Could someone please help. When my 14 year old nephew was born my brother decided to give him an Irish name - afterall our family name is O'Rourke. My brother chose Padraig because our father's name is Patrick. He assumed that Padraig and Parick were pronounced the same. He was wrong - we know now, but we are unsure of the proper pronunciation. I thought it may be Paadrig or perhaps Pawdrig. Someone then told me that you do not pronounce the "d" at all. My brother is convinced that he heard someone pronounce the "p"as an "f" sound. Please educate we ignorant Australians. By the way, I love this site - I only discovered it tonight but I will be a regular visitor.

My understanding (I'm one of the amateurs, so I'd wait on the opionions of others!) is that it is PAW-drig. The P vs. F comes from the fact that when addressing someone, on starts with "a" (like the Latin "o") and then adds the name with the first consonant lenited: b => bh (pronounced w or v), c => ch, etc.. (This is called the vocative case.) Thus the name is Paidrig (PAW-drig) when speaking of the person ("Padrig came over last night.") but when speaking to the person, you would say "a Phaidrig" (uh FAW-drig) ("a Phaidrig, please stay for dinner."). In English, the closest I can think of is in southern US English, the word "hey" is a bit like that, as in "hey Catherine, how're you doing?"

Dennis

A chairde,

The "d" is Padraig is dropped giving the sound similar to PAW-rig, but I've often heard it pronounced with the d but very softly.

Le meas,
Larry

Thank you very much Dennis and Larry for your very thorough and quick answers. I shall now educate my brother and nephhew about how to say his name. A couple of years ago I toyed with the idea of learning Irish, but goodness it doesn't seem easy. I only know of one gentleman who teaches it. With a good teacher, is it very difficult to learn?
Best Wishes,
Catherine

It is pronounced PAW-DRIG, as someone said.
I would also like to point out that the first a is a long vowel though, so
Pádraig.
Good luck with your Irish!
: )

Catherine,
I am attempting to learn Irish by myself, as I live in a place that's not special enough to have any Irish teachers or even any programs within my knowledge. Trust me, I have searched, but it seems this place has a reputation for not having any cool things around. Anyway, I'm having great fun learning it by myself, with lessons I print off the internet, and it's not TOO hard, at least for me.
By the way, I have just found this website also, and am very excited now that I'm not totally cut off from other people that speak the lovely language of Irish!

how do say "The Captain's Flask" in irish?

Pádraig atá ionamsa / I'm a Pádraig. In Munster the pronunciation includes the d sound, giving /Pawdrig/.
However in a northern situation which applies to me, it is pronounced /pawrig/.

There are also variations with the g as it can be soundede as a /g/ or a /c/.

The fada is important, so I'd encourage it's use and retention in the name.

Maith Thú/ credit where credit is due: well done in selecting an Irish name

I could use a little help translating an Italian saying into Gaelic.

My parents just bought a new house and it has a sign out front written in Italian that says "the good life" (La Bona Vida or something like that)

We would like to replace the sign with one written in Gaelic....would anyone have any idea how that would translate or whether there is a similar Irish saying?

Thanks a million for you help
Erin

Eirin, A Chara:

Word for word stuff usually doesn't work well in Irish. Sometimes it does but usually not. I'm not a native speaker so take my suggestion for what it is--a beginner's attempt. My guess is that there is an idiomatic expression that would serve your intent better.

Beatha Mhaith (Bah-ha Wah) Literally, A Good Life.

An Bheatha Mhaith-- this can be pronounced a couple of ways (Ahn Va-ha Wah) or (Uh Vah-ha Wah). The second rendering is just a matter of the "n" sound being lost in the following word.

Let's see what the gaeilgoiri have to say.

Le meas,

James

Hi Eirin,

Is the Italian phrase 'la Dolce Vita'? There was a movie by that name.

James gave 'An Bheata Mhaith' which is correct in one sense but not for your purpose. 'Saol' is used for 'life' in an abstract sense whereas 'beatha' has to do with a person's own individual life.

So I suggest as Antóin gave on another thread:

An dea saol.

Since the Irish usually describe as "living on the pig's back" the idea of a life of plenty maybe you'd like the term "ar mhuin na muice", pronounced air win nah mucka. I'm not sure of Beatha mhaith - it might be closer to a life of goodness - than a life of plenty. Diabhail fhios agam.