How To Say ‘Get Up!’ In Irish.

Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘Get up!’ in Irish, plus some other words of encouragement that we might use in the morning to get children (and perhaps some adults!) up, dressed and ready for the day!

These commands all use the imperative mood form of the verb, which in Irish is known as an modh ordaitheach /un moe or-deh-hukh/.

To say ‘get up!’ to one person in Irish we say éirigh! /eye-rig/

Here’s how to say ‘get up!’ to more than one person: éirigí! /eye-rig-ee/

In the West Kerry dialect you will hear éiríg /eye-reeg/

Okay, they are out of bed. The next step is to get them dressed. Here’s how we say ‘put your clothes on’ to on to one person:

Cuir ort do chuid éadaí. /Kwirr urth duh khwid ay-ud-ee/

And here’s how to say ‘put on your clothes’ in Irish to more one person:

Cuirigí oraibh bhur gcuid éadaí /Kwirr-ig-ee ur-iv voor gwid ay-ud-ee/

(again, in West Kerry you will hear cuiríg /kwirr-eeg/)

This verb cuir /kwirr/ (‘to put’) can be used to order someone to put anything on. For instance..

Put on your shoes (speaking to one person): Cuir ort do bhróga /Kwirr urth duh vroh-guh/ ..

Put on your jacket (speaking to one person): Cuir ort do chasóg. /Kwirr urth duh khoss-owg/

Put on your hat (speaking to one person): Cuir ort do hata. /Kwirr urth duh hoth-ah/

The next thing is to get some food in your child’s belly before they head to school. Here’s how to say ‘eat your breakfast’ to one person:

Ith do bhricfeasta /Ih duh vrik-fass-thuh/

If time is catching up with you, you may want people to do things a bit more quickly in the morning. Here’s how to say ‘hurry up!’ to one person:

Brostaigh ort! /Bruss-thig urth/

Here’s how to say it to more than one person:

Brostaígí oraibh! /Bruss-thee-gee ur-iv/

(this is brostaíg /bruss-theeg/ in West Kerry).

If you have high standards you may even insist that your little one brushes their teeth before they head off. Here’s how to say ‘Don’t forget to brush your teeth’ to one person:

Ná déan dearmad do chuid fiacla a scuabadh. /Naw dinn dar-ood duh khwid fee-a-kluh a skoo-a-buh/

Note that the pronunciation of this word dearmad (‘forget’) varies from dialect to dialect. In Munster it is pronounced /dar-ood/, in Connacht /dyarr-mud/ and in Ulster /dyarr-um-ud/.

..and here’s how to say ‘Bring your bag with you’ to one person:

Beir leat do mhála /Berrj lyath duh vaw-luh/

Let’s finish with a seanfhocal /shan-uk-ul/ (proverb) that considers the relationship between speed and precision:

Ní thig leat luath agus léire le chéile /Nee hig lyath loo-ah a-guss lay-reh leh khay-leh/

This translates as ‘you can’t have speed and precision together’. Worth remembering!