There is part of a sentence that I can't figure out in Cuid a Sé.

Here's the entire sentence:
Mná breátha, mná fíorbhreátha, ab ea an mhór-sheisear, dá mba ná beadh ann ach iad.

Does anybody know what "… dá mba ná beadh ann ach iad" means? I know that dá mba ná is in the notes, but I still can't quite understand it in this sentence.

My thinking on it -

"If it were the case that" - in the notes
"dá mba ná beadh ann ach iad." - if it was the case that they were the only ones there.

You really need to read the following sentence to get the full meaning -
The six were beautiful if there was nobody else to compare them to, but compared to the woman in the bed they were ugly.

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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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Oh, I think I see what you mean.

According to the notes as I understand them:

Dá mba go … – If it were the case that …
Dá mba ná … – If it were the case that not …

So, to follow the sentence a little more closely to the original Gaelic, it comes out something like:
… dá mba ná beadh ann ach iad. – … if it were the case that not but them were there.

Go raibh maith agat as an gcúnamh, a Bhríd.

Fáilte romhat

I would put an M there = mbeadh

But I didn't want to correct it in case it was a Munster thing.

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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.
___________________________________________________________

Yeah, it's a Munster thing – ná beadh, ná fuil, 7rl.

Just letting ya know

I think mórsheisear means 7 rather than 6.

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

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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.
___________________________________________________________

That's right!

I think Bríd said "six" just to test us and see if we're alert.

Just to say Bríd has it right. It's saying:

The seven were beautiful if it were the case that there were only them there, but compared to the woman in the bed they were ugly.

Mórsheisear is the Munster way of conveying seven people. What's the word in the other dialects actually?
Also there'll be another "odd" numeral for people later in the story.

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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 say "seachtar".





Afraid not.

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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.
___________________________________________________________