I am looking to translate the name of our congregation in to Gaeilge. We are Americans practicing an Irish style Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism. We offer to any of the goodly inclined of the Gentry and honor the TDD. Our congregation is a client to Brighid our Patron.

HearthStone in the sense it is used means fireside or home life. So literal words for fire places may not be the best understanding of the emotion we are trying to invoke with the name. Maybe there is an Irish concept of fireside or family life that would be a better starting point. I'm completely ignorant of these things yet I know things like that are important.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help me, Beannachtaí!

Sean Ó Dea

Welcome to the forum!

leac an tinteáin – "hearthstone" or "the hearthstone" (literally the flat stone, or flagstone, of the hearth)

doire – "a grove", especially "an oak-grove" (there is another word for "grove" garrán, but I'm assuming that your congregation is druidic and would prefer the word for "grove" that is more closely associated with an oak-grove, right?)

Okay, now here comes the hard part. To say "Hearthstone Grove", you've got to say "Grove of the Flagstone/Flat Stone of the Hearth", so the word leac needs to change to its genitive form leice.
Tinteán is already in its genitive form tinteáin, so I think it'd be something like:
Doire Leice an Tinteáin – Hearthstone Grove
Unfortunately, I'm not a native speaker and not very good with the genitive yet, so wait for a few confirmations or corrections on this one.

Ah, it took me a minute to figure out that TDD stands for Tuatha Dé Danann!
Na h-Uaisle – The Gentry (spelled Na hUaisle, without the hyphen, in the newer spelling)

One last thing – Here's a very well known Irish saying that relates to what we're talking about:
Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin – "There's no place like home" (literally "There is no hearth like your own hearth")

Slán!

Fáilte go dtí an fóram, a Sheáin! Audrey Nickel anseo, as Facebook!

This is a really good place to ask these kinds of things, as you get input from lots of experienced speakers (and we correct one another's mistakes!)

For example, I realized this morning that when I told you last night that "garrán" meant "garden," I was thinking of "garraí" (which leads me now to wonder if the two words are related!). So much for that!

That said, I too would lean toward "doire," as WFM suggested, as this refers specifically to the kinds of groves that would have been sacred to Irish druids.

WFM, I THINK (I may be wrong...genitive constructions aren't my strong suit either) that when you have a double genitive, the first word isn't put in its genitive form (only lenited, if possible). So I'd suggest:

Doire Leac an Tinteáin

Seán, please wait for more input on these.

Redwolf

Just to add, since "tinteán" means "fireside" or "hearth fire" as in one's home fire, perhaps we could lose the "stone" part entirely and simply say:

Doire an Tinteáin: Fireside Grove/Grove of the Fireside

Redwolf

Yeah, that looks right; I hope some fluent speaker comes along and lets us know about this one for sure.

That's perfect! Taking out the stone part makes it more concise and a lot easier to translate, too.

Both words can be in the genitive, but the first word not being in the genitive would be the norm. Putting the first word in the genitive gives a special emphasis to the construction, but I think it's quite rare now.

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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

Thanks for clearing this up, a Loin Dhuibh – and for mentioning the nuance of emphasis when putting the first word in the genitive. I've definitely seen 2 genitives, as in Doire Leice an Tinteáin, but I'm usually looking at older books so, as you said, it's just a more old-fashioned way of saying things that can be done, but isn't used much anymore.

This could use a few more people weighing in on it.

Redwolf

Tinteán - is correct. But personally I'd prefer "teallach". But both mean more or less the same thing. Doire an Teallaigh (?)

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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Just out of interest, you rarely hear tinteán in Donegal, it would be teallach there too. I must say, personally I think I like the sound of the name more with leac, especially when using teallach - Doire Leac a' Teallaigh.

Slán,

Domhnall

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Ultach mé agus Gaeilg Uladh a labhraim go measardha maith!