(le Róislín)

Continuing with our recent “caves and caving” theme, today we’ll look at the Irish names of some famous caves, in Ireland and in other countries.

I’ll provide the Irish and the challenge will be to see if you recognize the name of the cave and/or what it means.  Some of them actually include a word like “uaimh” or “pluais” or “poll.”  Others don’t.  The county name, where applicable, is in parentheses, as is the location for areas outside of Ireland.  Freagraí thíos.

1.. An Áirse Mharmair (Fear Manach)

2.. Leaba Chaoimhín (Cill Mhantáin)

3.. Pluais Carlsbad (New Mexico)

4.. Pluaiseanna na hAille Buí (An Clár)

5.. Poll an Deataigh (An Clár)

6.. Teampall na Feannaide (Ciarraí)

7.. Uaigh an Choire (Dún na nGall)

8.. Uaimh IV Chumrán (An Bruach Thiar)

9.. Dearc Fhearna,  (Cill Chainnigh)

10. Pluais na Mamat (Kentucky)

Freagraí agus nótaí tráchta (agus cúpla ceist)

1. An Áirse Mharmair (Fear Manach), Marble Arch, lit. the arch of marble. Technically, this should just refer to the arch itself, but sometimes it seems to refer to the cave system also.  So what word would be used for “cave” here?  Most references I’ve seen to this in Irish use “uaimh” (not “pluais”) and its plural, so “uaimheanna.”  But so far, I’ve seen two versions, Uaimheanna Áirse an Mharmair, and one which puzzles me a bit, simply starting with “Uaimheanna” and then adding “an Áirse Mharmair” in that exact word order.  It seems to me that the other option should involve changing “an áirse” to “na háirse,” since “áirse” is feminine, but after years of doing Irish, sometimes I just end up thinking, OK, whatever you say.  And now having written that paragraph, and searched a bit more, I’ve found the form I would have expected, “Uaimheanna na hÁirse Marmair” (“Ní chuirfidh Geopháirc UNESCO isteach ar Dhúiche Sheoigheach”  http://www.rte.ie/news/nuacht/2017/0202/849702-ni-chuirfidh-geophairc-unesco-isteach-ar-dhuiche-sheoigheach/  Date: 2017-02-02)

As for why “áirse” and not “stua,” which also means “arch,” I doubt if anyone knows for sure, but certainly “áirse” is more recognizable for English speakers.

2.. Leaba Chaoimhín (Cill Mhantáin), St. Kevin’s Bed. Note that the Irish word for “saint” (“naomh”) isn’t part of the Irish phrase.  This is typical for Irish schools, holy wells, and other sites named after saints.  It’s also true, by the way, in the phrase for “St. Patrick’s Day” in Irish.  The “saint” part is implied: Lá Fhéile Pádraig (the day of the feast of Patrick).

3.. Pluais Carlsbad (New Mexico), Carlsbad Caverns.  Curiously, there is also a Carlsbad,lifornia, and a Carlsbad, Texas, but that’s not where the Caverns are.  I’m a little puzzled as to why the Irish entry in tearma.ie is singular when the Carlsbad Caverns are usually referred to in the plural, but so be it.

4.. Pluaiseanna na hAille Buí (An Clár), Aillwee Caves, based on the words “aill” (cliff) and “buí” (yellow)

5.. Poll an Deataigh (An Clár), Pouladatig. It means “the hole (or cave) of the smoke”.   In a general sense, “poll deataigh” is another word for a chimney.  Anyone know the story behind this cave?  Or been there?  Is there really smoke coming out of it?  Or mist (ceo) maybe?

6. Teampall na Feannaide (Ciarraí), Templenafannada, lit. the Templ e/Church/Churchyard of (the) ?. I can’t find an exact interpretation of this place name but I found it interesting that it is called a “teampall” and not an “uaimh,” “pluais,” or “poll.”  Someone local must know more.  Eolas ag duine ar bith faoi?  As for the “feannaide” par t, I find no explanation online, but it could be from “feannaid” as a variation of “peannaid” (penance).  So “the cave/temple/church (?) of the penance,” perhaps helping to explain why this one is called a “teampall” and not an uaimh/pluais/poll.

