What does "Baile binn faoi nealta ban." mean? Translating JUST the words, I came up with (in order) "town peak under clouds white." Can anyone help me out here? Thanks!

Mandi

Can anyone translate this phrase for me? It might mean a lot, as it was sent by someone visiting Ireland who I care about. Thank you so much: Slan Leat agus go raibh maith agat

Mandi, I would translate that as 'Pleasant town under clouds of white'.

Susie, all three of you who posted this request are hereby required to memorize it: Slán leat agus go raibh maith agat. Pronounced approximately slawn LAHT UH-guhs guh ruh MAH UH-gut. 'Bye and thank you.' (farewell and may there be good at you). (Just think how much Irish you could all learn by the NEXT Nollaig -- Christmas.)

Seosamh..
I've only been studying Irish for a short while but I have a question regarding the pronunciation of "go raibh" in your response to the previous posting, I have been pronouncing it closer to "guh rehv", am I mistaken or does this particular string of words "...go raibh maith agat" cause a pronunciation change in the end of raibh?

Go raibh maith agat ,
Scott Alan Shepherd

"Rehv" is correct too. It's the Munster pronunciation. Actually, I don't say "ruh" either. I say "roah" (ie, with a long 'o') which is the Ulster way, but I often go with a more neutral pronunciation here.

Mandi, you're actually the reason I came back in here so late at night. I was thinking about the line above and realized 'bán' must refer to 'baile'. It's a line from a poem or song, not the usual syntax, and I was thinking the underlying phrase is 'néalta atá bán'. But it must be the town that is white (under snow -- Bethlehem?). So it should go something like 'pleasant town, white beneath clouds'. I took a little liberty with 'binn', also -- it basically means 'sweet sounding', but is sometimes translated by words like pleasant, superb, etc. Take it as 'sweet town (or home)' if you wish.

Thanks for your help! Actually, I saw the line at a site about a band, so you're dead on there. Thing is, it's not a lyric I recognise from the band ... and I WOULD recognise it. Who knows. It may have just been something the site brought up!

Anyway, I am interested in learning the language. Perhaps I should keep an eye on these posts, and start speaking of it a bit. How's this?

Slán leat agus go raibh maith agat.

Okay, so I cheated... but at least now I know what it means!

M