Why are Irish place names so hard to pronounce?
Whether you are researching your Irish ancestry, or simply reading the news, here’s how to tap into local know-how and pronounce Irish place names like a native.
It’s no secret that Irish signage can be the undoing of even the most seasoned traveler. Even Irish natives know how easy it is to get a place-name pronunciation wrong when they are not local to the area.
Every dialect and district has its own distinct way of pronouncing addresses, and that goes for the Irish language as well. Like many places in Europe, most of Ireland has bilingual road signage so you'll see both Irish and English versions of the placename displayed.
People of a variety of linguistic backgrounds have left their mark on the island of Ireland – the Gaels, the Vikings, the Normans, the Ulster-Scots, and the English. It wasn’t only Gaelic words that had to be adapted to English phonology and spelling. Dublin’s Camden Street, for example, is pronounced “Candem Street” by the locals. And this trait is not unique to Dubliners. The site of an ancient Gaelic battle, in County Roscommon, the hill of Canbo is also known locally as “Cambo”. So which version is right? It all depends on who you’re talking to!
Just before the Great Famine, when the Ordnance Survey men first set out to map and record Irish places, there were no standardized spellings. The Irish language scholar John O’Donovan toured the island at that time taking great pains to get it right.
You can see that the transcriber did his best with transcribing Inis Tíog (Inish-TEE-og) in Co. Kilkenny as Inistioge (Inish-teeg). However, the jury is out on how Eochaill (O-oh-kill) in Co. Cork became Youghal (yawl/y’all).
There are cases aplenty where great care was taken by a landlord to translate a place name and in those cases, the Ordnance Survey recorded both e.g. Cnoc an Anama (the hill of souls) was known as Knockananima aka Soulmount.
The Gaelic word dubh (black) can be pronounced as "dove" or "doo" depending on the region too. Does that mean Dublin and Doolin were both named Blackpool? Possibly. Dublin was the Viking town of “Blackpool” but Doolin, on the edge of the Burren was more likely to have been “Blackland”.
This brings us to place names that are in Irish only. In the 1920s, immediately following Irish independence, any places that were named for the king or queen of England were changed to their original Gaelic name using Irish phonology. Queen’s County was renamed Laois (leash) and it’s capital town, Maryborough named after Queen Mary, reverted to Portlaoise (Port-LEASH). The port of Queenstown became Cobh (cove) and Kingstown became Dún Laoighre (Doon Leera or Dun Leery).
Not to worry, plenty of people in Ireland don’t know the correct local pronunciation and newsreaders are no exception. Omagh (OH-ma) was mispronounced by many journalists. Barack Obama was also thrown by the “gh” and called it “Omack”. Even the BBC got caught out reporting Drogheda (Draw-heh-dah) as “Droe-gay-da”.
Don't forget there is no "Th" sound in the Irish language so that is why you may get confused by trees and turds (threes & thirds) and Thurles (TUR-less) in Ireland.
Tongue twisters abound, but ah sure that’s half the fun! Visitor mispronunciations give the locals a great laugh so don’t be discouraged, it’s a conversation starter!
What’s the most confounding Irish place name you’ve encountered? Do you need help figuring out an Irish placename your ancestor was from? Post a query to our message board where our dedicated volunteers will be delighted to help.
LEARN MORE Watch Dane Tyghe explain the meaning behind each of the 32 counties of Ireland:
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