Ceann - Blame the Viking

While the word ceann is used in Munster to mean “head”, parts of Connacht (Galway and Mayo) and Ulster (all of it) favour cloigeann (skull), and ceann is used almost exclusively to refer to “one”.

For example,

Sin é an ceann a bhí mé ag caint faoi That’s the one I was talking about

Tá ceann de na rothaí pollta One of the wheels is punctured

It is also used in the plural:

How many horses do you have? We have three. Cé mhéad capall atá agaibh? Tá trí cinn againn.

Perhaps the most notable thing about Ulster Irish is how much it has in common with Scottish Gaelic in its spelling and unique expressions. Pronunciation wise, though, Munster Irish has a lot more in common with Gaelic.

Different Words

One of the most noticeable differences in Ulster Irish is the use of the negative particle Cha(n) instead of ní and níor (except in níl). Cha causes letters T and D take an urú and the others to take a séimhiú. (Read: etymology of cha) 

More:

Druid instead of dún

Sú in place of anraith

Inteacht is Ulster Irish for éigin

Cluin is Ulster and Mayo for clois

Cloigean is Ulster, Mayo and Galway Irish for "head", although ceann still refers to a specific one out of a group.

Scioptha instead of gasta (fast)

Fosta instead of freisin (Connacht) or leis (Munster)

Brachán instead of leite (porridge) (same as Scottish Gaelic)

Nighean instead of inion (daughter) (same as Scottish Gaelic nighean)

ar dóigh is used far more in place of togha or iontach

Grammar Rules

Nouns get a séimhiú after a preposition, with a definite article (as opposed to an urú, depending on preposition). You can compare this to the standard (and other dialect) rules by hovering over each preposition in the chart.

Different Sounds

Some words still use pre-reform spellings, causing pronunciations to differ slightly. For example, the suffix -óidh is pronounced in Munster as "ó-ig" and in Connemara like "ó". In Ulster, because it is spelt -ócháidh, it is pronounced more like "ó-hí".

-adh, -mh, and -bh suffixes are pronounced ú or simply ignored

n in cn, gn, mn become ‘r’ sounds (same as Connacht Irish)

-ch and -th suffixes are ignored

á is pronounced similarly to ea

t is always a ch sound before i and e (tirim)

d is always a j sound before i and e (deoch)

y sounds are added where l and n are followed by e (leabharlann)

maith rhymes with my

tabhair rhymes with tore

The pronunciation of the first person singular verb ending -im is also pronounced as though -am. Ulster has this in common with Manx and Scottish Gaelic.

Connacht, Munster, Leinster, Standard: Siúlaim Ulster, Manx, Scottish Gaelic: siúlam

Can it get any worse, you ask?

Yes. Yes, it can. Of course it can. In the Gaoth Dobhair dialect, ag is pronounced differently depending on whether it’s used as a preposition or used before a verb. Also, here, listen to how the pronunciation of 'Gaoth Dobhair' differs across the dialects at the end of this post!

I have found Ulster Irish to be by far the richest in learning resources. Buntús na Gaeilge and Irish On Your Own use Ulster Irish. The blog Rathlin and Glens Irish focuses on the Irish of Rathlin, off the coast of Co. Antrim.

Despite being rather different from general Connacht Irish, Irish spoken in Conamara and the Aran Islands are sometimes equated to Connacht Irish. This is because most Connacht dialects have declined and withered away.

What would actually be a more general Connacht dialect is heard in a tiny region on the border of Galway and Mayo: Joyce Country. Northern Mayo Erris and Achill Irish, although technically Connacht Irish, share more similarities to Ulster Irish due to widespread immigration as a result of the Plantation of Ulster. The Meath Gaeltacht also uses Conamara Irish due to resettlement programme in the 1930s.

While the Conamara dialect is generally regarded as the closest to standard Irish, it carries with it few archaic terms and forms.

Different Words Altogether

For example, where standard Irish would use gairdín, people speaking Conamara Irish are far more likely to say garraí, a Norse loanword. More include gasúr for child and fata for potato. 

In Joyce Country (Galway and Mayo), they use cloigean to mean "head", although they still use ceann to refer to a specific one out of a group. They also favour certain words such as doiligh and foscailte over deacair and oscailte.

The islands of Achill and Erris feature typically Donegal Irish words like nimhneach (for 'painful' or 'sore'), druid (over dún), mothaigh (over cluas/cluin), doiligh (over deacair), úr (instead of nua), and tig le (instead of féidir).

Grammar Rules

The preposition sa causes an urú instead of a séimhiú

Conamara Irish also favours verbal nouns ending in -achan , e.g. lagachan (weakening) instead of lagú. 

Many dative forms also replace nominative forms (see nominative cois, láimh, cluais, bróig). 

All nouns in the plural take cuid.

The normal distinction is that tú is the subject form and thú is the object form. In Conamara, thú accompanies the copula, just like é, í and iad do, so you get forms like is dochtúir thú but is tusa an dochtúir.

Sounds

Pronunciation-wise, Conamara Irish employs lengthened vowels and heavily reduced endings.

n in cn, gn, mn become ‘r’ sounds (same as Ulster Irish, except on Árainn where it is pronounced like 'r' as in standard and Munster Irish)

th in the middle of a word is often not pronounced

bh almost always makes a ‘w’ sound

ós next to m or n generally become ú: i gcúnaí, trathnúna, nú. mór would be one exception.

In South Conamara, 'b'-sounds tend to appear at the end of words ending in bh, such as sibh and libh, as well as words ending in vowels, such as acu and leo.

Generally, Mayo Irish leans far closer to Ulster Irish than it does Connacht. In Joyce Country (Galway and Mayo), like Donegal Irish, all vowels at the end of words tend to be pronounced as though ending with í: e.g. déanta as though déantaí.

The Islands of Achill and Erris also feature more Ulster characteristics: -mh and -bh endings having a softer sound, and the tendency to pronounce words ending in vowel sounds as though ending with an 'f'-sound. For example, leo and dóibh would give leofa and dófa. One also finds words like amharc being pronounced "onk".

Song of the day

Blame the Viking by Ceann

Album: Rave, Rant, Lose Pants (2007)

While the word ceann is used in Munster to mean “head”, parts of Connacht (Galway and Mayo) and Ulster (all of it) favour cloigeann (skull), and ceann is used almost exclusively to refer to “one”.

For example,

Sin é an ceann a bhí mé ag caint faoi That’s the one I was talking about

Tá ceann de na rothaí pollta One of the wheels is punctured

It is also used in the plural:

How many horses do you have? We have three. Cé mhéad capall atá agaibh? Tá trí cinn againn.