Maidin mhaith a gcairde!

Sorry, I haven't been around much in the past few months. I've been that busy with university! ;.). Tá ceist agam. I am writing a song acutally. It is a humoristic song on Irish buses (although Bus Eireann themselves are never mentioned! ;.) describing, in English, the difficulty one may have in understanding when buses leave, where they leave from and where they are going to. Now to my question: the refrain I wrote for my song is as Gealige. I would just have liked to know whether the Irish I wrote it in was in any way corect.

The first set of lyrics says:

Tá mé ag dul go Sligeach
Tá mé ag dul go Doire
Tá mé ag dul go Luimneach
Agus tá mé ag dul go Bré.

(Bré IS a town, in the South of Ireland).

By the end of the song, the singer feels like she will NEVER find her way if she insists on taking a bus. I would trying to use a different verb tense there, and say something also the lines of: "Oh, that I may be in Sligo already ("already" being only implied)! And came up with:

Go raibh mé i Sligeach
Go raibh mé i nDoire
Go raibh mé i Luimneach
Agus go raibh mé i mBré.

Anyway, does that sound like correct Irish to yous? Thanks a million for replying. Niamh.

Doire and Bré do not rhyme!
In order to take advantage of "go raibh" you might expand your line with word "b'fhéidir" ("perhaps"). But "go raibh" is past tense. So maybe smth like:

B'fhéidir go bhfuilim i Sligeach
B'fhéidir go bhfuilim i nDoire
B'fhéidir go bhfuilim i Luimneach
Agus b'fhéidir go bhfuilim imBré.

FRC

Yeah, I know Bré and Doire don't really rhyme.... but I needed a one syllable long fairly well known town for rhythm reasons and could only find "Bré" on the map and no other town name ryhmes in "é"! Any better suggestions, of a two syllable long, fairly famous Irish town in either the Republic or Northern Ireland rhyming with "Bré"? Or any other suggestion of a fairly well known, one syllable long Irish town? I can't find any personally but feel free to suggest, of course! Thanks for the advice! Would "go bhfuilim i Sligeach...", etc, on its own, without "b'fhéidir", work? I have constraints relating to the music composed for the piece, of course, so the lines cannot be longer than six or seven syllables long! Thanks. Niamh. :.).

Bré is not a native Irish name, so I doubt you can rhyme it with any other city name. Try better rhyming Cill Airne with Na Cairne. or Srá Bán with Lios Bán.

Go raibh is the subjunctive form of tá, used in wishes, blessings and curses. It looks fine to me.

"But "go raibh" is past tense"

No, it's the subjunctive.

>Any better suggestions, of a two syllable long, fairly famous Irish town in either the Republic or Northern Ireland rhyming with "Bré"?

Céard faoi Cúil Aodh? Is dúiche gaeltachta é in iarthar Co. Chorcaigh. Bhí baint ag an cumadóir clúiteach Seán Ó Riada leis an cheanntar.

Go raibh mé i Sligeach
Go raibh mé i gCúil Aodh
Go raibh mé i Luimneach
Agus go raibh mé i mBré.

quote:

Bré is not a native Irish name

An bhfuil tú cinnte?

Brí = hill, brae (Ó Dónaill): Bray (Co. Cill Manntáin), Bree (Dún na nGall, Loch Garman agus Muineacháin), Brigh (Tír Eoghain). Taobh amuigh des na samplaí seo, tá sé neamhchoitianta mar logainm.

Tá níos mó ná an méid sin in Éirinn a Fhéich agus meabhraímis go luann Art Ó Maolfabhail 'timpeall 30 logainm' sa Fhrainc 'bunaithe ar an bhfocal seanda Ceiltise seo' (35, 2005).

An ceann is cáiliúla ar fad abhus, caithfidh sé gurb é an t-iolra: 'Breagha', seanainm Cho. na Mí, ach ó dheas tá Cnoc Bréanainn i gC. Dhuibhne agus Cnoc Bhréanail i gCill Chainnigh leis.

Ceaptar go mbaineann sé le 'berg' na Gearmáinise, 'cnoc', fréamh a thug 'burg' leis a deir Ó Maolfabhail (34). Nil Watkins in aice láimhe anseo ach tá sé ar an líon ag an té a shantaíos é am ar bith.

Ba chliste é sin, Cúil 'Aodha' a reic le 'Bré' thuas.

