How To Say What Time It Is in Irish

It’s time to take a bitesized look at how to say what time it is in Irish.

For the purpose of this overview I am making the assumption that you already know the cardinal numbers in Irish and how to count ordinary things. If you’d like to learn these first, or brush up on them, please click these links for our previously published blog and video on these topics.

Ok, let’s get stuck in!

One way to ask ‘what time is it?’ in Irish is cén t-am é? /kayne thowm ay?/

On the hour

If the time happens to be on the hour we can use the following structure to answer:

Tá sé (it is)…

(insert cardinal number)

.. a chlog (o’clock).

So if, for instance, it were 1 o’clock we would say Tá sé a haon a chlog /Thaw shay a hay-un a khlug/

For 5 o’clock we would state Tá sé a cúig a chlog /Thaw shay a koo-ig a khlug/

And for 12 o’clock we would say Tá sé a dó dhéag a chlog /Thaw shay a doh yee-ug a khlug/

If the time is not exactly on the hour then, like in English, we won’t put the words a chlog at the end of the statement.

Before the hour

The preposition that is used in Irish when saying that the time is ‘before’ or ‘to’ the hour is chun /khun/

So, to state that it is 12:45 we would say Tá sé ceathrú chun a haon /Thaw shay ka-har-oo khun a hayun/

Here ceathrú /ka-har-oo/ means ‘a quarter’.

After The Hour

The preposition most commonly used to state that is after the hour is tar éis /thur aysh/

In the Connacht dialect this is pronounced /haysh/

This is how we say it is 1:15:

Tá sé ceathrú tar éis a haon /Thaw shay ka-har-oo thur aysh a hayun/

A half-hour is leathuair /lah-hoo-ir/

So, to state that the time is 5:30 you would say:

Tá sé leathuair tar éis a cúig /Thaw shay lah-hoo-ir thur aysh a koo-ig/

It is not generally necesary to use the word minute(s) when stating the time but should you wish to the Irish for minute is nóiméad.

In Munster this is pronounced /nyo-mudt/.

In the Connacht and Ulster dialects it is pronounced /no-may-ed/

Here’s how to say ‘It is two minutes past two’:

Tá sé dhá nóiméad tar éis a dó /Thaw shay dhaw nyo-mudt thur aysh a doh/

However if you want to say something like ‘It is ten past ten’ you could leave out the word nóiméad and simply say Tá sé deich tar éis a deich /Thaw shay deh thur aysh a deh/

Time Is A Good Healer

Let’s finish today with a time-related proverb or seanfhocal /shan-uk-al/:

Is maith an lia an t-am /Is mah un lee-eh un thowm/ (‘Time is a good healer’)