The Hunter's Moon (30 page)

Brugh na Bóinne
(brew nah boyne)—
Brugh
is a literary term for “mansion” or “dwelling” and
na Bóinne
means “of the Boyne,” referring to the Boyne River where the ancient mound stands. The eleventh-century
Book of Lecan
says, “The Dagda built a great mound for himself and his three sons, Aengus, Aed, and Cermaid. It was upon these four men that the men of Erin made the
Síd of the Brúg
.”

Busáras
(buss-ar-us)—Central Bus Station, Dublin

Cáin Adamnáin
(coin add-uv-nawn)—The Law of Adamnán (chief biographer of St. Patrick), believed to have been passed in 697 A.D. Also called “The Law of the Innocents,” it forbade the killing of women, children, and clerics in wartime. Declaring all of these “non-combatants,” it effectively banned warrior-women and warrior-monks, both of whom existed up to this time.

Caitlín
(kawt-leen)—Irish for Kathleen. To use the Irish version of someone’s name would be both a formal courtesy and personal or affectionate at the same time. A subtle gesture worthy of a king.

céilidh
(kay-lee) music—lively Irish music played by
céilidh
bands, usually for set or country dancing.
Céilidh
is a variant spelling of
céilí
.

ceol-sídhe
(kee-yole shee)—fairy music

’gCluin tú mo ghlór ’tá ag cur thuairisc
Ó mhaidin go nóin is as sin go deireadh lae?
Éist, a stór, tá ceol ar an ngaoth
Is casfar le chéile sinn roimh dhul faoi don ghrian
.

(Gloon too m’glorr tawh’g car h’yur-ishk
Oh waw-jinn goh new’n iss aws shinn go jeer-uh laoy
Ay-sht, ah store, taw kee-yole air awn n’y’aoy
Iss kass-fer leh kay-leh shinn riv yull fwee dawn knee-un)

Do you hear my voice that’s asking for you
From dawn till noon and then to day’s end?
Listen, my love, music is on the wind
And we will meet before the sun goes down.

Shiúlas i bhfad is do shamhail ní fhaca
Ba mhór é mo bhrón is ba mhinic mé faoi néal
Éist, a stór, tá ceol ar an ngaoth
Is casfar le chéile sinn roimh dhul faoi don ghrian
.

(H’yoo-liss ah wawd iss doh h’yowl nee aw-cah
Baw worr ee moh vrown iss baw vinick may fwee neel
Ay-sht, ah store, taw kee-yole air awn n’y’aoy
Iss kass-fer leh kay-leh shinn riv yull fwee dawn knee-un)

Long I walked and saw not your image,
My sorrow was great and my sky often dark,
Listen, my love, music is on the wind
And we will meet before the sun goes down.

Song:
Éist, A Stór
, by Máire ní Breatnach

Cnoc na mBan-Laoch
(kuh-nock nah mawn lee-ock)—Hill of the Women-Heroes

craic
(krack)—Conversation, chat, but now generally means “fun.” Often used with
ceoil
(kee-ole), “music,” as in
craic agus ceoil
.

Críode na Boirne
(kreed nah borne)—Heart of the Burren.
Críode
is a variant spelling of
croí
, meaning “heart.”

curcudgellach
(cur-cudge-eh-luck)—Anglicized word for “affectionate” used on Inch Island. Possibly from Scots Gaelic.

Daire
(deer-uh)—Male name, from
doire
(deer-uh) meaning “oakwood.” Also
dair
(deer) meaning “oak.”

Feis
(fesh)—This word has many meanings in both Old and Modern Irish, including accommodation and entertainment for the night, sleeping together, marriage, and even sexual intercourse. Nowadays it usually means “festival,” an evolution from the
Feis Teamhrach
(fesh towr-uck)—the Tara Festival—originally held to celebrate the coronation of the High King who was ritually wedded to the sovereign goddess of Ireland,
Eriú
.

