Hello,

I keep a daily journal and, in an effort to use and retain more Irish, I've decided to start writing the dates in Irish. However, I'm finding a ton of varied and contradictory information about how to write them, and would like to find a consistent style. Ideally it would be the style used in Connemara, as I'm learning from Ó Siadhail. In English I write it like this: 15 April 2017. I'm sure there are a range of ways to write it in Irish, from the equivalent of "The Fifteenth Day of the Month of April, 2017" to something shorter like I'm doing. I'd like to use a style that uses numbers (rather than spelling them out) but preserves the month names and their associated grammar.

Thanks!

In Irish, one writes dates this way:

Dé Sathairn, 16ú de Mhí Aibreáin 2017.

I'm sure about this way since I learnt it in the university from a teacher who was a master on grammar and written use...

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Yes, this form exists (even Tomás Ó Maille used it), but not very often.
And I don't like it. I miss the word "lá" in this version. Versions with "lá" are fortunately much more frequent than without lá.
Ordinal numbers need a noun in Irish: an cúigiú lá déag -> 15ú lá
"15ú" makes no sense on its own and I would consider it a Béarlachas ("the fifteenth of ...")
So, 15ú lá de Mhí Aibreáin or more usual without Mhí (perhaps dep. on dialect): 15ú lá d’Aibreán

And even more often, dates are written shorter:
Dé Sathairn, 15 Aibreán 2017
(spoken: Dé Sathairn, an cúigiú lá déag d’Aibreán sa bhliain dhá mhíle is a seacht déag)

Thanks guys! I think I get the idea now.

Now that I think about it, it would be good to write out the day of the week and even the number, like you guys suggest, because then I'll also be practicing days and ordinal numbers.

If I can ask one more favor, could you give an example from each month? I've seen that there is some month-to-month variation in how they're written, like whether mí is necessary, whether there is lenition, maybe some other stuff. Thanks again!

in Donegal, the months are these:

2a do Mhí Eanáir
...do Mhí na bhFaoilleach
...do Mhí 'n Mhárta
...do Mhí Aibreáin
...do Mhí na Bealtaine
...do Mhí na Féile Eoin
...do Mhí na Súl Buí
...do Mhí Lúnasna
...do Mhí Mheán Fómhair
...do Mhí Dheireadh Fómhair
...do Mhí na Samhna
...do Mhí na Nollag

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Yes, I thought they were written:
Dé Sathairn, 15 Aibreán 2017 or Dé Sathairn, 15ú Aibreán 2017

but pronounced:

Dé Sathairn, an cúigiú lá déag d’Aibreán sa bhliain dhá mhíle is a seacht déag or Dé Sathairn, an cúigiú lá déag de mhí an Aibreáin sa bhliain dhá mhíle is a seacht déag.

That is, just as other numbered nouns are written, say 15 bád or 17 bád for example but pronounced "cúig bhád déag", "seacht mbád déag", etc.

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[hr]Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher[/hr]
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Thanks again!

While we're here, which of these would you say is right

an chéad seachtain
an chéad sheachtain
an chéad tseachtain

AFAIK.

An chéad/dara/tríú seachtain.

Kind of offtopic, but what is the literal meaning and/or etymology of 'Faoilleach'?

Féach:
Rev Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames: