Hello!

We were not sure whether this was something you would do, but we thought there was no harm in asking.

This coming weekend, my 8-year-old daughter, a student Irish step dancer, will participate in her first feis. The name of the school that is hosting the event is Rince Cois Fharraige. My knowledge of Gaelic is limited to terms and phrases that mainly pertain to step dancing, but I would make a guess that the school name means 'Dance Beside the Sea' in English. Would it be possible for you to tell us how to sound out "Rince Cois Fharraige" for pronunciation? [For example, feis is pronounced FESH; feile is pronounced FAY-luh.]

We would appreciate any help you could give us.

Thank you!

Slán,

Rob Christman

That's supposed to be "Rince Cois Fharraige"!

RIN-keh cush ARR-igeh would be the pronunciation for the phrase you give, but as usual I have a grammar issue!

Cois Farraige (cush FARR-igeh) means "beside the sea," but Cois Fharraige (Cois Fhairrge, Cois Fhairige, whatever) is the southern part of Connemara. It still means "beside the sea," but it's supposed to be an older or dialectal spelling - though I've heard other theories on the subject.

I wish your daughter good luck at the weekend!

To Máire Ní Ógáin:

Thank you for your help! We also appreciated your cultural annotation. And thanks very much for your good wishes. Zoara (my daughter) wants me to add that what she would like most from the feis experience is "to have a good time with her friends."