-ha-rawn), a wide shallow drum used in Irish music
- craic (krak), witty banter and general good times. Interestingly enough, it's actually a loan-word from the north of England as crack, and somewhere along the way it gained the Irish spelling. It's also thought to be etymologically related to the American insult "cracker", as the original crack had connotations of loud, boisterous, and specifically rural partying.
- A banshee or bean sí / bean sidhe (banshee represents the pronunciation well), meaning "fairy woman". The Sí (shee) are literally "mounds", but more commonly the people of the mounds, and a bean is a woman, which leads to the useful information that...
- The Irish for "man" is fear (far) and for woman bean (ban), which is sometimes important to know if you want to use the restrooms in Ireland. Of course, the plurals fir (rhymes more with whirr than fur) and mná (men-AW) are more often seen on toilet doors. Yes, that's right, the plural of "bean" is "mná"; obvious, isn't it?note And that's before we get into the fact that Connacht pronounces it "mrá" but still spells it mná... Anyway, Mná na hEireann (men-aw nah hair-in) are the women of Ireland, sometimes feminists, sometimes the exact opposite, depending on context.
- The pagan cross-quarter (halfway between solstice and equinox) feasts of Bealtaine (byal-tan-ah) and Samhain (Sow-en, sow as in pig) are now the Irish names for the months of May and November. "Beltane" is a fairly well-established anglicization of Bealtaine, but dewy-eyed adherents of Wicca insisting to Irish people that their calendar months are correctly pronounced "bell-tayn" and "sam hane" may be an effective spell to raise evil.
Incidentally, the name "Erin" comes from Éireann, which is the genitive (possessive) case of Éire, meaning 'Ireland'. "Col[l]een" comes from cailín, which just means "girl". The proliferation of "Irish" names which are actually Irish placenames or nouns (Erin, Shannon, Kerry, Colleen, etc) is mildly confusing to Irish people, especially when actual Irish names are so much lovelier.