Fír Flathemon
(fear flaah-heh-mawn)—Old Irish meaning “Prince’s Truth” or Truth of Sovereignty.

Fóidín mearaí
(foy-jeen mar-ee)—Meaning a “sod of bewilderment” or a fairy sod, i.e., ground on which one is led astray, thrown off track or into confusion.

Fulacht Fia
(foo-lockt fee-ah)—Term used for the ancient cooking pits found in various parts of Ireland. Often a ring of stones surrounds a dip or trough in the earth, and archaeologists have found evidence of communal feasting, such as scorched stones and animal bones. Some believe that the gatherings in these places were ritualistic, with meals being only a part of their purpose.

girseach
(geer-shuck)—young girl

Gread leat!
(graad laat)—Begone! (Literally, “be off with you.”)

inis
(in-ish)—island

Is glas iad na cnoic ata i bhfad uainn
(iss glaws ee-ud nah kuh-nick wawd oo-in)—literally “far away hills are green,” i.e., the equivalent of the English saying “the grass is always greener on the other side.”

Magh Abhlach
(mawh aw-v-lawk)—Plain of the (many) Apple Trees (another name for Faerie)

Maher Buídhe
(maw-hur bwee)—The Yellow Meadow. Irish farmers tend to name their meadows and fields, reflecting their personal relationship with the land.
Maher
is an anglicized version of
machaire
(mock-arr), meaning “plain” or “field.”
Búidhe
is a variant spelling of
buí
, meaning “yellow.”

Máire Ruadh
(moy-ra roo-ah)—Red-haired Mary is a historical figure of the County Clare who married three times. Her first husband died young and left her a rich widow, her second husband was killed in the Cromwellian Wars, and her third husband was a junior officer in the English army. Through the last marriage she secured her eldest son’s inheritance.
Ruadh
is a variant spelling of
rua
, meaning “red-haired.”
Máire
, often anglicized to Maura, is Irish for “Mary.” In the Irish language, Mary the Mother of God has her own name,
Muire
(murr-ah), used by no other women called Mary.

Maitiú
(maw-t’yu)—Irish for Matthew (see note concerning
Caitlín
)

Manaigh Liath
(mawna lee-ah)—The Gray Monks, also called the White Monks, are the Cistercian Order, so called because their habits were made of unbleached wool of a grayish color. Despite Gwen’s fears, they would not have burned her as a witch. There were few witch trials in Ireland, less than a dozen over the centuries between the first in 1324 and the last in 1711. Curiously, with the exception of the first, all the trials were of Protestants by Protestants.

Meitheal
(meh-hull)—working party

Mná na hÉireann
(muh-naw nah heer-inn)—“Women of Ireland” was an expression used when referring to the first female (and feminist) President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and here extended to her successor, President Mary McAleese.

Mo chara
(moh har-ah)—My friend (the possessive gives it the sense of “my dear friend” or “my dear one”)

Nach breá an tráthnóna é, a chailín
(nawk braw awn trahno-nah ey, ah haw-leen)—Isn’t it a fine afternoon/evening (up to nightfall), my girl?

Ochón
(aw-kone)—Alas!

Ochón ó
(aw-kone oh)—Woe is me!

pisreog
(pish-rogue) or
piseog
—charm or spell

Ráth na Ríogh
(raw’h nah ree)—Fort of the Kings.
Rath
is now commonly used as an English word—without the accent—for the ancient hill forts and mounds that dot Ireland.

Rurthach
(rur-haw’k)—Old Irish name for the River Liffey

seisiún
(seh-shoon)—short for
seisiún ceoil
(seh-shoon kee-ole), an Irish music session, usually held in pubs and often impromptu.

Sídhe
(shee)—plural word meaning “fairy folk.” It is understood that the word is related to the Old Irish word
síd
used for a mound or hill-fort, in which the fairy folk are said to dwell.
Sídhe
is a variant spelling of
sí
.

