Though Irish today is commonly written with accents (to distinguish long from short vowels), I have omitted these for simplicity’s sake. The pronunciations that follow are only approximations. Ch in Irish has a guttural sound, as in German, Yiddish, and Hebrew. In this guide, it is shown as h. Gh is also guttural, but softer—so soft that for our purposes it can be sounded simply as h.
|
Ailil |
ahl-il |
|
Amhairghin |
av-ar-hin |
|
anmchara |
an-m- |
|
Armagh |
ar-mah |
|
Cathach |
ka-ha |
|
Columbanus |
koll-m-bah-nus |
|
Columcille |
koll-m-kill |
|
Conaill |
konn-l |
|
Conchobor |
konn-r |
|
Connacht |
konn-aht, or konn-it |
|
Cruachan Ai |
kroo-ah-han ee |
|
Cuailnge |
kool-ee |
|
Cuchulainn |
koo- |
|
Derdriu |
dare-dru, or deer-dr |
|
Emain Macha |
ev-n ma- |
|
Leinster |
lehn-ster |
|
Medb |
methv, or mayv |
|
Noisiu |
noy-shoo |
|
Rathcroghan |
rath-cro-han |
|
Samain |
sow-n (first syllable |
|
Tain Bo Cuailnge |
toyn boe kool-ee |
|
Uisliu, Uisnech |
ish-lu, ush-ne |
a-ra