The Summer King (38 page)

cluricaun
—anglicized version of
clúrachán
(clew-raa-cawn), also
lucharachán
(lew-cur-aah-cawn)—literally,“puny creature, pigmy, dwarf.” Belonging to the class of solitary fairies, cluricauns are distant cousins of leprechauns, but they are not shoemakers by trade, rather they are distillers of
poitín
. They hide barrels of whiskey the way leprechauns hide pots of gold. Preferring to dress in red as opposed to the leprechaun’s green, cluricauns are known to be better-humored than leprechauns and friendlier to humans, perhaps because they are usually inebriated. See note concerning the
Fir Dhearga
and Santa Claus.

Cónaímid i spreach solais
Mear mar eite fáinleoige
Lá grianmhar is lá pianmhar.

Ansin titeann an contráth:
Agus eitlíonn an t-éan abhaile san oíche.

Sheol mé long dúghorm an stuimine óir
Thar sáile áiféalta réalta go brách,
Thrasnaigh mé imeall tine an chaomhnóra
Is ghaibh mé isteach sa Bhrionglóid.

(cawn-aah-midge jeh sprack saw-liss
marr mair etch-uh fown-loy-guh
law gree-un-varr iss law pee-un-varr.

awn-shinn titch-unn awn cawn-traw
aw-guss etch-leen awn chain aah-wallya sawn ee-huh

hy’ole may lawng doo-yorrum awn stuh-minn-uh orr
harr soil aah-fale-tuh rale-tuh goe brock
h’rass-nee may im-uh’l chinn awn c’weeve-norr-aah
iss yaw-iv may iss-chalk saah vreen-gloyd)

We live in a flicker of light
Swift as swallows’ wings,
A day of sunshine and pain.

Then dusk falls:
And the bird flies home in the evening.

I have sailed the blue ship with the silver prow
Over the sea of eternal stars,
I have crossed the guardian’s rim of fire
And passed into the Dreaming.*

*English poem by O.R. Melling, translated into Irish by Findabhair ní Fhaoláin.

craic
(krack)—Conversation, chat, but now generally means “fun.” Often used with
ceoil
(kee-ole)—
“music”—e.g. people go out for night of
craic agus
ceoil
—“fun and music.” Note the difference an accent can make:
cráic
(crock) means “buttocks” or “anus”!

crannóg
(krawn-ogue)—ancient fortified lake dwellings built on pilings to form a manmade island, literally “piece of wood, wooden pole”

curach
(kurr-uck)—“currach” in Hiberno-English, a coastal rowing boat “as old as Ireland herself.” With a frame constructed of wood and originally covered with animal skins, currachs are now covered with tarred canvas, giving them their distinctive black beetle look. They can vary in size from six feet to twenty-six feet and also in shape, each style having the name of the area in which they are built, e.g. the Achill currach or Kerry currach. According to ancient manuscripts, St. Brendan the Navigator sailed to North America in a large currach in the sixth century
A.D.
before the Vikings got there. In 1976–77, the Irish adventurer Tim Severin proved that this was possible when he sailed from Ireland to Newfoundland in a leather boat! See
The Brendan Voyage,
by Tim Severin.

eejit—
Hiberno-English slang word for “idiot” (but less offensive and often affectionate)

Éist nóiméad.
(aysht noe-made)—Listen a minute.

Fáinne na Gréine
(fawnya na grane-aah)
—
Ring of the Sun

Fir Dhearga
(feer yarr-i-guh)—Red Men or Red People, i.e., a particular clan of fairies who like to drink to excess, thus having red faces and red noses. Another name for a cluricaun. Note: the
Fir Dhearga
claim Santa Claus as their most famous son.

