Lately, there have been certain posts going around with a lot of silly mistakes regarding the use of the Irish language by people who don’t use the language or live in the country. Trust me, Google is terrible as a translator and as for Wikipedia as a resource site, don’t get me started on how unreliable it is (use your local library, it’s a treasure chest). We don’t use every letter in the Latin based alphabet like English does either.

Example : Seomra Folcha or bath/washroom. This description is hardly ever used written apart from house/building plans. The word used is “leithreas” (drummed into every Irish schoolkid from the age of 4 since I can remember). “An bhfuil cead agam dul go dti an leithreas” spoken to teachers since 1958 (do I had permission to go to the toilet). “Leithreas” is also written on signage for public bathrooms everywhere in the country. Anyone who has visited the country will have seen this.

Example : “Maidin maith” or good morning. This is an English greeting in the English language. We don’t say this “as gaeilge” and we don’t say good afternoon either “as gaeilge”. We speak English as a first language but Irish is completely different in both language structure and phrasing. There are two greetings; formal “Dia duit” (used since 1958) and informal “Cunas atá tú” (how are you) (Gaeltacht use mainly). We only say “oíche maith” or good night when its time for sleep. “Slán” or goodbye is the used phrase.

This brings me to my last point and to hopefully correct a big error. The Irish language has had 3 known evolutions. Seangaedhailic, middle-Irish and Modern Irish. Seangaedhailic or Old-Irish is still seen in the old manuscripts and in the Irish place names. Middle-Irish was used up until the “an Gort Mór” or the Great Famine before English became the dominant language. (To make the film more authentic, middle-Irish was used in the film “Black 47”, watch it if you can). 1958 was when the Irish language was revived and standardised based on the Gaeltacht people of West Ireland who were given land and finances to create Irish speaking communities around the country to preserve the native tongue.
An example of Old-Irish are “ind” or white modern Irish is bán. So we look at the placename and in this case an Irish Goddess, Boanne and area/river of the Boyne. Her name and the area/river in Old-Irish is “Boind” or literally, White-Cow.

In Irish we have no word for Autumn. It’s simply called “an Fómhar” or Harvest. Two of the three months are called “Mean Fómhair”(September) or middle harvest and “Deireadh Fómhair” (October) last harvest. Someone tried to imply that in Lady Gregorys “The Red Branch” (her collection of the Ulaid Cycle of Mythologies) that “bron” means saddening or another word for Autumn. This is untrue. “Brón” means sad/sorrow as in “tá brón orm” or sadness/sorrowfulness is upon me. “Bron” is different to “brón” as “ban” (woman) is to “bán” (white). The fada over the vowel makes all the difference. I can see where the mistake was made. Same as “sean” is old (seanaithair or grandfather), and “séan” means denied. Completely different meanings due to a symbol placement. So what does “bron” mean? It is Middle-Irish for milling. Modern Irish is “meilte.” The oldest Neolithic Portal Dolmen in Ireland is in Poulnabrone in the Burren County Clare. Its name literally means “hollow of the mill.” You can argue that it has a connection to Autumn as well as “fomhar” is an action word (milling after the grain is harvested, prehaps?) as well but I have never come across it as a substitute for harvest.

It is highly doubtful that “bron” means Autumn as “brón” is the correct word for sadness or sorrow as implied by certain posts. These mistakes should be corrected by their relevant authors.

Go raibh maith agat as do chuid ama.
Seán Ó Tuama