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Mo thurais go hÉirinn (My trips to Ireland)

Bhí mé in Éirinn dhá uair sa samhradh seo. Seo an scéal! (I was in Ireland twice this summer. Here’s the story!)

An chéad uair, ghlac mé cúrsáil timpeall an oileáin le mo bhean chéile agus mo mhac.  (The first time, I took a cruise around the island with my wife and my son.) Thugamar cuairt ar Bhaile Átha Cliath, Port Láirge, Corcaigh, Beanntraí, Gaillimh, Doire, Béal Feirste agus Oileán Mhanann. (We visited Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Bantry, Galway, Derry, Belfast and the Isle of Man.)

Dála an scéil, bhí mé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge le bliain anuas. ?  (By the way, I’ve been learning Irish for the past year. ?) Gaeilgeoirí, le do thoil leithscéal mo chuid Gaeilge! (Irish speakers, please excuse my Irish!)

Mise i dTúr Reginald i bPort Láirge. Ar mhaith leat cluiche a imirt? (Me in Reginald’s Tower in Waterford. Would you like to play a game? )

Geata ar chnoc i mBeanntraí. (A gateway on a hill in Bantry.) Ghlac muid siúlóid fhada sna cnoic. (We took a long walk in the hills.) Theastaigh uaim cloch cholún Kilnaruane a fheiceáil. (I wanted to see the Kilnaruane pillar stone.) Ach bhí bó mhór sa pháirc. (But there was a big cow in the field.) Agus ní raibh mo bhean ag iarraidh go maraíodh mé. (And my wife didn’t want me to be killed.) Mar sin ní raibh mé ag dul isteach. (So I didn’t go inside.) Mar áfach is é bás bó na hÉireann an bás foirfe do scríbhneoir. (Even though being killed by an Irish cow is the perfect death for a writer.)

Póstaer i siopa leabhar Charlie Byrne, Gaillimh. (A poster in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Galway.) Is siopa iontach é seo le go leor leabhar i nGaeilge. (This is a wonderful shop with many books in Irish.)

Mo dara turas, chaith mé coicís sa Rinn, i nGaeltacht Phort Láirge. (On my second trip, I spend two weeks in Ring, in the Waterford Gaeltacht — a native Irish-speaking region). Labhraíonn siad canúint na Mumhan anseo. (They speak the Munster dialect here). Bheadh an chanúint seo labhartha ag mo shinsir Riordain. (My Riordan ancestors would have spoken this dialect.) D’fhan mé le teaghlach aíochta iontach agus ghlac mé ranganna gach lá ag Coláiste na Rinne. (I stayed with a wonderful host family and took classes every day at Coláiste na Rinne.) 

Mo radharc gach maidin ó Rinn. (My view every morning from Ring.)

D’ith muid gach rud. (We ate everything.) Seo lasagna le dhá chineál prátaí. (Here is lasagna with two kinds of potatoes.) Mar gheall Éirinn. (Because Ireland.)

Fothracha sa reilig áitiúil. Séipéal scriosta ag Oliver Cromwell. (Ruins in the local cemetery. A church destroyed by Oliver Cromwell.)

Max, an cat le súil amháin ar mo theach aíochta. (Max, the one-eyed cat at my guest house.)

Bhí mo mhac ag magadh orm. (My son teased me.) Dúirt sé go gcaillfinn mo mhadra agus go nglacfainn caora. (He said I would miss my dog and I would adopt a sheep.) Bhí sé ceart. (He was right.)

Thugamar turas lae go Sléibhte an Chomaraigh. (We took a day trip to the Comeragh Mountains.)

Bhí sé go hálainn. (It was beautiful.) I bhfad cosúil le mo chuid gruaige. (Much like my hair.)

Chuamar chomh maith go haillte na hAirde Móire. (We also went to the cliffs of Ardmore.) Déanfaidh an ghaoth tú a mharú anseo. (The wind here will kill you.) Ach gheobhaidh tú bás miongháire. (But you will die smiling.)

Chuaigh mé go dtí an teach tábhairne chun ceol a chloisteáil roinnt oícheanta. (Some nights, I went to the pub to hear music.)

Tugtar deora Dé ar na bláthanna seo. (These flowers are called the ‘tears of God.’) Fásann siad i ngach áit a bhfuil cónaí ar theaghlach Éireannach. (They grow in every place that an Irish family has lived.) Chaoin mé freisin nuair a d’fhág mé an Rinn. (I cried too when I left Ring.) Bhuail mé le daoine iontacha. (I met wonderful people.) D’fhoghlaim mé go leor Gaeilge (I learned lots of Irish.) Ghlac mé le caora agus d’ith mé lasagna le prátaí. (I adopted a sheep and ate lasagna with potatoes.) Ba mhaith liom caoin freisin. (You would cry, too.) 

Anois tá tú ag smaoineamh: An raibh an taighde seo ar leabhar? (Now you are wondering: Was this research for a book?) Liomsa, is taighde é gach rud. (With me, everything is research.) Chuir mé gach rud i mo leabhair, luath nó mall! (I put everything in my books, sooner or later!) 

Rick Riordan