Sídhe Gáire
(shee gy-ruh)—The
Sídhe
are the fairy folk, while
gáire
is the verb “to laugh.”

skeog
(skee-ogue)—Anglicized word used on Inch Island for a fairy thornbush or tree. Provenance uncertain—perhaps from
síog
(“fairy”)? Or possibly from Scots Gaelic as that language was widely used in the province of Ulster along with Irish Gaelic.

Sláinte
(slawn-cha)—Health. In a toast, the word means “good health to you” or “here’s health to you.”

Slán go fóill
(slawn go foyle)—So long (literally “safe yet”)

Slievecarron
(shleeve-care-un)—“slieve” is the anglicized version of
sliabh
meaning “mountain” while “carron” is taken from the Irish word
carn
meaning a “heap” or “pile,” Anglicized to “cairn” and referring to a mound of stones, and sometimes to the stone mounds that are chambered tombs.

súil
(sool)—eye

súileach
(sool-uck)—Eyed or eye-like. Note: St. Columcille was said to have killed a monster with several hundred eyes in a pool where the Swilly River rises beyond Letterkenny, County Donegal.

Súiligh
(soo-lee)—Variant of
súile
meaning “eye.” In this case the word as been Anglicized to “Swilly.”

Tá do ghruaig chomh fionn le ór agus do shúile gorm chomh le loch
(taw doe roo-ug c’hoe fee-un leh orr awguss doe hew-leh gurr-um c’hoe leh lock)—Your hair is as fair as gold and your eyes as blue as the lough.

Tánaiste
(tawn-ish-tuh)—Tanist, second-in-command, heir presumptive; in modern Ireland this is the title of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Taoiseach
(tee-shawk)—leader, chief, ruler; in modern Ireland this is the title of the Prime Minister.

Teach Míodchuarta
(chalk mee-ud-hurt-ah)—Banquet Hall (literally “middle round house”)

Teamhair na Ríogh
(tower nah ree)—Tara of the Kings.
Teamhair
means “a place from where there is a wide view.”
Ríogh
is a variant spelling of
rí
, meaning “king.” Author’s note: Though Tara has been the sacred center of Ireland for over two thousand years, there are plans underway to run a motorway through it.

Tír na nÓg
(teer nah nogue)—The Land of the Ever-Young (Paradise or Faerie)

Tír Tairngire
(teer torn-geera)—The Land of Promise (Paradise or Faerie)

The historical speech of the Irish people is a Goidelic Celtic language variously called Gaelic, Irish Gaelic (as opposed to Scots Gaelic), and Erse. In Ireland, it is simply called the Irish language or “Irish.” For over two thousand years, Irish—Old, Middle, and Modern—was the language of Ireland, until the English conquest enforced its near eradication. Today it is the official first language of Eire, the Irish Republic. Recently it has been awarded official status in the Six Counties of Northern Ireland through the Good Friday Agreement.

As a native language or mother tongue, Irish is found only in a number of small communities called
Gaeltachtaí
, located chiefly on the west coast of Ireland. Sadly, these communities are declining due to economic factors, reduced rural population, social disintegration, intermarriage with non-native speakers, attrition, and immigration of non-native speakers, and the settling of non-native speakers in the areas. Some estimates put the demise of the
Gaeltachtaí
within the next few generations, a loss that would be of incalculable magnitude to Irish culture and society. It must be said, however, that native speakers ignore these rumors of their death with characteristic forbearance.

Meanwhile, the knowledge and use of the Irish language is increasing among the English-speaking population of the island. In the most recent census of 2002 (preliminary results), over a million people in the Republic and 140,000 in Northern Ireland reported having a reasonable proficiency in the language. Census figures for the use of Irish continually increase. Globally, study groups and language classes are popular not only among the diaspora—those Irish and their descendants who have emigrated throughout the world—but also among non-Irish peoples such as the Japanese, Danish, French, and Germans. In the United States (
Na Stáit Aontaithe
), language classes are available throughout the country, while the Internet lists countless sites that teach and encourage Irish.