People contact us every day about Irish language curiosities, travel questions, and about Irish culture. Here’s a selection of questions we’ve received in the past few weeks. The answers might lead you to learn something new.
How do I say “I wish” in Irish Gaelic?
Asked by Lori.
There are many ways of saying “I wish” in Irish, depending on the context.
One way of saying it is “Is mian liom.” This can also mean “I desire.” Pronunciation here on forvo.com.
Here is a full dictionary entry on “wish” on focloir.ie. Pronunciations included.
Counting in Irish
Dia dhuit! (I know very little irish)
I would like to learn how to count in Irish, mainly the first one hundred
numbers.
To count from one to ten, there are lots of YouTube videos on that.
People love the nursery rhyme that we have in Bitesize Lesson: Count from 1 to 10 (for members) that helps you remember the numbers. If you’re not a member, you could take our free trial that lasts for 21 days.
Children’s books in Irish
Hi there, I have a three month old grandson, his name is Cormac! We live in Australia and Cormac’s grandparents and aunties live in Galway. Cormac’s parents have bought a house in Galway and might go and live there when Cormac starts school. I would like to learn Irish so I can read books to him from an early age and teach him the basics. I speak Dutch English, French and German and think I can handle one more language. Could you advise me where I can get children’s books in Irish? Joyce.
We would like to recommend litriocht.com for buying children’s books.
It is a best place for buying these books because of their extensive range.
Tea
Are you familiar with Bewley’s 1840 Gold Blend Tea “Dublins Finest Tea? Darnell.
For sure! We’re tea lovers. Other big brands in Ireland are Barry’s and Lyons (owned by Unilever). It’s hard to find a very bad black tea in Ireland. I buy a store-brand variety, and its good.
That reminds me of a phrase I like:
Marbh le tae, agus marbh gan é.
/Morv leh tay, ogg-us morv gon ay./
“Dead with tea, dead without it.”
To finish off, Darnell also sent us a link to this Hot House Flowers song that he likes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKq0odvgtmc
Do you have more questions? Ask below this blog post by leaving a reply, or contact us. If you’re a member of Bitesize Irish Gaelic, you can also start up a conversation with us on our private members-only Facebook group.
2 thoughts on “Questions collection: How to say “I wish” in Irish Gaelic and more”
Dia daoibh Ana agus Eoin, seo e Ian. Conas ata sibh? I went to County Cork two weeks ago and enjoyed every minute of it. I visited a number of towns, all old fashioned, slightly run down, but charming. The people that I met all seemed polite and friendly and I got the same mix of responses from them when I tried some Irish phrases. Some only had what they remembered from school, others were more fluent, but all were pleased and impressed that an outsider had made the effort to learn their language- nobody expected it from me. It was fun surprising them and it got me free tea at a pub at a place called An Rinn just across the border in Waterford- a gaeltacht area! I also manged to win the attention of a young lady for an hour, or more, in a bar in Cork city, with a discussion on Irish accents and the language. She was fluent in Irish and loved the fact that I was learning- no free tea this time!
I reccomend County Cork to anyone looking for a break. I stayed at Youghal and went into Cork most evenings, which is an attractive city, good for shops an a nice night life. There are some nice scenic spots. I found Gougan Burra and The Mahon Falls, and there a re nice coastal drives. You will need a car, though. I am sure that I will go again, although I want to explore other parts of Ireland as well. To all who read this, do visit- lovely scenery, charming towns and friendly people. Bhuel, slan go foil. Ian.
Hi Ian,
Thank you for commenting. I am good, thank you for asking. How are you?
It seems that you had a really great time in Ireland 🙂 I am sure that your comment will motivate many to go and visit Ireland in the near future.
Feel free to contact us if you have any language questions and our language expert, Siobhan, will be glad to help.
Le meas,
Ana.