{"id":2393,"date":"2012-06-15T22:45:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T22:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2393"},"modified":"2012-07-03T20:54:26","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T20:54:26","slug":"mas-e-coffey-do-shloinne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/mas-e-coffey-do-shloinne\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e1s \u00c9 “Coffey” Do Shloinne …"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our most recent blog looked in some depth at the surname \u00d3 Cuil(l)ean(n)\u00e1in<\/strong>, including its meaning, its various spellings, and its role in creating place names or landmark buildings.\u00a0 While there are thousands of such sloinnte suimi\u00fala<\/strong> in Irish, which could create blogs topics from now till L\u00e1 Thaidhg na dTadhgann (C\u00e9n l\u00e1?\u00a0 F\u00e9ach ar an n\u00f3ta th\u00edos)<\/strong>, for this blog we’ll just look at one more.\u00a0 Or, depending on how you look at “looking” at it, four more.<\/p>\n

All four of the Irish surnames below have been anglicized in the same way, as “Coffey.”\u00a0 There could be other anglicizations, of course (surnames are full of variations), but “Coffey” is standard:<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Cobhthaigh<\/strong>, meaning “victorious” (descendant of the victorious one)
\n\u00d3 Cathbhadha<\/strong>, probably from “battle-tent,” based on the variation “cathbhoth<\/strong>; genitive: cathbhotha<\/strong>“; this surname has a geographical match, Abha Ua gCathbhadha<\/strong>, near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary
\n\u00d3 Cathbhuadhaigh<\/strong>, meaning “battle-victorious” (as opposed to plain old “victorious”; “cath<\/strong>” [KAH] means “battle” and “bua<\/strong>,” originally spelled “buadh<\/strong>,” means victory), cf. the modern Irish adjective, cathbhuach<\/strong> (victorious in battle)
\n\u00d3 Cathmhogha<\/strong>, descendant of a “battle-slave,” from “mogh<\/strong>,” a literary, somewhat archaic, word for “slave,” the more typical modern word for slave being “scl\u00e1bha\u00ed<\/strong>,” or sometimes, “daor<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Oh, did you want a pronunciation guide?\u00a0 Here goes, with some slight variations:
\n\u00d3 Cobhthaigh <\/strong>[oh KOFF-ee, or possibly “oh KOH-hee” or “oh KOH-hig”]
\n \u00d3 Cathbhadha <\/strong>[oh KOFF-uh, or possibly “oh KAH-wuh-uh”]
\n \u00d3 Cathbhuadhaigh<\/strong> [oh KOFF-ee, or possibly “oh KAH-WOO-uh-ee” or “oh KAH-WOO-ig”]
\n \u00d3 Cathmhogha<\/strong> [oh KOFF-oh-uh, or possibly “oh KAH-wo-uh]<\/p>\n

Basic moral of the story is that a “th” preceding a “bh” or “mh” is likely to become an “f” or a “w” sound.\u00a0 And a “bh” before a “th” is also like to become an “f” or “w” sound.\u00a0 This process isn’t limited to these names of course, as can be seen in older (early 20thc. spellings) like “lobhtha<\/strong>” for “lofa<\/strong>” (rotten), “scr\u00edobhtha<\/strong>” for “scr\u00edofa<\/strong>” (written). \u00a0The letters “th” coming before “bh” or “mh” is probably less common, but we have a related phenomenon in the case of the name of the druid “Cathbhadh” (-thbh-) which has been anglicized as both “Kaffa” and “Caffa.”\u00a0 I actually recommend sticking to the original Old Irish (Cathbad) or the slight modernization “Cathbhadh,” but “Kaffa” shows up as a druid in World of War, so there’s “Cathbad” clinched for the 21st century.\u00a0 “Caffa” shows up as the anglicized version used by various writers, including Patrick Weston Joyce and Ulick O’Connor.<\/p>\n

But hang on!\u00a0 Come to think of it, maybe all these folks are just descendants of Cathbhadh the druid.\u00a0 \u00c1, n\u00edl m\u00e9 ach ag magadh!<\/strong>\u00a0 But, as you might recall, he did certainly have a lot to say about procreation, “lucky hours” for “begetting” and all that!\u00a0 Of course, we’re sort of drifting back the misty dawn of time, or at least of Irish literature there.\u00a0 Ach c\u00e9n dochar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyway, back to an l\u00e1 at\u00e1 inniu ann<\/strong>.\u00a0 The usual modern Irish spelling of “Coffey” is “\u00d3 Cofaigh.”<\/strong> The modern spelling also shows up in various place names including:
\n\u00c1it T\u00ed Cofaigh Thoir<\/strong> (Atticoffey East, Co. Galway), which literally means “the place of the house of \u00d3 Cofaigh – East.”
\n\u00c1it T\u00ed Cofaigh Thiar<\/strong> (Atticoffey West, Co. Galway), which literally means “the place of the house of \u00d3 Cofaigh – West.”
\nInis Cofaigh<\/strong> (Enniscoffey, Co. Westmeath, the island or river-meadow of Coffey)
\nDoire U\u00ed Chofaigh<\/strong> (Derrycoffey, Co. Offaly, “the oak grove of Coffey”)
\nR\u00e1th Chofaigh<\/strong> Theas<\/strong> (Rathcoffey South, Co. Kildare, “the ring-fort of Coffey”)
\nR\u00e1th Chofaigh Thuaidh<\/strong> (Rathcoffey North, Co. Kildare)<\/p>\n

