grace in gaelic

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:02 am

When I was in Ireland a year ago I met this wonderful lady who owned a castle, (I still can't get over how her house is only a few feet away from the castle, a wonderful juxtaposition of differing centuries) her name was Grace in gaelic and that is all I remember, something like Grainne.

Is it a different translation for the concept of grace as opposed to the name? Anyway, this would be nice, thanks.

Michael

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:48 am

I don't know. Grace is one of those words with so many meanings and contexts. Compound the matter with the fact that I am not a Gaelic speaker.

Anyway, here is an online English-Irish dictionary that won't do you any good

http://www.englishirishdictionary.com

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:31 am

I think you're probably correct, Michael, but I'm not sure.

If you have one of the Maire Brennan solo albums, you could probably find it in one of her translations.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:41 am

The word as it applies to God's Grace is, I believe, grásta. As far as grace of form or manner is concerned, my little dictionary isn't any help.

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:58 am

I don't know either but I thought, hey, I can post nothing too!
Mike

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:32 pm

One translation of grace as in graceful is cadhla. This is my surname, O'Cadhla

Ron

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 2:14 am

My mother's name is Grace. My maternal grandmother's first language was Gaelic. So ...... sorry, folks, I don't know either.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 2:36 am

Gráinne (pronounced Gronya - kinda)

Gaelic: 'grain goddess', from Gráinne, Grania was Finn MacCools betrothed who eloped with Dermot. Grace O'Malley was an Irish warrior princess.

MacCools - that'd be a great name for a beer.

aderyn_du · Post by **aderyn_du** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:29 am

Can't help either, as I only know the Welsh word for Grace (which is 'gras') but did want to say... wow, Martin, your avatar is looking handsome as ever.

I always thought Grainne was such a lovely name...

~Andrea

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 8:06 am

Dia dhuit !

According to
www.hoganstand.com/general/identity/names.htm

Cráinne ( pr. CRAWNia ? I think) is the equivalent to Grace
while
Grainne is the equivalent to Gertrude

As a Surname, it is translated as Grás (GRAWS) similar to Andrea's Welsh version. I'm not sure of the Welsh pronounciation though.

I hope this helps.

Slán go fóill
-Paul

aderyn_du · Post by **aderyn_du** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 8:48 am

AFAIK, Paul, it's pronounced similarly.

I've never heard Crainne as a name before-- perhaps that is what Michael was searching for though!

Hwyl,
Andrea

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 9:47 am

Martin got it, I remember her telling me it had something to do with the sun on the grain fields, thanks guys.

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:17 am

Edited to say OOPS!, unless you've been talking to a ghost. I initially posted on the basis of a very quick read of your question.

Irish names are often rendered into English and vice versa on the basis of conventional equivalences rather than precise translation. Grace in English becomes Gráinne in Irish (or vice versa).

The woman who I thought you were referring to was a pirate queen from Co. Mayo, known in English as Grace O'Malley, and evidently powerful enough for her fellow Maggie Thatcher predecessor Queen Elizabeth I to receive her as a guest without locking her up. She (Gráinne) seems to have terrorised much of the coast of Ireland all the way round to the outskirts of Dublin.

Grace O' Malley in Irish is Gráinne Ní Mháille, but aparently she was also commonly known as Gráinne Mhaol. That's pronounced more or less as Graunya Wale. Maol is one of those (many) Irish words that can have a baffling range of meanings: in this instance it means beautiful, though it can also mean bald!

In English the two words are often run together phonetically as Granuaile, which is the form in which it is known to lots of people as it was the name of an ocean survey vessel which often moored near Dublin.

If you want to know more about her, you could try putting Granuaile into a search engine - that form of the name is less likely to confuse the machine than the Irish ones - or post a question on Mudcat about her.

madguy · Post by **madguy** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:24 am

Nothing like an Irishman to clear everything up!

~Larry

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 3:58 pm

michael_coleman wrote:Martin got it, I remember her telling me it had something to do with the sun on the grain fields, thanks guys.

Excellent! As a reward I'm going to pour myself a nice cold MacCools beer - they have a widget in the can for that freshly pulled taste. It's still hot as a freshly baked potato here in London, at 11pm.

Roger O'Keeffe wrote: Maol is one of those (many) Irish words that can have a baffling range of meanings: in this instance it means beautiful, though it can also mean bald!

I'm confused, Roger - you mean there's a distinction between being bald and being beautiful? Brian Finnigan, the smilie faces & I would beg to differ.

Martin Maolner