Princes of Ireland - Edward Rutherfurd [364]
The fourteenth-century story of the smuggling at Dalkey and the raid of the O’Byrnes at Carrickmines are a novelist’s invention. But the activities of the O’Byrnes at this time are accurately given; there was undoubtedly an organized evasion of customs dues through Dalkey at this period, and a generation later, a Walsh of Carrickmines was accused by the Dublin authorities of withholding the customs dues he had collected at Dalkey for his own personal use.
I have allowed myself some very minor simplifications of the often complex chain of events during the years of tension between the Fitzgeralds and the Tudor kings of England. It may surprise readers that I suggest that the pretender Lambert Simnel, in the time of Henry VII, may in fact have been the royal Earl of Warwick, as his supporters claimed. We shall never know for certain, but I have followed the arguments of the late Professor F. X. Martin, which show strong circumstantial evidence for this possibility. The version of the curious dispute between the Fitzgeralds and the Butlers at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is my own. And I am grateful to Dr. Raymond Gillespie for pointing out to me that despite the usual version of Archbishop Browne’s burning of the relics in 1538, some of the relics, including the great Staff of Saint Patrick, may in fact have survived.
PRONUNCIATION
GUIDE
THE GUIDE that follows is designed to be helpful to the general reader. It in no sense represents a definitive, correct version of how to pronounce every word, and indeed, in many cases, no such correct rendering exists. For in modern Irish, there are often two different, regional pronunciations for a single word, and the spelling and pronunciation in Old Irish may be different yet again. Thus the May festival known to modern Irish as Bealtaine, and described during the ancient period in the novel, is in fact Beltaine in Old Irish, and would be pronounced Bell-ti-ne. But since the modern form is widely familiar, it is that form which is given here. The following list, therefore, represents, it is hoped, a sensible compromise.
A -ch indicates a soft sound, like that at the end of the Scottish word loch. A final -h indicates a similar sound, but much softer, hardly sounded at all.
Each syllable is usually pronounced separately in Irish words, and this is clearly shown. The stressed syllable is in capital letters.
Amairgen AV-irr-gen
Armagh Arm-AAH
Ath Cliath Aw KLEE-ah
Bachall Iosa BO-chal EE-o-sa
Bealtaine Be-AL-ti-ne
brehon BRE-hon
Brian Boru Brian Bo-ROO
Brigid BRIG-id
Brodar BRU-dar
Caoilinn KAY-lin
Carmun KOR-mun
Cessair KE-sar
Chi-Rho Kiy-Row
Clontarf Klon-TARF
Colum-Cille KUL-um-KIH-le
Conall KON-al
Connacht KON-aht
Cormac KOR-mak
Cuailnge KOOL-ne
Cuchulainn Koo-HU-lang
currach KUR-ah
curragh KUR-ah
Dagda DAG-tha
Dal Cais Dal Gash
Deirdre DARE-dra
derbfine De-re-VI-ne
Diarmait DEER-mat
Dubh Linn Doov Lin
Dyflin DIF-lin
Eriu E-ri-oo
Eva EE-fa
feis Fesh
fili FEE-lee
filidh FEE-leeh
Fingal Fin-GAWL
Finn mac Cumaill Fiong mok KOOL
Fionnuala Fin-OO-la
Fir Bolg Fir BOL-ug
Gaedhil and Gaill Gay-ill and Guy-ill
geissi GESH-ee
Glendalough Glen-da-loch
Glen Mama Glen MAA-ma
Goibniu GOV-ni-oo
Imbolc IM-bolg
Lagin LIE-in
Larine LA-ri-ne
Leth Cuinn Leh KING
Leth Moga Leh MOW-a
Lir Lirr
Lugh Loo
Lughnasa LOO-na-sa
Manannan mac Lir MAN-an-awn mok Lirr
Moher MO -her
Morann MO-ran
Morrigain MUR-ig-an
Nemed NEV-ed
Nuadu NOO-ad-oo
Ogham Owm
Padraic PAA-drig
Partholon PART-o-loan
rath Raah or Rath
Rathmines Rath-MINES
Rian REE-an
Ronan ROO-naan
Ruairi ROO-a-ree
Samhain SOW-wan
Sid Shee
Slieve Bloom Shleev Bloom
Slige Mhor Shlee voor
Tanaiste TAWN-ish-te
Tuatha De Danaan Two-a-ha day DAN-an
Ui Fergusa Ee FER-gu-sa
Uisnech ISH-nah
Ulaid UL-ad
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
DURING THE COURSE of the research for this novel I have consulted over a hundred