These places all, no doubt, had older spellings as well, and it would be interesting to trace them back to their pre-spelling reform days.\u00a0 Ach sin \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It does seem that anyone of these would be a shoe-in as a location for a coffee-shop (Caife U\u00ed Chofaigh<\/strong>)?\u00a0 So then the trendy new way to refer to it could be @U\u00edChofaigh<\/strong>, assuming our hypothetical caf\u00e9 is in one of the Atticoffeys.\u00a0 Cuppa, anyone?<\/p>\n

On that n\u00f3ta<\/strong> “cathbh<\/strong>einated,” I’ll call this blog a wrap, except of course for the gluais <\/strong>and n\u00f3ta\u00ed th\u00edos, SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta 1: L\u00e1 Thaidhg na dTadhgann<\/strong>
\nI’ve never really found an explanation for the “-ann” ending of “na dTadhgann<\/strong>” but it looks like a pseudo-genitive-plural ending.\u00a0 Why “pseudo-“?\u00a0 Well, normally if you wanted to refer to several people named “Tadhg<\/strong>,” you’d say “Tadhganna<\/strong>” (not that I’ve seen it all that often, but a couple of times, yes).\u00a0 And normally, nouns that make their plural with “-anna” do not change that ending any further for the tuiseal ginideach (busanna \/ dath na mbusanna sin; carranna \/ su\u00edoch\u00e1in eisteilgin na gcarranna sin, srl.). \u00a0C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt su\u00edoch\u00e1in iad sin?\u00a0 F\u00e9ach ar n\u00f3ta 2 th\u00edos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ach fan go gcloise t\u00fa beag\u00e1in\u00edn eile faoi.<\/strong>\u00a0 I’ve been wondering if “na dTadhgann” is a <\/strong>fairly cryptic example of comhfhoclacht, <\/strong>creating a non-standard genitive plural to parallel the Irish verb phrase “nach dtagann<\/strong>” [nahkh DAH-gun], which means “doesn’t come.”\u00a0 Literally, L\u00e1 Thaidhg na dTadhgann<\/strong>” means “The Day of Tadhg of the Tadhgs,” which, like Tibb’s Eve, is a day that never comes.\u00a0 So is it, in essence, “L\u00e1 Thaidhg nach dtagann<\/strong>,” or as might be said in Munster, “L\u00e1 Thaidhg n\u00e1 dtagann<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 So maybe Tadhg’s day never comes, even with all the other Tadhgs<\/strong> to keep him company.\u00a0 Or maybe our friend “An Paorach<\/strong>” got all the “laethanta<\/strong>” anyway (remember: Beidh l\u00e1 eile ag an bPaorach<\/strong>“) and Tadhg is just left waiting, forever, go L\u00e1 Philib an Chleite<\/strong>, one might say.\u00a0 \u00c1.B.E<\/strong>.?<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta 2: Maidir le su\u00edoch\u00e1in eisteilgin iad f\u00e9in, de ghn\u00e1th n\u00ed bh\u00edonn siad i gcarranna ach seo f\u00eds (i mB\u00e9arla) ina n-\u00fas\u00e1idtear ceann.<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, sort of “\u00fas\u00e1idtear<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Ceist eile ar fad, an oibr\u00edonn s\u00e9 i gceart?<\/strong>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kA-bXzcW7fE<\/a>.\u00a0 So, the time finally come in which I can paraphrase S\u00e9amas de Bond<\/strong> and say, “Su\u00edoch\u00e1n eisteilgin, an ea?\u00a0 Agus n\u00edl t\u00fa ag magadh?”\u00a0 Ar nd\u00f3igh, ag caint faoi Aston Martin DB5 a bh\u00ed s\u00e9, sa scann\u00e1n<\/strong> “Goldfinger” (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wUG1GexVz2k<\/a>, srl.)<\/p>\n

Gluais: ag magadh<\/strong>, joking; comhfhoclacht<\/strong> [KOH-OK-lukht], punning; eisteilgean<\/strong>, ejection (eisteilgin<\/strong>, of ejection) and btw, there is a related word a tad closer to Bond’s original phrase, “teilgire<\/strong>” (ejector) but “seat of ejection” works better in Irish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Our most recent blog looked in some depth at the surname \u00d3 Cuil(l)ean(n)\u00e1in, including its meaning, its various spellings, and its role in creating place names or landmark buildings.\u00a0 While there are thousands of such sloinnte suimi\u00fala in Irish, which could create blogs topics from now till L\u00e1 Thaidhg na dTadhgann (C\u00e9n l\u00e1?\u00a0…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[229443,229445,229446,229447,229444,6980],"class_list":["post-2393","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-coffey","tag-o-cathbhadha","tag-o-cathbhuadhaigh","tag-o-cathmhogha","tag-o-cobhthaigh","tag-surname"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2393"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393\/revisions\/2401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}