by Tom O'Neill
Chéile
Free members of a clan.
Choill Rúa
Red woods. Pronounce quill roo-a.
Cilian
Pronounce kill-ee-an.
Ciss
A punishment or penance imposed on someone usually by a brehon to allow him to make good for wrong doing.
Coinín
Rabbit. Pronounce quin-een.
Conán
(See also Mac Liath). Pronounce Cunn-awn.
Conmaicne Mara
Now Connemara.
Corco Roíde
In the south west. Pronounce cork-o-reeda.
Cornobhachs, Cornobhí
Fellows from Cornobha, Celtic clan lands in present day Wales.
Craic
Fun, things in general, as in ‘What’s the craic?’, meaning ‘What’s happening?’ A Gaelicisation rather than an original Irish word. .
Créidhe
A fairy woman of the Tuatha dé Danann, she was wooed by the poetry of the young Fian, Cáel; she followed him to the battle of Ventry and helped the Fianna win, but Cáel died on the last day of the battle of Ventry and her sad lament for him is still remembered.
Cumhall
(Father of Fionn Mac Cumhaill). Pronounce Cool.
Daghda
(The good god – the senior deity). Pronounce Day-dah.
Daghda dhuinn
Daghda for us, God be with us.
Dair
Oak tree (represented by the symbol ╡ in ogham script, see below).
Dál Riata
A kingdom based in the north east of Ireland that included a large section of north western Scotland. Pronounce Dawl Reeta.
dé Danann
As in the Tuatha dé Danann, the people of the Goddess Dana, the vanquished people who became the fairy people of the raths. Pronounce day-donan.
Deimne
The childhood name of Mac Cumhaill before he was given the nickname of Fionn. Pronounce Demna.
Déisi
An argumentative class of people found in the area recently known as Waterford.
Diarmuid
Pronounce Dear-mid.
Dreoilín
Literally means wren, was the name taken by the most powerful druid in Fionn’s time, one who often preferred the form of a wren. Pronounce Dro-leen.
Drombeg
West Cork site of a stone circle also called the Druid’s altar; an excavation here revealed the cremated remains of an adolescent boy.
Dunbeacon
Remote West Cork site where two extraordinary ogham-inscribed ‘standing stones’ are aligned with a stone circle on a hill 500 metres away.
Eejit
Idiot.
Éire, Éirinn
Different grammatical forms of the same word, meaning Ireland. Pronounce Aira, Airan.
Eithne ní Dúlaing
Pronounce ethna nee dooling.
Emhain Macha
Armagh, centre of power of the kings of Uladh (Ulster). Pronounce Ow-an Maha.
Eoghan
Pronounce Owen.
Faolchú
Wolf.
Feac
Spade. Pronounce fack.
Fear Dearg
Literally ‘red man’, like a púca, a lone traveller from the realm of the little people, given to practical jokes; those who crossed him could expect bad fortune. Pronounce Far Jar’g.
Fiachna
Son of Fionn, died in the battle with Midac at Bruidhean Chaorthainn the Palace of Quicken Trees. Pronounce Feek-na.
Fianna
A group of Fionn’s warriors. Pronounce Feena.
Fine
An extended family or clan, governed through a council abiding by a complex and detailed set of (Brehon) laws. Pronounce fin-eh.
Fionn
Fair-haired. Pronounce Finn or Fyunn.
Flaith
Head of a fine, selected for the role by the council of the fine; a minor chieftain. Pronounce fla.
Fleadh
Festive occasion, celebration.
Fleatharta
Pronounce flah hart ah.
Fulacht fian
A wide circular pit where meat was boiled by rolling red hot stones into the contained water; the commonest field monuments across Ireland today are the recesses where fulachta fiadh once existed; plural fulachta fiadh. Pronounce full-act fee-an.
Gáire
Laughter; here used as a play on the name of the Brehon Guare. Pronounce gaw-ra.
Garda
Irish police force; also, a police officer.
(correctly Garda Síochána)
Gardaí
Plural of garda, often used collectively to mean the police (or ‘the guards’) in general.
Garsún
Boy. Pronounce garsoon.
Geis
A spell or obligation that must be observed.
Gob
Mouth.
Gobshite
Rude term for a harmful fool.
Gom
Derogatory, idiot.
Gombán
Yet another variety of fool.
Grá
Love, affection for. Pronounce graw.
Guard
Police officer (also known as a garda).
Heron
A tall grey bird that often stands alone in Irish wetlands.
Hurling
The fastest field game in the world, played with hurleys (ash sticks) and a sliothar (hard leather coated ball).
Imbolg
The first day of spring, the first of February, the feast of Brigid.
Innsa
Foster son of Mac Cumhaill, beheaded by Midac in the battle at Bruidhean Chaorthainn, the Palace of Quicken Trees.
Laigin
Leinster, eastern province. Pronounce Lion.
Liath Luachra
Father of Conán Mac Liath, killed by Fionn when reclaiming his corrbolg or magic pouch. Pronounce Leah Lu-ucra.
Liath Ní Choinchin
Pronounce Leah Nee Hun-hin.
Lishín
Blanket bog expanse in Tipperary. Pronounce Lisheen.
Mac Airt
Son of Airt, in this case referring to Cormac, the High King of Ireland.
Mac Cumhaill
Son of Cumhall. Pronounce McCool.
Mac Liath
Son of Liath – Fionn’s ally Conán being the son in question; Liath Luachra, the father, was slain by Fionn in a fight to recover his corrbolg, a pouch of magical posessions.
