BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...

Subject: BS: Req: list of Irish names w/English
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 Jun 08 - 09:40 PM

Wanted: list of Irish names with pronunciation and English equivalents

In a message by GUEST,Gweltas1, he (or she?) supplied some very helpful pronunciation hints and "translations" of some Irish names he/she used, for example:

Gráinne ("Grawn-yeh") = Grace
Ní Mháile = O'Malley
Cúchulainn ("Ku-kullin")
Oisín ("Usheen")
Níamh ("Neev")

This reminded me, I've often wished I had a list that would provide me with this kind of information.

Does anybody know of such a list online?

I don't need a complete Irish vocabulary or grammar. I would be content for now, with a list of common or famous personal names, both first names and surnames.

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Jun 08 - 10:19 PM

YOu can hear Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, pronounce 200 Irish baby names HERE.

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: ard mhacha
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 07:30 AM

A great Site.

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: Fiolar
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 08:20 AM

Miceal = Mee-Hall (Michael).

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: GUEST,Seiri Omaar
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 11:20 AM

Behind the Name: Irish Names

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: Geoff Wallis
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 01:06 PM

Cúchulainn is not pronounced 'Ku-kullin' - it's 'koo-hoo'lin'.

Gráinne should certainly not be Anglicised as 'Grace' - it does not have any equivalent form in English. The pirate Gráinne Ní Mháille became known 'Grace O'Malley', but that was through ignorance, not enlightenment.

Óisín is 'Osheen', not 'Usheen'.

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 04:00 PM

And how is the name/title Malachie really spelled, please? Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 04:01 PM

(Sorry, should have mentioned the musical connection here, when Malachie wore the collar of gold / Which he won from the proud invader.)

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 08 Jun 08 - 05:32 PM

Caoimhín - Kevin (and that's the simplified spelling...)

Here's a site with a list of Irish boy's names mostly in both languages.

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: GUEST,Dáithí
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 04:58 AM

Dáithí - (DAH-hee) - the last Pagan king of Ireland - and often used for David in modern Irish.

Go n-eirigh an t-adh leat!

Dáithí

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 08:10 AM

Thanks, everyone. I'm interested in surnames, too. Don't a lot of them have both Irish and Anglicized spellings? Aren't there some people who have either changed the spelling of their names, or used both versions, at different times or for different purposes?

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: ard mhacha
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 08:26 AM

Mrzzy, It is spelt Malachy in Ireland not Malachi a Jewish prophet.
The Irish spelling for Malachy is Maeleachlainn, [meall-shock-lainn].

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: RangerSteve
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:40 PM

There's a BBC series called "Ballykissangel" on DVD that I've been watching. I figured out some of the names mentioned already by reading the credits at the end. That's where I also figured out that Padraig is pronouned "Pawrig".

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 05:08 PM

Thanks, ardie baby, and how would an American spell the pronunciation of your name?

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: ard mhacha
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 04:02 AM

Sinply Ard ma-ha, translation of Ard Mhacha = Mhacha`s height or hill, also the name of the county, Armagh, in north-east Ireland.

Subject: RE: BS: Wanted: list of Irish names w/English...
From: GUEST,Gweltas1
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 09:19 PM

In answer to Geoff Wallis contribution....
"Cúchulainn is not pronounced 'Ku-kullin' - it's 'koo-hoo'lin'.
Gráinne should certainly not be Anglicised as 'Grace' - it does not have any equivalent form in English. The pirate Gráinne Ní Mháille became known 'Grace O'Malley', but that was through ignorance, not enlightenment.
Óisín is 'Osheen', not 'Usheen'."
------------------------------------
I am a fluent Irish speaker (Munster dialect), who received my secondary school education entirely through the medium of Irish. My pronounciation of Cúchullain, which means "Hound of Cullan" as "Ku- kullin" was correct as it was aimed at English speakers, who are unfamiliar with the Irish "soft C", an example of which occurs in the Scottish word for "lake" ie: "Loch Ness". To turn that "soft C" into a H would change the meaning to "Hound of Hullan". The letter h in Cúchullainn is there merely to indicate that the preceeding C is softened, unlike the initial C which has a K sound.

I agree with Geoff's point that the Irish name Gráinne SHOULD NOT be anglicised as "Grace", but in tradition and practise it certainly HAS been for quite a long time. I know several Graces (the oldest in her 70's) who all use Gráinne as the Irish form of their name. Any Irish child named Grace will automatically be given Gráinne as the Irish form of her name by her teachers when she starts school.

Note that the name Oisín does NOT have an accent over the letter O (as written by Geoff) therefore the vowel sound is not emphatic and instead of sounding like the O in the word "Ocean" it is in fact pronounced far more like the letter U in the word "hush" .... hence "Usheen".
Gweltas1