Bec

Celtic Terms and Phrases

ANA — pronounced Ay (rhymes with play) — nah — the mother of all the gods.

BALOR’S EYE — Bal (rhymes with Hal) — or — Balor was a one-eyed giant, one of the Fomorii.

BANSHEES — the souls of dead women who wail loudly when somebody is about to die.

BREHONS — breh-hons — lawmakers, an early type of judge.

BRICRIU — brick-roo — a troublemaker.

CASHEL— cash-el — a stone fort.

CATHAIR — ka-hair — a round fort, surrounded by a stone wall.

COIRM — kworm — an alcoholic drink

CRANNOG — kran-ogue (rhymes with “rogue”) — a fort built on an island in the middle of a lake.

CURRAGH — cur-ah — a small boat, like a canoe.

DOLMENS — dole-mens — tombs made of three upright stones, set in a pyramid-type shape,

capped by a flat stone. Normally, one person would be buried beneath them or their ashes might be left in them.

FOMORII — Fuh-more-ee — an ancient tribe, reputed to be part demons.

GEIS — gesh (rhymes with mesh) — a curse.

HURLING — her-ling — a traditional Irish sport, the fastest team game in the world. It’s played on a rugby-sized pitch, fifteen players per side. Each player has a stick which ends in a curved, flat head. They use it to hit a small, hard leather ball about, and score goals and points by hitting it into their opponent’s goal or over the bar.

LEPRECHAUNS — Lep-reh-cawns — the Little People of Irish legends.

MACHA — Mack-ah — a war goddess.

MORRIGAN — More-ee-gan — a war goddess.

NEIT — Net — a god of war.

NUADA — Noo-dah — a war goddess.

OGHAM STONES — Owe-am stones — stones with lines cut into them — an early form of writing.

PICT — Pick-t — an ancient tribe from Britain.

QUERN — kern — a bowl.

RATH — raff — a round fort, surrounded by a wooden fence.

SEANACHAIDH — shan-ah-key — a storyteller or poet.

SIONAN’S RIVER — Sun-un’s river — River Shannon.

SOUTERRAIN — soo-tur-ane — an underground tunnel, often used to store food and drink or as an escape route.

TIR NA N’OG — Teer na nogue (rhymes with rogue) — a mystical land where people never got sick or grew old.

TUATH — chew-ah — a county.

TELATHA — chew-ah — counties.

WEDGE TOMBS — tombs in which lots of stones are stacked side by side in the shape of a then topped with large flat stones.

Names

AIDEEN — Aid-een.

AEDNAT — Aid-nat.

AMARGEN — Am-are-gen.

BANBA — Bon-bah.

BEC — rhymes with deck.

BRAN — rhymes with man.

BRUDE — Brood.

CERA — Keerah.

CONN — Kon.

CONNLA — Kon-lah.

DARA — Darr-ah.

DRUST — Jrust.

ENA — Ee-nah.

ERC — rhymes with perk.

ERT — rhymes with hurt.

FAND — Fond.

FIACHNA — Feek-nah.

FINTAN — Finn-tan.

GOLL — rhymes with doll.

LORCAN — Lor-can.

MACCADAN — Mac-Cad-an.

MACGRIGOR — Mac-Grig-or.

MACROTH — MacRoff.

NECTAN — Neck-tan.

NINIAN — Nin-ee-an.

ORNA — Or-nah.

PADRAIG — Paw-drig. This refers St Patrick. (The book is set in Ireland in the middle of the 5th century AD when St Patrick was converting Ireland to Christianity.)

RONAN — Row-nan.

SCOTA — Scow (rhymes with low) — tah.

STRUAN — Strew-an.

TIERNAN — Teer-nan.

TORIN — Tore-in.