GRMA as an eolas sin, a Sheosaimh. Bhíos fhéin ag brath ar 'Irish Placenames' le Deirde & Laurence Flanagan mar fhoinse.

Ar ndóigh, ritheann 'Ros Cré' (Tiobraid Árann) le 'Bré' freisin.

Bré's name is a transliteration from English "Bray" which was introduced after referendum a while ago. The real name of that place was "Brí Chulainn". This is what I meant by saying "not a native Irish name". All examples given by Fiacc show placenames with "í", not with "é".

Go raibh mile maith agat a gcairde!

As I was saying, my problem was that I needed a one syllable long place name... and there aren't very many... I'd rather not have four placenames in a row that are two syllable long... that would sound boring... If you know any other two, rhyming, one syllable long placenames, that would be grand!

So you think 'Go raibh mé' would be fine to indicate a wish (as in, in that case, a wish to get to Limerick, Sligo, etc)...?

Ooops, sorry... I sppose I should have said "Go raibh mile maith agaibh", since I'm writing to more than one person... Tá mo ghaeilge go dóna... ;.).

>>> This is what I meant by saying "not a native Irish name". All examples given by Fiacc show placenames with "í", not with "é".

Tuigim duit. Is casta scéal Brí/Bré a Rómain, mar gur tharla róghaelú an ainm in alt a scríobhadh tús an chéid seo caite agus dhaingnigh an Duinníneach é lena fhoclóir, an 'Brí Cualann' san, in intinn na ndaoine. Tá cuma dheas air tharla gur le taobh Slí Chualann atá sé.

Is i ndiaidh an bhirt, áfach, a tuigeadh gurbh é Bré an seanleagan ar an áit agus ná raibh sa leagan Brí Cualann ach ceapadóireacht na ródhíograise. Cuimhnímis nach gan grinntaighde a roinneann Oifig na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis a gcuid eolais ar an bpobal. Dá gcuirfí ar a súile dóibh go rabhadar in earráid, d'athróidís a leagan, ach is é taithi gach éinne againn NÁ bíonn an leagan contráilte acu.

Luafad cuid de shaothar Liam Price don té ar spéis leis an taobh san tíre: http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/cat/cat_e.html#E.5

E 5 ONOMASTICS
E 5.1: The place-names of Co. Wicklow
by Liam Price

7 parts

€60

ISBN 1 85500 130 6

E 5.1.1 I: The barony of Ballinacor North
1945 (repr. 1980). iv + 54 pp.

pbk €10

ISBN 0 901282 34 0

E 5.1.2 II: The barony of Ballinacor South
1946 (repr. 1983). pp. iv + 55-106 + vi

pbk €10

ISBN 0 901282 35 9

E 5.1.3 III: The barony of Talbotstown Upper
1949 (repr. 1983). pp. iv + 107-184

pbk €10

ISBN 0 901282 36 7

E 5.1.4 IV: The barony of Talbotstown Lower
1953 (repr. 1983). pp. iv + 185-280 + ix

pbk €10

ISBN 0 901282 37 5

E 5.1.5 V: The barony of Rathdown
1957 (repr. 1983). pp. iv + 281-338

pbk €10

ISBN 0 901282 38 3

E 5.1.6 VI: The barony of Shillelagh
1958 (repr. 1975, 2004). pp. iv + 339-81

pbk €10

ISBN 0 901282 39 1

E 5.1.7 VII: The baronies of Newcastle and Arklow
1967 (repr. 1983). pp. xcvi + 383-532

pbk €15

ISBN 0 901282 40 5

>> Ooops, sorry... I sppose I should have said "Go raibh mile maith agaibh", since I'm writing to more than one person... Tá mo ghaeilge go dóna... ;.).

Níl sí go dona in aon chor. Tá an córas féincheartaithe tosaithe agat - you've started the self-correction process. Tá tú ar bhealach do shlánaithe!
Beir gach bua.

Go raibh mile maith agat a Sheosamh. Gabh mé leis scéal, I couldn't come back online before, bhi fadhb agam le mo rimohaire (or however I say that in CORRECT IRISH ;.)). Just to let everyone know, I decided on changing "Doire" in my original poetic line, that didn't really rhyme with Bré (I'll need to keep that one though, just works musically) into "Cúil Aodh", as someone suggested. Go raibh mile maith agaibh! Niamh.