Can anyone tell me if there is any rule governing when ar siúl gets a Séimhiú and when it doesnt.

it often seems to me to be sh when it involves traveling.
Cá bhfuil do shiúl ? -Where are you off to ?
Tá sé ar shiúl- he is gone
i bhfad ar shiúl - far away
vs
Tá tú ar siúl arís -your at it again
Seán atá ar siúl agam,
Bíonn rang ar siúl gach máirt

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

As far as I know there is no such phrase as ar shiúl. Ar siúl - means "going on".

Ar shiúl occurs where the phrase is not "ar siúl", but ar for another reason:

Do thosnaigh sé ar shiúl - here the "ar" belongs to thosnaigh.

Tá sé ar shiúl- he is gone
i bhfad ar shiúl - far away
====================

If it has this meaning - it hasn't occurred in the writers I read. Tá sé imithe. I bhfad uainn, i bhfad ó bhaile etc. I still don't believe ar shiúl is a phrase.

oh ? :\ now im very confused.

Im 90% certain I have been told here in CD, tá sé/sí ar shúil, for he or she is gone away.

i could always be mistaken, but ive recorded it a few times.

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

Hi,

ar shiúl, or ar shiubhal in old spelling, generally means 'away' in Ulster Irish.

Tá a theach féin giota maith ar shiúl.
His own house is a fair bit away.

Tá sé ar shiúl go Béal Feirste.
He's gone to Belfast / away to Belfast.

Slán,

Domhnall

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Ultach mé agus Gaeilg Uladh a labhraim go measardha maith!

I wonder then could it be also used in standard Irish the same way?

Perhaps the speakers were using a form they thought I might more easily understand?

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

It's not in the Irish of the authors I read - but clearly it is right - if you're told something by native speakers, it is by definition right. It often happens like that.

Ar siúl - a phrase "going on"
Ar shiúl - literally "on a trip"

Actually this is shown clearly in FGB.

I would say it is the same as ar bórd and ar bhórd (on board vs. on a table). ie a fixed phrase versus the literal meaning of the words.

FGB?

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

Domhnall, would you say it is an Ulsterism? Or is it found in Munster Irish too? As Daithí said, people in CD may have used it because they believed it was more likely to be understood - or maybe it is just a phrase the Munster authors I read most don't like for whatever reason and never used.

Hi Dáithí,

The standard doesn't go into any detail at all about what expressions are acceptable. All native expressions from all dialects are acceptable. So yes, you could use this expression in the standard. It's always better to consider what phrase would be used in your own dialect, however, for the sake of consistency.

Slán,

Domhnall

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Ultach mé agus Gaeilg Uladh a labhraim go measardha maith!