# Irish: Pronunciation of Irish words



## Silvia

I need to know the pronunciation of the following words:
Iveragh
Parknasilla
Cahirciveen
Glenbeigh
Adare
Maigue
Clonmacnois
St. Ciaran

Some are names of cities/towns, one is a greeting. I hope the spellings are correct!

Thank you in advance!


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## Qcumber

I don't know the answers, but I had once to study Yeats's plays, and I remember two names:
Aoife [Eave]
Diarmuid [Dermot]


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## ronanpoirier

I think this website may help you:

http://www.standingstones.com/gaelpron.html

Ciao ;-)


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## Silvia

Thank you, Qcumber and ronanpoirier.

I had a look at that page, but it sounds too complicated to me, especially considering I'm not even a beginner! Can anyone help me out?


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## Kurisuru

Most of those are Anglicizations of Irish words. For example, Iveragh - there's no V in Irish. But I'll try and help you:

Iveragh = "ee-va-ra"
Parknasilla = "pawrk-nah-shullah"
Cahirciveen = "coh-hir-chiv-een"
Glenbeigh = "glen-beg"
Adare = "ad-air"
Maigue = "mai-guh"
Clonmacnois = "clon-mac-noise"
St. Ciaran = "saint see-air-an"


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## elpoderoso

Surely Ciaran is with a hard C.


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## Kurisuru

elpoderoso said:


> Surely Ciaran is with a hard C.


If it's pronounced that way in English then yes, it would be. Apologies for my mistake.


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## elpoderoso

But in Irish the given name Ciaran is with a hard C.


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## Outsider

It is an Irish name originally, isn't it?


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## Setwale_Charm

Kurisuru said:


> Most of those are Anglicizations of Irish words. For example, Iveragh - there's no V in Irish. But I'll try and help you:
> 
> Iveragh = "ee-va-ra"
> Parknasilla = "pawrk-nah-shullah"
> Cahirciveen = "coh-hir-chiv-een"
> Glenbeigh = "glen-beg"
> Adare = "ad-air"
> Maigue = "mai-guh"
> Clonmacnois = "clon-mac-noise"
> St. Ciaran = "saint see-air-an"


 
I agree. It is corrupt Irish. Initially, you would never have syllables like "silla", "Cahir". It would be rather "silagh", "cathir".


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## elpoderoso

Yes Outsider it is an Irish name, but it is now popular in Britain (along with other Irish names) though in Britain it is often spelled differently, usually with a K.


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## sarcie

Kurisuru said:


> Cahirciveen = "coh-hir-chiv-een"



If this is the town in Kerry, it's approximately *care-siv-een*.
Definitely no "ch"-sound in the middle anyway! 



Kurisuru said:


> Parknasilla = "pawrk-nah-shullah"



And this one, to me, would be *park-na-silla(h)*, just as it's spelt - but this is probably an accent thing, as Kurisuru is from Enniskillen (according to their profile) and my accent is more Dublin than anything else.

Ciarán is always with a hard "k" sound at the beginning, in my experience, and it's pronounced *kee-rawn*.


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## Kurisuru

sarcie said:


> And this one, to me, would be *park-na-silla(h)*, just as it's spelt - but this is probably an accent thing, as Kurisuru is from Enniskillen (according to their profile) and my accent is more Dublin than anything else.


Perhaps, but a fella I know from Cork says he pronounces it that way too...


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