I just had dinner with my friend Tom O'Carrol and his wife. She was asking me how to say "Haven Hill" in Irish. I told her I wouldn't know how to say it other that something like "Cnoc Na Tearmann" or maybe "Cnoc an Tearmann".

Would both be correct or does anyone have better ideas?
FaberM

You can check out his site at http://www.tocarroll.com/

Neither is correct. Tearmann is a first declension masculine noun, which is to say it forms the genitive by slenderising the final consonant. So: Cnoc an Tearmainn.

Of course, hills come in all shapes and sizes and several of these have more specific names in Irish. So while cnoc is a fine cover term, there may be a more appropriate word depending on whether the hill is low (tulach), tall and rocky (tor), small and rounded (corr), part of a ridge (droim), etc.

A particularly nice term is leaca, which refers to a hillside, particularly one which is gentle and south-facing, suitable for farming. One of Daniel Corkery's short stories is called "The ploughing of Leaca-na-Naomh", which is just such a fertile sunlit place, one which has long been considered too holy to farm.

Tulach an tearmainn,alliterative like Haven Hill? Or just pick a lovely placename from Kerry that fits the home.

Nice farm!! We do alot of driving in my part of the country, too. As a matter of fact, we've hosted the CDE championships a time or two.

BTW...I like Tulach an Tearmainn..but if your part of Texas is in the Hill Country, Tor an Tearmainn might be more descriptive.

a Mhacdara:

I took your suggestion to Marlene Collins (wife of the Kerryman, Tom O'Carroll) and she was most grateful for your suggestion. I think 'Tulach an Tearmainn" rolls nice off the teanga.

Go raibh maith agat,
Faber MacMhoalain

Any thoughts on "Pleasant Hill? That's what we've called our homeplace farm for years.

Faber

Would heaven's hill be

"Cnoc an naemh"?

I don't understand the interchangeability of "an" and "na"

Faber

Domnail:

How would one pronounce "Leaca na naomh"?

And how would that differ in meaning from "Leaca an naomh"?

Faber

Cnoc Aoibhinn
Hill * pleasant

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naomh [ainmfhocal firinscneach den chéad díochlaonadh]
fíréan, duine naofa; duine atá naomhaithe nó aitheanta amhlaidh ag an eaglais (Naomh Pádraig, Naomh Bríd).

So Cnoc an Naoimh
The Saint's Hill

neamh [ainmfhocal baininscneach den dara díochlaonadh]
ríocht Dé, na Flaithis; spéir (ó neamh go lár).

Heaven. This is a feminine noun so an -> na in the genitive.

Cnoc na Neimhe

Heaven's Hill

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How would one pronounce "Leaca na naomh"?

And how would that differ in meaning from "Leaca an naomh"?

I don't do pronunciation. The difference between Leaca na naomh and an naoimh

Is that the former is plural, the latter singular

naomh	[ainmneach uatha]	nom. sing.
naoimh	[ginideach uatha]	gen. sing.
naoimh	[ainmneach iolra]	nom. plural
naomh	[ginideach iolra]	gen plural

A Dhomnaill: How would one pronounce "Leaca na naomh"?

Just the way it's spelled! Seriously, leaca would be like the Received Pronunciation of lacquer only with a slender l. How you pronounce naomh depends on where you're from. In my Southie accent, it's like a Scottish pronunciation of nave (that his, no offglide on the vowel, like Spanish e). But Ulster dialect makes ao into "ee" (Spanish i).

I am not competent to say if 'tulach an tearmainn' is spot on grammatically,just sounds right.Must get my Ordnance survey map out and check the sounds out.'mullach' is another word here in Munster at least.Seems to be more for big hills,though.Mullaghareirke mountains on Cork /Limerick border eg.I make this out to mean Hills of the View ie Mullach a' Radharc but some local guy told me a story about 'Airy Spirits' (Aerach).what do i know? Anyone else!?

Mullach = summit i.e. the top of a mountain/hill

Logainm agrees with your view

http://www.logainm.ie/?text=Mullaghareirk

Tá bunachar logainmneacha an-mhaith!GRMA