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Tag Archives: Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag

How to say ‘rat’ in Irish and a continuation of the glossary for ‘An Píobaire Breac’ (an t-aistriúchán le Seán Ó Dúrois) (Cuid 3) Posted by on Sep 30, 2017

(le Róislín) Bhuel, the Christmas carol, “Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag” may refer to “aon phíobaire dhéag,” but I could only come up with five pipers (cúigear píobairí) so far for the graphic for this blogpost.  Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see the different styles of illustration and different approaches to his “pied-ness” — is it…

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Ar an 8-12ú Lá den Amhrán ‘Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag’ (milkmaids, musicians, and lords and ladies for the 8-12th days of Christmas) Posted by on Jan 6, 2017

 (le Róislín) Seacht véarsa den amhrán “Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag” curtha dínn, cúig véarsa fágtha.  Mar sin, tá sé in am dúinn a bheith ag breith ar an uain ar an urla chun an t-amhrán a chríochnadh.  In other words, there’s no time like the present to finish it.  Céard iad (nó “Cé hiad,”…

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Ar an 4ú, an 5ú, an 6ú agus an 7ú lá den Nollaig (birds, rings, and poultry for the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th days of Christmas) Cuid / Part 2: Some Pronunciation Tips Posted by on Dec 29, 2016

(le Róislín) Our last blogpost dealt with days 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the song “Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag” (The Twelve Days of Christmas).  This post, second in this mionsraith, will continue a little further with those days, looking at pronunciation.  Post 3 in the mionsraith will look at what the six geese…

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‘Bean’ or ‘Ban’ or ‘Mná’ or “mBan’: How to Say ‘Woman’ (Women) in Irish (just in time for Nollaig na mBan on 6 January) Posted by on Jan 5, 2014

(le Róislín) As the final day of “dhá lá dhéag na Nollag” (6 Eanáir), we recognize “Nollaig na mBan.”  Many other sites online offer some commentary on the day’s activities, typically with women taking some time off for a relaxing afternoon tea or evening out.  One interesting article, by actress and playwright Sheila Flitton, is…

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Cé Mhéad Patraisc? Cé Mhéad Drumadóir? (or ’12 Lá na Nollag’ Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot) Posted by on Dec 18, 2013

(le Róislín) In the last blog, we discussed “fearáin” (aka “fearáin bhreaca“) amongst other members of the order Columbiformes (coilm agus colúir, doves and pigeons, etc.).  And we briefly alluded to the fact that the Irish for “turtledove” doesn’t have the element “turtle” (turtar) or “dove” (colm, or sometimes “colúir”  — for more on the…

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Speaking of Pigeons (Colúir) Posted by on Dec 14, 2013

(le Róislín) I’ll leave journalists Sean Dunne (IrishCentral) and Liz Alderman (New York Times) to “squabble” over the accuracy of the recent reference in the New York Times to “pigeon-eating” in Ireland.  But it does seem to me like a good opportunity to explore the related Irish vocabulary (naisc do na hailt thíos).  So we’ll…

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Bunuimhreacha, Orduimhreacha is Maoluimhreacha — A Thiarcais! (Oh my!) Posted by on Dec 25, 2012

(le Róislín) Yes, yet another méimtheideal (meme title), with my old favorite “3 + Oh my!” as the “méim.”  For this blog, we’ll look at three types of numbers in Irish: bunuimhreacha [BUN-IV-rukh-uh], orduimhreacha [ORD-IV-rukh-uh], and maoluimhreacha [MWEEL-IV-rukh-uh / MWAYL-IV-rukh-uh].  And we’ll polish it off with some tagairtí Nollag from, you guessed it, “Dhá Lá Dhéag…

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