Colourful Irish Phrases

Micheál Ó Conghaile

• Publisher: Mercier Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781781178379, 9781781175552
• eBook ISBN: 9781781175569
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The Irish language has made a huge contribution to the English language as it's spoken in Ireland and beyond. Micheál Ó Conghaile's 'Colourful Irish Phrases' is a small compendium of characteristic phrases that will alert the reader to the unmistakable difference between our native language and English. Even the most basic words are expressed so differently. Please in Irish is más é do thoil é (if it is your will), and thanks becomes go raibh maith agat (may you receive good).There are many phrases that when translated, word for word, they sound different, unusual and sometimes funny. But above all, they are rich and deeply rooted. Visitors to Ireland who want to get some notion of our native identity will find these phrases both instructive and revealing.Topics covered range across subjects as diverse as insults and put-downs, being human and the gift of the gab.

A Motley Crew

There are many colourful Irish phrases which don’t fit easily into any category, but are worth inclusion despite this. I have gathered together some of the ones that I find most interesting in this last, general section.

Aire na huibhe.

Lit. The care of the egg.

Eggs were important for families to supplement their income and the women would often walk for two or three hours to a market with a basket of eggs to sell, of which they would take great care so that none would be broken. This is used in the context of something or someone highly valued and taken good care of.

Grá Dia.

Lit. Love for God.

A favour or good deed.

Commonly used in Rinne sé grá Dia dom (He did me
a favour).

Lig sé a chuid maidí le sruth.

Lit. He let his oars go with the current.

He let his chance go.

B’fhéidir is ní móide is níl ann ach drochsheans.

Lit. Maybe and unlikely and it’s only a bad chance.

A funny, long-winded way to say it’s unlikely.
Often used if one couldn’t (or didn’t want) to give a straight answer.

Thit sé ina chnap.

Lit. He fell in a lump.

Thit sé i mullach a chinn.

Lit. He fell on the top of his head.

Thit sé as a sheasamh.

Lit. He fell from his standing.

Cuireadh i ndiaidh a mhullaigh é.

Lit. He was put after his head.

He fell forward.

This phrase is mostly used when someone’s falling is totally out of his control, if a person is tripped, or slips on something.

Cár fhág tú an óinseach?

Lit. Where did you leave the foolish woman?

What would you expect?

There are two words for fool in Irish depending on the gender. Óinseach is the appropriate word for a woman or girl and amadán for a man or boy. Amadán críonna (wise fool) is a phrase that describes a man who would not be as foolish as he would look or act and could indeed be quite wise behind it all.

Thit sé i ndiaidh a chinn.

Lit. He fell after his head [head first].

Thit sé i ndiaidh a chúil.

Lit. He fell after his back.

He fell backwards.

Bhí sé faoi bhrí na mionn.

Lit. He was under the force or virtue of oath.

He is sworn to tell the truth.

Bhailigh sé leis a chip is a mheanaí.

Lit. He gathered up his lasts and his awls
[a cobbler’s tools].

This refers to somebody who is leaving and not coming back, such as a cobbler, who might spend some time in a village mending shoes until there would be no more work for him to do, so he
would collect all his belongings and move on.

Ar iompú boise.

Lit. On the turning of a palm.

Very fast. Immediately.

Ba cheart é a chur soir.

Lit. He should be sent east.

He should be put into the asylum.

This originated in Connemara but is now common in all Gaeltachtaí. In Irish, soir means east and there was a mental asylum in Ballinasloe in east Galway where many Connemara people were sent. For a few generations in Connemara the name Ballinasloe meant onl...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Insults and Put-Downs
• Family, Friendship and What Comes with It
• The Gift of the Gab
• Bad Behaviour
• Getting Down to Business
• Human Emotion
• Comparisons
• Hard Times
• The Demon Drink
• Personality Traits
• Being Human
• Daily Life
• Age
• Troublesome Times
• Words of Encouragement
• Time Together and Time to Relax
• A Motley Crew
• About the Author
• About the Publisher