Tag Archives: Bealtaine
Saying ‘The First of the Month’ in Irish and Other Special Names for ‘First Days’ (pt. 2: April, May, June) Posted by róislín on Jan 18, 2020
(le Róislín) Cén lá a dtarlaíonn damhsa mar seo? Cén bhliain a ndearna na cailíní sa phictiúr an damhsa seo, i do bharúil: sna 1930í? sna 1940í? sna 1950í? sna 1960í? sna 1970í? sna 1980í? sna 1990í? Ar ndóigh, is féidir linn a bheith cinnte nach raibh sé san aois seo. Freagra thíos, bunoscionn. Grafaic…
Mí na Bealtaine: May, Mothers, Memorial, Mint Juleps, and Macaroons! Posted by róislín on Apr 30, 2017
(le Róislín) OK, so what do all those words in the title have in common besides, starting with the letter “M” in English? Well, May, Mothers and Memorial (in the U,S.) are a shoo-in — holidays (laethe saoire) during the month of May (mí na Bealtaine). So are Macaroons and Mint Juleps. Maybe I should…
The Irish word for ‘October’ and other words related to ‘fómhar’ and ‘fómhair’ Posted by róislín on Oct 6, 2014
(le Róislín) In some previous blogs (naisc thíos), we’ve looked at the names of the months (míonna) and seasons (séasúir) in Irish, including a discussion specifically of “September” and “October.” So let’s try a little mixing and matching for review of “September,” “October,” and the Fall or Autumn season. Given the word “fómhar” and its…
More Month-of-May Motifs (i nGaeilge, ar ndóigh) Posted by róislín on Apr 27, 2014
(le Róislín) Is it the “merry month” of May or the “merry, merry month” of May? Is it “meidhreach” or “sona,” “croíúil” or “súgach? Or is it as in the traditional Irish phrase, “buí” (Mí Bhuí na Bealtaine)? We looked at all of those terms in the last blog (nasc thíos) but here’s a quick…
Merry, Month, May, and How to Say It All in Irish Posted by róislín on Apr 24, 2014
(le Róislín) As we approach Lá Bealtaine and mí na Bealtaine, it seems a good time to break apart the time-worn phrase “merry, merry month of May,” and see how these words appear in Irish. So we’ve got at least four words for “merry” plus a curious use of “buí,” one basic word for “month”…
Na Míonna, Na Mìosan, Ny Meeghyn (in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx), Cuid 4 as 4 Posted by róislín on Sep 27, 2012
(le Róislín) Gotta love the etymology–each one of these months could be a blog in and of itself! But for now, I’ll post this as a summary chart, with some notes for each month below. The Irish is still on the far left, the Scottish Gaelic next, the English meaning next, and finally related words…
Na Míonna, Na Mìosan, Ny Meeghyn (in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx), Cuid 3 as 4 Posted by róislín on Sep 24, 2012
(le Róislín) Working up these months and their meanings is taking longer than I expected. Bhuel, bhí tuaileas (hunch) agam … (but I ambitiously thought that two parts would be enough for the topic). So you may have noticed that I’ve just expanded the number of sections this mionsraith (mini-series) will have. At this point…