BS: An Irish translation, maybe

Subject: BS: An Irish translation, maybe
From: joebloggins
Date: 19 May 07 - 12:16 AM

Hello,

I was poking around the west coast of Ireland on Google Earth a couple days ago and came across the town of Clifden or An Clochan.
Just north of where I work in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland theres a spot called Cove nan Drioch-Clochan. Any one familiar with the term. I'm assuming Cove is just that, a cove.

Thanks

Subject: RE: BS: An Irish translation, maybe
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 May 07 - 04:50 AM

I'm just stunned that you work in a place called 'Placentia Bay'.... it's just a bit ... icky.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: An Irish translation, maybe
From: Declan
Date: 19 May 07 - 05:53 AM

Cloch is the Irish (Gaelic) word for a stone or rock. Clochán is a derivative of this, and there are plenty of rocks around Clifden in Connemara.

Drioch is not a word I'm familiar with, but I'm sure someone will be along with a translation. The original Gaelic name would probably have been Cóbh na nDroich Clocháin. There is no V in the gaelic alphabet. The n is put before the D in Drioch following a vowel to make the word (allegedly) easier to pronounce.

Come to think of it this may be an old spelling of the word Droch which means bad, so the translation could be the Cove of the Bad Rocks.

It would be very difficult to explain in text what the nD sounds like, but think of the knights who say "nih" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and you won't be too far wrong!