{"id":4610,"date":"2013-11-19T19:45:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-19T19:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4610"},"modified":"2013-11-22T23:38:07","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T23:38:07","slug":"an-tulan-fearmhar-i-bplas-dealey-dallas-ar-22-mi-na-samhna-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-tulan-fearmhar-i-bplas-dealey-dallas-ar-22-mi-na-samhna-1963\/","title":{"rendered":"An Tul\u00e1n F\u00e9armhar i bPl\u00e1s Dealey, Dallas, ar 22 M\u00ed na Samhna 1963"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Two of the key phrases associated with feallmhar\u00fa Kennedy<\/strong> are “grassy knoll” and “magic bullet.”\u00a0 These phrases have continually caught my attention, for various reasons.\u00a0 One is that, as far as I know, most Americans rarely use the word “knoll” to describe very small hills.\u00a0 And yet the word figures prominently in all discussions of the assassination of one of America’s most popular presidents. \u00a0And yet, if we were to do some sort of word association study, I would imagine that a large majority would associate the word “knoll” with Kennedy, not with other types of hills or similar shapes, (hillocks, hummocks, mounds, buttes, mesas, lomas, etc.).\u00a0 If you add the word “grassy,” I think very few people would think “terrain” and the vast majority would think “Kennedy assassination.”<\/p>\n

As for the “magic bullet,” a term used by detractors of the “single-bullet theory,” it represents a recent step in the concept of magic weapons. \u00a0Originally we had magic swords, such as “An Cla\u00edomh Solais<\/strong>,” in Irish lore (predecessor of the light saber, no doubt) and Excalibur, in Arthurian legend, to name just two geographic areas.\u00a0 Fast forward to the age of firearms and we have enchanted bullets in the German legend of the Freisch\u00fctz<\/em> (freeshooter) and the term even shows up in medical research (Dr. Paul Ehrlich’s work on a syphilis cure, for example, as popularized in the 1940 film, 1940 Dr. Ehrlich\u2019s Magic Bullet<\/em>).\u00a0 The closely related “silver bullet” also contributes to notion that a weapon may contain supernatural power.\u00a0 Silver bullets were believed to kill werewolves, they appear in the Grimm Brothers’ folktale “The Two Brothers,” and they even show up in The Lone Ranger.\u00a0 Now I’m not saying that those who believe there had to be more than one bullet truly believe in magic in the sense of fairy tales, invisibility cloaks, and enchanted forests.\u00a0 But by referring to the bullet as “magic,” they are invoking a centuries-old tradition of belief in supernaturally powerful weapons.<\/p>\n

I’m in no position to analyze the ballistics tests that attempt to prove the number of bullets used in the Kennedy assassination.\u00a0 Here once, again, I’m simply dealing with the terminology.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An Tul\u00e1n F\u00e9armharr i bPl\u00e1s Dealey, Dallas, TX (http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:JFK_Wooden_Fence.jpg)<\/p><\/div>\n

So how do we say “grassy knoll” and “magic bullet” in Irish?\u00a0 Well, as usual, there are several possibilities:<\/p>\n

For “knoll,” the typical possibilities are “tul\u00e1n<\/strong>,” “cnoc\u00e1n<\/strong>,” and “maolchnoc<\/strong>.” \u00a0With the word “f\u00e9armhar” ([FAYR-wur], grassy) we have the following possibilities:<\/p>\n

a) an tul\u00e1n f\u00e9armhar<\/strong>: “tul\u00e1n” comes from “tul” (protuberance, prominence, front, and sometimes “forehead” although “forehead” is usually “\u00e9adan”).\u00a0 This could also be translated as “the grassy hummock” or “the grassy mound,” both of which would also be reasonable descriptions.<\/p>\n

b) an cnoc\u00e1n f\u00e9armhar<\/strong>: “cnoc\u00e1n” comes from “cnoc” (hill, also used for “berg” as in “cnoc oighir,” iceberg).\u00a0 Cnoc\u00e1n can also mean a “heap,” not quite as applicable to the Grassy Knoll in Dealey Plaza.<\/p>\n

c) an maolchnoc f\u00e9armhar<\/strong>: “maolchnoc” comes from “maol” and “cnoc.”\u00a0 Here, “maol” means \u00a0“round-topped,” but also, and quite typically, it means “bald,” “roofless,” “obtuse,” “unprotected,” and if discussing cows, “hornless”).\u00a0 “Cnoc,” once again, is “hill.”<\/p>\n

Of these three, I would advocate “tul\u00e1n<\/strong>,” mainly because it doesn’t bring up so many other possibilities.\u00a0 Cad \u00e9 do bhar\u00failse<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

I have Googled these terms to see if there’s already a precedence for which one to use, but I don’t see anything suggesting a preference.<\/p>\n

As for the “magic bullet,” I’d say the terminology is more straightforward.\u00a0 Generally the word “magic” is translated as “dra\u00edocht<\/strong>,” and there are many examples: slat dra\u00edochta (magic wand), ceo dra\u00edochta (magic mist or fog), and “cochall dra\u00edochta” (magic cloak).\u00a0 “Dra\u00edocht” can also mean “druidism,” and is derived from the word “draoi” (druid).<\/p>\n

The standard word for “bullet” is “pil\u00e9ar<\/strong>” [PIL-yayr] not to be mistaken for its homonym (“pil\u00e9ar<\/strong>” meaning a “pillar”) or its near-homonym “p\u00edlea<\/strong>r” ([PEEL-yer], a policeman or ‘Peeler’).<\/p>\n

So “magic bullet” would be “pil\u00e9ar dra\u00edochta<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Did you notice that “-a” ending?\u00a0 That’s what makes the word mean “of magic,” as opposed to “magic” on its own.<\/p>\n

Bhuel<\/strong>, that’s just the tip of the “cnoc oighir<\/strong>,” of thoughts regarding feallmhar\u00fa Kennedy.\u00a0<\/strong> Shortly I’ll be writing more about “a mhuintir<\/strong>” and “a shinsir<\/strong>,” and also about some Irish aspects of his funeral. \u00a0Scr\u00edofa go br\u00f3nach, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

le R\u00f3isl\u00edn Two of the key phrases associated with feallmhar\u00fa Kennedy are “grassy knoll” and “magic bullet.”\u00a0 These phrases have continually caught my attention, for various reasons.\u00a0 One is that, as far as I know, most Americans rarely use the word “knoll” to describe very small hills.\u00a0 And yet the word figures prominently in all…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[305814,304755,305811,305806,305813,305809,305810,191205,5784,305807,305812,305805,305804],"class_list":["post-4610","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-22-mi-na-samhna-1963","tag-assassination","tag-bplas-dealey","tag-cnocan","tag-dallas","tag-dealey-plaza","tag-grassy-knoll","tag-jfk","tag-kennedy","tag-maolchnoc","tag-plas-dealey","tag-tulan","tag-tulan-fearmhar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610","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=4610"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4614,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions\/4614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}