7.. Uaigh an Choire (Dún na nGall), Corry Cave, lit. the grave [sic] of the cauldron,” or perhaps “the grave of the corrie,” a “corrie” being a glacial formation like a valley with a rounded bottom, as if a giant cauldron left an imprint in the ground. Outside of Ireland and Scotland, most “corries” are usually labeled “cirques.”  Some actually have the word “cirque” in their name (Iceberg Cirque, Montana) but others may be called “basin” (Great Basin, Mount Katahdin, Maine) or use other terms.  In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, a “corrie” may be called a “coire” (cauldron), since that is the origin of the word.  One example is “Coire an t-Sneachda” (the Corrie of the Snow) in the Grampian Mountains, Scotland.

As for “uaigh” vs. “uaimh,” well, “uaigh” normally means “a grave.”  The words are somewhat similar-sounding  [OO-ee vs. OO-iv], so maybe they got mixed up over time.  Or maybe it really is “uaigh” and there’s some legend to explain it.

8.. Uaimh IV Chumrán (An Bruach Thiar), Qumran Cave IV

9.. Dearc Fhearna, (Cill Chainnigh), Cave of Dunmore, but “Dearc Fhearna,”  as far as I can tell, literally means “hollow or cavity of alders.”  That’s assuming this “dearc” is the same as “deirc” (hollow, cavity, etc.) .  Otherwise, there are some completely different words “dearc,” one being an alternate word for “eye” (the usual word being “súil”) and there’s another “dearc,” an alternate word for “berry” (the usual one being “caor” and then the word “sú” can be used in “sú talún” for “strawberry” and “sú craobh” for “raspberry,” and “smear” is used for blackberry, “sméar dhubh”).

10. Pluais na Mamat (Kentucky), Mammoth Cave, lit. the cave of the mammoths

Finally, one site that is often referred to simply by the specific name “Lascaux” has at least several references online as a “pluais” or series of “pluaiseanna.”  (pluais: https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux, per Matt Hussey, Fréamh an Eolais; pluaiseanna:  “An Té nach bhfuil Láidir…: Tá deireadh tagtha le Gaelscéal ach cad é an chéad chéim eile? Féachann Uinsionn Mac Dubhghaill ar na roghanna atá ann.”  Comhar 73 (3), 12-13. Uinsionn Mac Dubhghaill. https://comhar.ie/iris/ Page: 12-13 Date: 2013-03-01).

Having written that paragraph and then searched a bit more, I ended up finding what I half expected, “uaimheanna” used with “Lascaux” instead of “pluaiseanna.”  Well, it seems there’s always room for variation.  “Thug an tÍochtarán [sic] Sarkozy turas ar uaimheanna Lascaux le déanaí agus dúirt óna chathaoir go raibh sé fíorthábhachtach go dtabharfadh sé cuaird orthu ag an am seo.” (https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/2.663/na-gi%C3%BAf%C3%B3daigh-1.654300m, Na Giúfódaigh,” le hAlan Titley, Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 01:00)

So what’s the upshot of all this?  It doesn’t seem to be easy for a learner to predict whether a cave will be named an “uaimh,” a “pluais,” or a “poll,” or some other word.   My usual approach is just to try to memorize whatever seems fairly authoritative.  Having said that, I’m sure I learned “uaimh” first and learned “pluais” later, meaning something more like a den.  But maybe that was just a coincidence.  I never really thought I would be discussing “Carlsbad Caverns” or “Mammoth Cave” in Irish!  SGF — Róislín

Nasc suimiúil: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09ptgc2, Ulaidh Faoi Thalamh le Cormac Ó hÁdhmaill,  22 Eanáir 2018 (no longer available online but maybe there’s some way to watch it)