Fir-Fia-Caw
(fur fee-aah caw)—author’s anglicized version of
Fir Fiacha (Dubh)
(fur fee-aah caw doove), literally, “Raven Men” or “Raven People.” Ruarc is Captain of the first troop of seven brothers, the other six being Fráecc, Duarcán, Affric, Feradác, Uillecc, and Ceartacc. The second troop of seven brothers is led by Cádac, the other six being Adarcc, Fecíne, Cellacc, Fiacc, Máedoc, and Corcc. Note: the word
fiacha
(fee-aah-caw) means “raven” either alone or with the added word
dubh
(doove or doo) meaning “black.”
Fiacha
is also the Irish word for “hunter.” Ravens are known to be the companions of golden eagles and wolves, with whom they may hunt.

Gairm slógaidh
(geer-um slow-geh)—call to arms, hosting, mobilization

Gile na gile
(geela naah geela)—Brightness of brightness. The first line of an
aisling
(ashling) or “vision” poem by Aogán Ó Rathaille, c. 1675–1729.

girseach
(geer-shuck)—young girl

Go cinnte
(goe kinn-cheh)—Certainly! Indeed!

Go hálaínn!
(goe haw-leen)—Beautiful!

“Go mbhfearr léi lán loinge de Chloinn Conroi agus de Chloinn Mic an Allaidh ná lán loinge d’ór.”
(go marr lay lawn ling duh clinn cawn-ree awgg-is de clinn mick awn alley nawh lawn ling deh orr)—“I’d rather have a shipful of Conroys and McAnallys than a shipful of gold.” (Words historically attributed to Grace O’Malley, c. 1530–1603.)

Gráinne na gCearrbhach
(grawn-ya naah gair-vock) Grace of the Gamblers

Gránuaile
(grawn-ya-wale)—shortened version of
Gráinne Uí Mhaille
, Grace O’Malley, literally “Grace, a female of the O’Malleys.” Note: Grace is not an invention of the author, but a real historical figure. The usual dates given for her are c. 1530–1603.

Inisbófin
(in-ish boe-finn)—Island of the White Cow

Leitir Bhreac
(letcher vrack)
—
Anglicized to Letterfrack, literally,“Speckled Hillside.”

Loch Béal Séad
(lock bale shade)
—
Lake of the Jeweled Mouth

Mná-Fia-Caw
(muh-naw fee-aah caw)—author’s anglicized version of
Mná Fiacha (Dubh)
(muh-naw fee-aah caw doove), literally, “Raven Women.” Aróc is Captain of the troop of seven sisters, the other six being Ceara, Fuince, Cearcc, Fiacca, Créde, and Duarcca. Note: the word
fiacha
(fee-aah-caw) means “raven” either alone or with the added word
dubh
(doove or doo) meaning “black.”
Fiacha
is also the Irish word for “hunter.” Ravens are known to be the companions of golden eagles and wolves, with whom they may hunt.

mo chara
(mo harr-ah)—my friend, but there is also a sense of “dear one.”

Na Daoine Maithe
(na deeny maw-haw)
—
The Fairy Folk, literally “The Good People.”

Na Daoine Sídhe
(na deeny shee)
—
The Fairy Folk, literally “The People of the Fairy Mounds.”

Ní cladhaire í.
(nee kly-raah ee.)—She is no milksop.

Ní hea.
(nee hah)—No.

Níl sé ’na lá, níl a ghrá
Níl sé ’na lá, na baol ar maidin
Níl sé ’na lá, níl a ghrá
Solas ard atá sa ghealaigh.*

(neel shinn law, neel aah graw
neel shinn law, naa bwale air mawh-jinn
neel shinn law, neel aah graw
saw-lis ord aah-taw saa gy’alley)

It is not yet day, it’s not, my love
It is not yet day, nor yet the morning
It is not yet day, it’s not, my love
For the moon is shining brightly.

*Traditional, collected on Tory Island, off the north coast of Donegal by members of Clannad.

