An Tuille – The Flood

Here is a transcription and translation of the story that appears here. There are some comments at the bottom, along with a vocabulary. As usual, I have attempted to transcribe exactly, so any spelling errors in the original will remain.

Sgeul.

Do bhí beirt fhear ó Chléire sa Sciobairín fadó agus bhí fear ón ndúthaig amuich, a’ caint leo, istig i siopa. Le bád a chuadar ann, agus ars duine d’fhearaibh Cléire le na chomráda, “Is gearr go mbeidh tuille ann”. Do bhí fear na Dúthaighe ag eisteacht leis. “Cad é sin agat dá rádh?” ars fear na dúthaighe, “Dar ndóigh níl aon tuille indiu ann, na aon deallramh báistidhe”. Ars fear Cléire ‘á fhreagairt, “Da mbeadhfá-sa agam-sa i nGasconán (an súnta idir Inis Arcain agus Cléire) anáirde, do neósfainn-se duit, cathain a thiocfadh lá tuille gan baisteach.

Story.

There were two men from Cléire in Skibbereen long ago and there was a local man, talking to them, inside in a shop. By boat they had come, and one of the Cléire men said to his comrade, “It won’t be long before there’s a flood”. The local man was listening to him. “What are you saying?” said the local man, “Of course there’s no flood today, nor any look of rain”. Said the Cléire man in response, “If I had you with me in Gasconán (the cleft between Sherkin Island and Cléire) up high [from the waves], I’d tell you when a day of flood would come without rain.

Notes:

• “ón ndúthaig amuich” (ón ndúiche amuigh) – I believe “amuich” (outside, outer) being used to give the sense that this man is an “outlander” from the perspective of the islanders.

Foclóirín:

As usual, (pre.) indicates a pre-reform spelling and (dial.) a dialectical spelling or variant and I have enclosed the modern “Standard Irish” equivalent in brackets.

Comments and corrections are welcome!

I make use of this source with thanks to Dúchas.ie, under the conditions of the CC BY-NC 4.0 licence.