Frequently Answered Questions on soc.culture.irish. Send corrections, suggestions, additions, and other feedback to The FAQ maintainer.
Here are a few samples to whet your appetite. Note that even greetings vary between the dialects.
Dia duit (Lit. God to you) Dia is Muire duit (Lit. God and Mary to you) Go mbeannaí Dia duit May God bless you Go mbeannaí Dia is Muire duit May God and Mary bless you Bail ó Dhia ort The blessing of God on you Bail ó Dhia is Muire duit The blessing of God and Mary on you Go raibh maith agat Thanks (Lit. May there be good at you) Go dtaga do ríocht May thy kingdom come Nár laga Dia do lámh May God not weaken your hand Gura slán an scéalaí May the bearer of the news be safe Gurab amhlaidh duit The same to you Tá fáilte romhat You are welcome Cad é (Goidé) mar tá tú? How are you? (Tír Chonaill) Cén chaoi 'bhfuil tú? How are you (Connacht) Conas atá tu? How are you? (Mumhan) Tá mé go maith I'm doing well An bhfuil aon rud úr ag dul? What's new? Aon scéal 'ad? What's new? (Connacht) Slán leat Good Bye (said to one going) Slán agat Good Bye (said to one remaining) Sláinte chugat Good health to you Gabhaim pardún agat I beg your pardon Gabh mo leithscéal Pardon me (Lit. Accept my excuse) Más é do thoil é If you please Le do thoil Please Breithlá shona duit Happy birthday to you Saol fada chugat Long life to you For the following greetings Gorab amhlaidh duit is a common answer: Oíche mhaith duit Good night Codladh sámh duit A pleasant sleep Nollaig shona duit Happy Christmas Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi A prosperous and pleasant mhaise duit Christmas Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit A prosperous New Year Terms of Endearment a ghrá a rún a stór a thaisce a chroí a chuisle my dear darling/love/treasure muirnín leannán céadsearc sweetheart a ghrá mo chroí love of my heart! Ta grá agam duit. I love you. Curses Imeacht gan teacht ort May you leave without returning Titim gan éirí ort May you fall without rising Fán fada ort Long travels to you Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat May the cat eat you, and may the cat be eaten by the devil
The Foras na Gaeilge website includes a page on learning Irish.
Údar : Mícheál Ó Siadhail Teideal : LEARNING IRISH Foilsitheoir : Yale University Press -New Haven and London ISBN : 0-300-04224-8 For the accompanying tape set (four cassettes); Teideal : LEARNING IRISH CASSETTES ISBN : 0-300-04340-6
As a learner, you might consider a set of cassettes and booklet titled BUNTÚS CAINTE. They come in three levels. This is convenient as you don't have to purchase all three at once. It is recommended that you use BUNTÚS CAINTE for pronunciation in combination with PROGRESS IN IRISH.
Údar : T. Ó Domhnallain Teideal : BUNTÚS CAINTE Vol.(1, 2, or 3) Book and Cassettes ISBN : X50153, X50154, X50155 Údar : Máiréad Ní Ghráda Teideal : PROGRESS IN IRISH ISBN : X71212
Conradh na Gaelige (The Gaelic League) welcomes all who are interested in learning/preserving Irish. The website is: http://www.cnag.ie. They can be contacted at the following addresses:
12 Sillogue Rd. Dublin 11 Ireland Phone: +353-1-842-9372 6 Sráid Fhearchair Dublin 2 Ireland Phone: +353-1-475-7401, [book shop +353-1-478-3814] Gaelic League Pittsburgh Branch P. O. Box 97742 Pittsburgh, PA 15227-0142
You can find more Irish related links at:
Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge
Conradh na Gaeilge
Foras na Gaeilge
Sabhal Mór Ostaig
Trinity College Maths department
.
Information concerning courses in spoken Irish (for adult learners) is available from the contact numbers given below. If you are thinking of visiting Ireland this summer, you might consider building into your holiday plans one of these short, intensive courses in Irish Gaelic.
Here are three snail mail addresses to write to for info on those summer courses for different dialects of Gaelic:
(a) Gaeilge Chúige Uladh: if you wish to learn Ulster Irish.
Seoladh(address):
Oideas Gael,
Gleann Cholm Cille,
Contae Thír Chonaill,
Éire(Ireland)
Fón: +353-1-213566 or +353-73-3005
Oideas Gael also has a website: http://www.oideas-gael.com
(b) Gaeilge Chúige Chonnacht: if you wish to learn Connacht Irish.
Seoladh(address):
Áras Mháirtín Uí Chadhain,
An Cheathrú Rua,
Contae na Gaillimhe,
Éire(Ireland)
Fón: +353-91-95101
(c) Gaeilge Chúige Mumhan: if you wish to learn Munster Irish.
Seoladh(address):
Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne,
Baile an Fheirtéaraigh,
Contae Chiarraí,
Éire(Ireland)
Fón: +353-66-56100
Áisinteacht Dáiliuchán Leabhar, Book Distribution Center
31 Fenian Street
Dublin 2
Ireland
Telephone:(+ 353 1) 661 6522/ 6259.
Fax: (+ 353 1) 661 2378.
If you wish to order any of this material you should first write, phone or fax for a price that includes surface or air postage.
Note: In Ireland VAT (value added tax) does not apply to books, but does apply to tapes. However if you live outside the EU (European Union) you are exempt from VAT.
Am Scéalaíochta I Stories for young children: Sicín Licín; Na Trí Bhéar Book and Tape Am Scéalaíochta II Stories for young children: Na Trí Mhuc Bheaga An Circín Beag Rua Book and Tape Foclóir Póca - Caiséad Phonetic Tape prepared to accompany Foclóir Póca, an English-Irish/Irish-English dictionary of the synthetic Standard Irish dialect Íosagán & Scéalta Eile. Collection of short stories by Pádraig Pearse. These stories are also available in print as "Short Stories of Pádraig Pearse". Uair An Chloig Cois Teallaigh (An Hour by the Haerth) Dual Language Book and Tape compendium of folk stories Educational Services Teaching Cassettes Irish/Gaelige. Two cassettes with a small phrase dictionary. Educational Services Corporation 1725 K St., N.W., Suite 408 Washington, D.C. 20006 +1-(202) 298-8424Review: This is a conversation course with minimal grammar (next to none). I'm finding it very useful to start off with, as it teaches phrases, which give me a useable foothold with the language, and it repeats the Gaelic twice after the English is spoken.
Name: Schoenhof's Foreign Books Address: 76A Mount Auburn Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA Phone: (617) 547 - 8855 Fax: (617) 547 - 8551
Or you could try one of the Irish bookshops on the Internet. See part2, question 5.
SUBSCRIBE Gaeilge-B Your-firstname Your-surname
(If your name was "Joe Sixpack", this would be written as "SUBSCRIBE Gaeilge-B Joe Sixpack".)
To subscribe to Gaeilge-A, use the same command as above, but replace "Gaeilge-B" with "Gaeilge-A".
There are Irish speakers on soc.culture.irish as well.
http://www.charles-city.k12.ia.us/bode/accents.html
Brief table of key codes for accented vowels on Windows and the Mac.
http://www.starr.net/is/type/kbh.html
Extensive site on typing non-English language characters.
http://www.umass.edu/langctr/altnum.htm
Table of Alt key + number combinations for typing special characters.
http://www.loughman.dna.ie/general/placenames.html
http://www.exis.net/ahd/monaghan/irishplacenames.htm