Hi, I work in the Subtitling Unit of the multicultural broadcaster SBS Television in Australia.

I would like to know the meaning of a line that appears at the end of the final episode of an Irish drama series, "Corp + Anam". This episode is dedicated to the memory of Nuala Nic Con Iomaire, (1967-2010), who was a poet and artist. The dedication ends with the following line:

"an té mholann an éigse, féach go maireann go deo"

Google translates this as:

"The person recommended by the bards, see live forever"

I wonder if a more polished version would be, "Those whom the bards love, live forever"?

Or should be it something else altogether? All suggestions welcome!

Unless I'm missing an idiom or two here (which is entirely possible!), it doesn't make a lot of sense, which surprises me a bit coming from Corp + Anam. I'd read it as "The one who praises/is praised by learning/poetry, look/see living forever."

Maybe someone else can make better sense of it. It's possible it's taken out of context.

Redwolf

Maybe I'm being a bit thick but, like Redwolf, it doesn't make much sense to me.
What is the subject of maireann?

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

I'd hoped to go look at the episode in question, but Corp + Anam is no longer available in the TG4 archives.

Redwolf

Thank you, An Lon Dubh and Redwolf. The line probably is a quotation because it has an ellipsis before and after. The context might indeed make it clearer, but unfortunately we don't have it. I do know that Nuala Nic Con Iomaire has the same surname as the director, Darach Mac Con Iomaire, so possibly was his sister. Nuala was a poet and playwright and worked in arts administration.

The exact layout of the whole dedication on screen is:



Thanks again for your help. Meanwhile, I'll try to go to the source and get in touch with the director!

In the meantime, knowing that it's apparently part of a larger quote may help us get it sorted. If you get a response before we work it out, please do let us know what you learn!

Redwolf

I'd understand it as:
"an té (a) mholann an éigse, féach go maireann (sé) go deo"
"he whom poetry praises, see/behold that he lives forever"

i.e. one praised in poetry/in a poem is immortalised, although it could refer to the poet immortalised by his poetry.

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(SL)(GM)

Very interesting, Murchadh, thank you!

I like your second alternative, "the poet immortalised by his poetry", as Nuala was a poet who died quite young.

I have written to the director (via Facebook messages), so I hope to hear his understanding of the line fairly soon, and maybe its sourece. I'll pass it on.

Thanks Paridell, that will be very interesting.


The absence of sé is what confuses me, I would have thought it was
necessary. The a is not as it would be elided(deleted) in speech.

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

I would think that the "a" would be required in writing, however...or perhaps an apostrophe to indicate its absence.

I agree that there should be a pronoun in there. And the use of the presence tense of "maire" baffles me as well...usually Irish would want to use the future tense in such a construction.

Redwolf