Oró! sé do bheatha ’bhaile! (3x)
Tá Gránuaile ag teacht thar sáile.*

(oh-roe! shay doe vaah-haa wawl-ya!
taw grawn-ya-wale egg chawk’t harr soyle-ya)

Oho! head home for your life!
Gránuaile is coming over the sea.

*
Though it is little known these days (even among the Irish), this song was written by Padraic Pearse (1879–1916), schoolteacher and leader of the Easter Rising or Irish Rebellion in 1916. He was executed by the British. The author has taken some liberties with the song by replacing the last line of the chorus with a line from one of the verses. Also
Gráinne Mhaol
has been anglicized to the more commonly known Granuaile.

pisreog
(pish-rogue)
or piseog
(pish-ogue)
—
a fairy charm or spell

Pog mo thóin
(pogue moe hone)—Kiss my ass.

poitín
(puh-cheen)—home-distilled (illicit) whiskey, poteen, i.e., Irish moonshine

Raidió na Gaeltachta
(raah-dee-oh naah gwale-tawktaw)
—
Irish-language radio station founded in 1972 to serve the Irish-speaking areas of Ireland, now listened to countrywide.

ruaille-buaille
(rool-ya bool-ya)—uproar, commotion, tumult. In Hiberno-English becomes “roolie-boolie” or “roolye-boolye.”

scáth
(scaw)—shadow

Sídhe
(shee)—plural word meaning “fairy folk” that can be used as a noun or adjective. It is understood to be related to the Old Irish word
síd
used for a mound or hill-fort, in which the fairy folk are said to dwell.
Sídhe
is a variant spelling of the more modern
sí
.

Slievemore
(shleeve-more)—Anglicized version of
Sliabh Mór
, “Great Mountain.”

súgán
(shew-gawn) —straw rope. The
súgan
chair, made of wood with a straw rope seat, is a handcrafted piece of country furniture found all over Ireland in both Irish and Scots-Irish traditions.

Tá sí sa leabhar ag an bhfiach dubh.
(taw shee saah l-ow-er egg awn vee-uck duv)
—
literally “She is in the book of the raven.” An old way of saying “her days are numbered,” or “her time is up.”

Tánaiste
(tawn-ish-tuh)
—
Tanist, second-in-command, heir presumptive; in modern Ireland this is the title of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Teach Faoi Thalamh
(chock fwee haw-luv)—House Under Ground

Trian Láir
(tree-in lawr)
—
middle of nowhere, literally “middle of a third”

Togaidh sinn ar fonn an ard,
Togaidh sinn ar fonn an ard
’S ged ’tha mi fada bhuat
Cha dhealaich sinn a’chaoidh*

(togue-ee sheen’yair fown awn aarrd
togue-ee sheen’yair fown awn aarrd
iss keh taw mee faa-taa woo-ah
gaw yaa-lee sheen’ya k’wee)

We will lift up our voices
We will lift up our voices
Although I am now so far from you
We will never sever.

*Scots Gaelic—
song by Celtic folk rock band Runrig, founded in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, with a Canadian from Cape Breton as lead singer.

Tulach Mhór
(tuh-luck vorr)—anglicized to Tullamore, literally “Great Hill.”

uisce beatha
(ish-kaa baah-haa)—literally, “water of life,” i.e., the best Irish whiskey!

Note on the reintroduction of the Golden Eagle to Ireland:
A five-year project is underway “to re-establish a viable breeding population in the northwest of the Republic of Ireland” with young birds from Scotland. See
www.goldeneagle.ie
.
Not all that is gone is gone forever.

The historical speech of the Irish people is a Goidelic Celtic language variously called Gaelic, Irish Gaelic (as opposed to Scots Gaelic), and Erse. In Ireland, it is simply called the Irish language or “Irish.” For over two thousand years, Irish—Old, Middle, and Modern—was the language of Ireland, until the English conquest enforced its near eradication. Today it is the official first language of Eire, the Irish Republic. Recently it has been awarded official status in the Six Counties of Northern Ireland through the Good Friday Agreement.