Nua!! / New!!You can now listen to Liam agus Bairbre - just click on the link at the bottom of this page.Na hAisteoirí / The Actors: Cóilín Ó Floinn (Liam)Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair (Bairbre)Treoir / InstructionsA translation of the dialogue is available further down the page. Even if your knowledge of Irish is very limited, try reading the dialogue initially without looking at the translation – you should be able to guess the meaning of some of the phrases from the context. The Test Yourself! facility will be available by 15 February 2007. Once you’re familiar with the dialogue, you can click on the "Test yourself!" button to check your knowledge. Cúlra / BackgroundLiam is twenty-nine years old and lives in the Donegal Gaeltacht. He’s from a mixed farming background but now works as a shop manager in Letterkenny. *Bairbre, who is twenty-eight, is originally from Cavan, but now lives in Dublin, where she works as a nurse. She met Liam while attending an Irish course in Donegal over five years ago. They dated for two-and-a-half years but split up when discovered that had gone back to her former fiancée behind his back. Their separation was not amicable. *

Liam and Bairbre are meeting for the first time in three years. They’ve had dinner together but Liam doesn’t feel like going home yet. Will he accept an invitation from Bairbre to go to her place for a drink, though?

Dialogue 37

Liam: Bhain mé sult ar dóigh as an oíche agus as an bhéile. Go raibh míle maith agat.

Bairbre: Go raibh maith agat féin. Tá lúcháir orm go bhfuil muid mór le chéile arís.

Liam: Tá mise cineál súgach, ach níl fonn orm a dhul abhaile go fóill. Níl sé ach leath i ndiaidh a haon déag.

Bairbre: Thiocfadh linn deoch eile a fháil áit inteacht eile. Tá cúpla teach tábhairne i mBarra an Teampaill a bhíonn oscailte mall.

Liam: Tá a fhios agam iad ach caithfidh mé a rá nach bhfuil mórán dúile agam iontu.

Bairbre: Ar mhaith leat a theacht ar ais go dtí m’árasánsa tamall? Tá buidéal deas fíona as ...

Liam: Níl a fhios agam faoi sin. Níl a fhios agam an mbeadh sin róchiallmhar.

Bairbre: Ní chaithfidh tú fanacht i bhfad. Beidh mise ag éirí ag leath i ndiaidh a sé ar maidin, mar sin ní bheidh fonn orm bheith i mo shuí rómhall.

Liam: Maith go leor. Tá coinne agam féin ar a naoi i nDún Laoghaire.

Bairbre: Go breá. Gheobhaidh muid tacsaí, mar sin.

Liam: An mbeidh Cathy sa bhaile? Níor mhaith liom cur isteach uirthi nó í a choinneáil múscailte.

Bairbre: Tá Cathy ar chúrsa traenála i nGaillimh le cúpla lá anuas. Ní bheidh sí ar ais go dtí tráthnóna amárach.

Liam: Maith go leor, mar sin. Ach ní fhanfaidh mé i bhfad.

Bairbre: Beidh deoch amháin againn – sin an méid. Cuirfidh muid scairt ar thacsaí duit roimh a haon a chlog nó b’fhéidir go n-éireodh linn ceann a fháil ar an tsráid.

Aistriúchán / Translation

Liam: I really enjoyed the night and the meal. Thank you very much.

Bairbre: Thank you too. I’m glad we’re friends again.

Liam: I’m kind of merry, but I don’t feel like going home yet. It’s only half eleven.

Bairbre: We could get another drink somewhere else. There are a few pubs in Temple Bar that are open late.

Liam: I know them and I have to say I don’t like them much.

Bairbre: Would you like to come back to my apartment for a bit? I have a nice bottle of wine from ...

Liam: I don’t know about that. I don’t know if that would be very sensible.

Bairbre: You don’t have to stay for long. I’ll be getting up at half-past six in the morning, so I won’t feel like staying up too late.

Liam: Okay. I have an appointment myself at nine in Dún Laoghaire.

Bairbre: Fine. We’ll get a taxi, then.

Liam: Will Cathy be home? I wouldn’t like to bother her or keep her awake.

Bairbre: Cathy has been on a training course in Galway for the past few days. She won’t be back until tomorrow evening.

Liam: Okay, then. But I won’t stay for long.

Bairbre: We’ll have one drink – that’s all. We’ll call a taxi for you before one o’clock or we night manage to get one on the street.

Gramadach / GrammarThe word *cúpla *(a few) is always followed by the singular. Nouns that follow it remain unchanged:

teach tábhairne (a pub) cúpla teach tábhairne (a few pubs)When the pronoun siad *is the object in the sentence, the form *iad is used:

Tá a fhios agam iad. (I know them.)Tá same rule applies in the case of the pronouns sé and sí.

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Note that certain consonants are lenited after ró-:

ciallmhar (sensible) róchiallmhar (too sensible)

mall (late) rómhall (too late)

When referring to something which is still happening, the preposition le (for) is used, rather than the compound preposition ar feadh:

Tá Cathy ar chúrsa traenála i nGaillimh le cúpla lá anuas.

(*Cathy has been on a training course in Galway for the past few days, *i.e.

she’s still there)