Hi Alex,
I appreciate your wisdom here.
To be clear, anything I am going to say must be in English, for the very reasons you provide.
Insuring correct pronunciation's, especially for an audience of English only speakers might be a challenge.
So any chosen expression, I will be saying in English.
As for my aim, this is a performance. the setting is indeed in a home, large living room space with an open mic feel.
I am more seeking to connect the audience with the concept of welcome, of blessing, of the oneness of celebration and fellowship.
The John O'Donnahue line I shared is a fine example.
In fact I am using another poem from his book, the title of which translates as soul friend, in my performance.
The hinting towards a Welsh saying is only because I have welsh in my family tree, but I tend to resonate with the Celtic, and the various Gaelic traditions from all their sources.
Does that help?
and..as you are in Dublin, wave at Adam Clayton's house for me on Thursday will you?
its his birthday!
Karen
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On Tue, 11 Mar 2025, Alex Cherry via groups.io wrote:
Hi from Dublin!
Couple of things here:
Gaelic is a group of languages, not a single one. Irish, Scots (Scottish
Gaelic) are the spoken languages in that group today. Welsh is related,
but it's a different type of Gaelic.
Be careful when pronouncing Irish phrases - the language may be written
with the Roman alphabet, but it's not pronounced like that. Siobhan? "shi
- vawn". Fáilte? "fall-cha".
In Irish, a welcome is treated like a physical object (Irish is WEIRD), so
you generally give someone a welcome or have a welcome. It's commonly
shortened to:
Céad Míle Fáilte - "kayd meelay fallcha" - A thousand welcomes
There's also this one, but it's only used when welcoming someone into a
place, like a home.
Tá fáilte romhat - tah fallcha roat - There is a welcome in front of you
And you can combine the two:
Tá céad míle fáilte romhat - There are a thousand welcomes in front of you
For more, it would really help if you were more specific in what you wanted
to say to your guests.
Alex in Dublin
