"Thagadh lán a chruite de náire air agus Nóra Mhaitais Labhráis ag leamh dó as litir go raibh teaghlach Cáit Anna in ainriocht, go raibh an t-airleacan caite sna siopaí acu agus, mura raibh ag Dia, gur ghearr go dtiocfadh an bhó sa gcíos."............................................................"lán a chruite de náire" - his full horseshoes of shame?--------- "dtiocfadh an bhó sa gcíos." - that the cow would come in the rent?---------- I have a feeling for what these things mean, but I'm not sure if I'm right. And WHY do they mean what they mean? Still stuggling with these darn idioms!

"Thagadh lán a chruite de náire air agus Nóra Mhaitais Labhráis ag leamh dó as litir go raibh teaghlach Cáit Anna in ainriocht, go raibh an t-airleacan caite sna siopaí acu agus, mura raibh ag Dia, gur ghearr go dtiocfadh an bhó sa gcíos."

His small circumstances would come as shame to him as Nóra Mhaitais Labhráis read to him from a letter that Cáit Anna's family were in bad form, that they'd spent the loan in the shops, and if it weren't for God's help, that it wouldn't be long before the cow would come into rental.


That's what mise got from it. I don't see what's meant by "go dtiocfadh an bhó sa gcíos".

Some guesses: (Ó Cadhain has a depth and breadth of Irish that would keep anybody out of breath. I gave up on his fictional work - I like his journalism).

Cruit - a hunched back, either as a result of disease or due to a load.

I'm assuming the context of this is that the protagonist somehow feels responsible for Cáit Anna's plight. So now he is "bent with the shame" due to what he is hearing.

Cáit Anna and Co now have no credit in the shops:

My guess is "gur ghearr go dtiocfadh an bhó sa gcíos" means "the cow will form part of the rent" i.e. they will have to give the cow as part payment of the rent.

My dictionary also says that "cruit" is a variant of "creat", meaning frame, shape, or appearance. Perhaps this means "His frame was filled with shame?"

His back bent with shame makes more sense to me.