Instead of a glossary in the back of The Awakening, I thought it would be helpful to have a list of definitions for the Irish you see in The Awakening along with a link to hear the pronunciations. They are listed in order of appearance in the book so it’s easy to follow along.
Click on the word itself to get the pronunciation link. When there are choices in dialect, go with Connacht.
Very special thanks go to the Macmillan Audio team for coming up with the list as they prepared for recording The Awakening. Any and all errors are mine.
Talamh – earth, ground, land –
Taoiseach – chief, leader
Cosantoir – defender, protector
Clann – family
Misneach – Courage, spirit
Sláinte! – health
Mo stór – my treasure
Ogham – early Irish alphabet
Bodhrán – traditional Irish drum
Fáilte – welcome
Déithe – gods
libh – you
Sidhe -fairy
Dobhar-chú – King Otter
Cróga – brave
Lasair – blaze
Mo dheartháir – my brother
Athame – blade
Lough – lake
Fírinne – truth
Finnguala – fair of shoulders
Lir – sea
Tuatha Dé Danann – tribe of the gods
Taoisigh – chief/leader
Ceilidh – a gathering with folk music and singing, traditional dancing, and storytelling
Mo bandia – my goddess
Mo chroi – my love, my darling
Samhain – end of the harvest season
And here’s how to pronounce some names – which are also in order of appearance.
Aisling – https://forvo.com/word/aisling/#ga
Tarryn – https://youglish.com/pronounce/tarryn/english?
Mairghread – https://www.pronouncenames.com/pronounce/mairghread
O’Ceallaigh – https://forvo.com/search/%C3%93%20Ceallaigh/ga/
Siobhan – https://forvo.com/word/siobhan/#en
Eian – https://youglish.com/pronounce/eian/english?
Lonrach – https://forvo.com/search/lonrach/
Keisha – https://forvo.com/word/keisha/#en
Finola – https://forvo.com/word/finola/#en
Kavan – https://youglish.com/pronounce/kavan/english?
Mac an Ghaill – https://www.pronouncekiwi.com/Mairtin%20Mac%20an%20Ghaill
Igraine – https://forvo.com/search/igraine/cy/
Odran – https://forvo.com/search/Odran/
Mahon – https://forvo.com/search/Mohan/en/
Aoife – https://forvo.com/word/aoife/#ga
Shana – https://forvo.com/search/Shana/
Mina – https://youglish.com/pronounce/mina/english?
Yseult – https://forvo.com/word/yseult/#fr
Deaglan – https://forvo.com/word/deagl%C3%A1n/#ga
Bria – https://youglish.com/pronounce/bria/english?
Mac Aodha – https://forvo.com/word/mac_aodha/#ga
Ultan – https://forvo.com/search/Ult%C3%A1n/
Devlin – https://forvo.com/search/devlin/
Beryl – https://forvo.com/word/beryl/#en
Largus – https://forvo.com/search/largus/
Minga – https://forvo.com/search/minga/bar/
Og – https://forvo.com/search/og/ga/
Aidan – https://forvo.com/word/aidan/#en
Daryn- https://youglish.com/pronounce/daryn/english?
Ywain – https://forvo.com/search/ywain/
Birgit – https://forvo.com/search/Birgit/de/
