I have recently moved to Ireland and would like to be able to pronounce place names in Irish and make some sense of them.
Thanks to the internet, you can hear most Irish place names being pronounced by a local in both Irish and English on the website logainm.ie.
There are many words that commonly appear in Irish place names. Here are a few. Click on the word to hear it.
Ard
Meaning: a high place
Anglicised : Ard
It usually means a place which is physically high but may also mean a place of high importance.
Áth
Meaning: ford.
Anglicised: Ah, Ath
Baile
Meaning: town, home.
Anglicised: Bally, Balli
Beag
Meaning: small
Anglicised: Beg
Carraig
Meaning: rock.
Anglicised: Carrick
Cill
Meaning: church, churchyard.
Anglicised: Kill, Kil
It is often followed by a saint’s name.
Coill
Meaning: Forest.
Anglicised: Kyle, Kill
Cloch
Meaning: stone, stone building
Anglicised: Clogh
Cluain
Meaning: meadow, pasture
Anglicised: Cloon, Clon, Cloyne
Cnoc
Meaning: hill
Anglicised: Knock
Drom
Meaning: ridge
Anglicised: Drom, Drum
Loch
Meaning: lake
Anglicised: Lough
Teampall
Meaning: temple, church
Anglicised: Temple
That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading!
Le gach dea-ghuí, (Kind regards)
Siobhán
Get the Gaeilge Gateway course which includes our Pronunciation Crash Course.
Check out our key pronunciation guide: How to crack Irish pronunciation
Thanks Emma, just what I was thinking of, naming words and more importantly pronunciation!! Just home from a wedding in Stirling, Scotland, a lot of Gaelic there too actually!!8
An-mhaith, a Billy, a chara! 😀
Speaking Irish is so much easier than reading or writing it . Cahal (Charles ) How can I insert a “Fada or a sheavou, DOT on words. C.
Cathal, a chara
We have a blog post on how to add the fada, it all depends what you’re using to type (windows, mac, phone etc)
https://www.bitesize.irish/blog/how-to-type-fada/
For the ponc séimhithe (séimhiú dot), you would have to install a keyboard to support it.
This is very interesting! I’m going to visit Bhaile Eachaidh next month, the birthplace of my great-grandfather. I’m grateful that I got to learn the Gaeilge spelling and pronunciation before my trip. Go raibh maith agat!
Glad to hear this helped Nancy. Hope you have a great trip, safe travels!
Go hiontach. Bain sult as.