Mac Morna
Son of Morna – Goll being the son in question; never fully trusted previous head of the Fianna, who killed Fionn’s father Cumhall on the orders of a previous king.
Maire Fada
Long Mary, the name by which the heron went until recent times.
Matha
Pronounce Ma-ha.
Midac
Son of foreign king defeated by the Fianna, his life was spared and he was treated to wealth and lands; brought foreign forces against Fionn in the battle at Bruidhean Chaorthainn the Palace of Quicken Trees.
Mide
One of two middle kingdoms that existed between Laigin (Leinster) and Uladh (Ulster). Pronounce Mid-eh.
Milesian
The ancestors of the current inhabitants of Ireland, led here from Spain by a king who vanquished the Tuatha dé Danann.
Mitch
Play truant.
Mórrígan
Great Goddess queen, the Crow of Battle. Pronounce More-ree-gan.
Mumhan
Munster, southern province. Pronounce Moo-an.
Murtagh
Pronounce Murta.
Niamh
Pronounce Nee-av.
Noble Lady
The stoat, for some uncertain reason, was commonly known as this by the old people.
Ógarmach
Greek champion warrior hired to fight with Bolcán in the Battle of Ventry, killed by Fionn.
Ogham
Old Irish alphabet inscribed on sto
ne monuments, also called the Celtic tree alphabet as each letter represented a type of tree. Pronounce Oh-am.
Oleán
Harmless fool. Pronounce oh-lee-awn.
Ollamh
A wise and learned person. Pronounce ullav.
Ologón
Mournful wailing. Pronounce ullag-own.
Osraighe
Equivalent roughly to present day Ossory, a kingdom that existed between Laigin (Leinster) and Mumhan (Munster).
Peigín’s Eoghan
Eoghan, son of Peigín.
Púca
Mischievous loner of the little people. Pronounce pook-ah.
Raiméis
Nonsensical talk. Pronounce rahmaysh.
Rath
Variously called ring fort, fairy fort, or liss; usually circular and overgrown; may have been iron age encampments; believed by many country people to be the dwellings of fairies or the little people, the descendants of the vanquished Tuatha dé Danann. Pronounce ra.
Saile
A wicked and greedy wizard previously banished from Éirinn by Fionn Mac Cumhaill.
Samhain
The first day of the last quarter of the year (Hallowe’en), when people from other worlds can roam freely in ours. Pronounce sow-an.
Saor
Free. Pronounce say-er.
Sceach
Whitethorn (hawthorn) bush, sacred to the little people. Pronounce skyak.
Sebhern
Pronounce severn.
Sí
Fairy; fairy people. Pronounce shee.
Slag
Skit, tease.
Sleeveen
Miserable, ingratiating creature.
Sliabh Bladma
Mountains of Bladma, after an early Silesian invader, on borders of present-day Offaly and Laois. Pronounce Slieve Bloom.
Sliabh Laigin
Mount Leinster; since being moved by Mac Cumhaill this has been situated on the Carlow-Wexford border. Pronounce Slieve Lion.
Sliabh na mBan
Mountain of the women, in present-day Tipperary. Pronounce Slieve-na-monn.
Sogain
A place far west.
Tíreach
Pronounce Teerok.
Townland
An area of land that may include several farms and homes; a dispersed village. Ireland is divided into over 61,000 townlands; most have old Irish names predating plantations and the boundaries are still known to the inch by the people of the country.
Treasa Ní Domhnaill
Pronounce trassa nee gonall.
Trócaire
Compassion and charity, also the name of a charitable NGO. Pronounce trow-carra.
Tuatha
a people or nation (as in Tuatha dé Danann). Pronounce too-ah.
Uí Néil
A noble people, the rightful rulers of Éirinn.
Uladh
Ulster, northern province. Pronounce Ulla.
ENDNOTES
1. There is a series of great standing stones along the once much travelled route west, running out past Rockchapel under the Mullahareirk hills. Back then this raised bog was solid enough for people from other realms to build a dwelling on. When standing at one stone, you could see the next stone along. Now one stone is missing. The lake underneath came back and swallowed it.x
2. The heron is the finest but also the most fanciful of the birds. The old people used to call her Maire Fada, or Long Mary.
3. Jack Curtis was a gentle man. He had a kind ear for every person and spoke ill of no person. He spent his days at markets selling paintings of his dogs and twenty-year-old pet cattle. He always told me that he had no living relatives.
4. Worrying is voluntary. Anyone is free to decide against it.
5. The rath is the last refuge of the Tuatha dé Danann. Since our kind vanquished them, those good little people can be touchy about any further encroachment. Very bad things can befall the uninvited visitor.
6. You should pay attention to the restless collie. Look in her eyes and you see the wolf looking back. She is a daughter of the country and well-attuned to everything that goes on in it.
7. You may know a person by the way he treats the defenceless.
8. Science calls her a stoat. The old people around here called her the Noble One, or Noble Lady. Either way, she is not a weasel.
9. Good people come in surprising shapes and sizes.
10. The pit was filled with water from the river. Then stones were reddened in a fire and rolled into it so as to slowly boil whatever sinewy old ram the gathering was about to share.
11. You can’t control what happens. But you can take hold of how you think about it.
12. Some say Joey’s unbalanced. The least interesting people are the balanced. I myself strive to avoid balance in all things.
13. There are those who believe that night time in this country was never conquered – once the blanket of darkness falls, the Mac Tíre and all the other old clans still own it and roam over it freely.
