CELT aka GAEL
n. a member of one of the ancient peoples speaking Gaeilge (Gaelic). They originated (c. 1500 B.C.) in S.W. Germany and spread through France to N.Spain and the British Isles. Successive Celtic invasions reached upper Italy, Bohemia, Hungary, Illyria, and Asia Minor. They were eventually absorbed by the Romans and the barbarians. Siblings of the Gaulish Celts crossed to Britian as early as 400 B.C., becoming the Britons, who nine centuries later would be gradually pushed by the Angles and Saxons into Cornwall, where they would become the Cornish, and into Wales, where they would become the Welsh. It is from these Breton Celts that the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table would spring. About 350 B.C., some 50 years after the Celtic tribes began their invasion of Britain, they reached IRELAND. Some came by way of Britian, but most who gained ascendency were Iberian Celts, whos language was somewhat different than the Briton Celts. These became the Irish; and the language they spoke belongs NOT to the Brythonic branch of Welsh and Breton but to a Celtic branch called "Goidelic" by scholars - whose present-day shoots are the last living Gaelic tongues: IRISH and SCOTS Gaelic. IRELAND itself is the only Celtic nation-state in our world, all the other Celts have been absorbed by larger political entities.
Most Traditional Irish Music's lyrics were originally written in Gaeilge, the National Language of Ireland. Here you will find examples of the Irish Language and links to sites offering in-depth studies and courses in gaeltacht.
Examples of Gaeilge
Tá an Clár Cinn seo á thógáilt go fóill.
(This page is still being constructed)
Fáilte romhat go dtí caint leathanach an Tine Cumacht.
(Welcome to Firepower's Homepage)
AR AGHAIDH = forward
AR AIS = back
LÉIM = jump!/spring!
GO = to
CLÁR CINN = home page, index page
NASC = link
NASCANNA = links
ANSEO = here
Sampla/Example
"Ar ais go dtí an Clár Cinn anseo."
LÍONLÁITHREÁN = web site
GAELTACHT = an Irish-speaking area
Dia duit = hello!
(God to You!)
Dia is Muire duit! = (answer)
(God and Mary to you!)
Conas tá tú? = How are you(Munster dialect)
Goidé mar atá tú? = (the same in Ulster)
Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? = (the same in Connacht Irish)
Tá mé go maith, go raibh maith agat = Very well, thank you
Go raibh maith agat = Thank you
Tá fáilte romhat = You are welcome
Fáilte! = Welcome!
Slán! = Bye!
Sláinte! = Cheers!
Leithreas = Toilet
Fir = Men
Mná = Women
Nach mór an geifear tú! = Well done!
Fainic! = Beware!
Scaoil amach an boibilín! = Go for it!
Tá mé i ngrádh leat = I love you
Póg = kiss
Conradh na Gaeilge
Craobh Bhaile Phitt
Oideas Gael - Gaeilge
Gaeilge ar an Ghréasán
Gaelic Dictionaries Online