WTF!? Days of the week in Irish EXPLAINED | Laethanta na Seachtaine i nGaeilge

Here I explain the days of the week in Irish, what they mean, and the origins of the words.

The days of the week are Dé Luain, Dé Máirt, Dé Céadaoin, Déardaoin, Dé hAoine, Dé Sathairn, Dé Domhnaigh. You can also use the forms An Luan, An Mháirt, An Chéadaoin, An Déardaoin, An Aoine, An Satharn, An Domhnach.

In Irish, four days of the week have names derived from Latin, and the other three relate to days of fasting performed by early Gaelic Christians.

I talk about the difference between Dé Luain and An Luan, and whether it is still obsereved.

Another interesting fact is that traditionally in Ireland the day begins at sunset, not sunrise. That's why you get terms like "'Oíche Shamhna', 'Oíche Nollag' etc.

On my blog I have links to sound files in three dialects.

00:00 What do you notice about the days of the week?
00:40 Run through of days
1:07 Monday / Dé Luain
1:47 Tuesday / Dé Máirt
2:08 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday / Dé Céadaoin, Déardaoin, Dé hAoine
3:26 Saturday / Dé Sathairn
3:34 Sunday / Dé Domhnaigh
6:50 The day traditionally begins at sunset!

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What the Focal!? series

[_barbaridades]

Ciara, your videos are awesome! I'm a Brazilian living in Ireland for over 7 years now, and decided to take up Irish ~for the craic~. I'm enjoying it so much! It sounds incredibly beautiful and although its spelling keeps throwing me off, I'm loving it! <3

[sleepsmartsmashstress]

The trick to graps might be to see De Céadaoin as The Wednesday or The Wedding day
and an Céadaoin as any Wednesday or a (an) Wednesday

[donaldmccormack]

Another interesting session. Thanks for pointing out the difference between the use and construction of An and Dé and making us aware that in informal speech they are often incorrectly used. GRMMA a Chiara.

[amymorgan]

It's so helpful to learn the reasons behind the names. Thank you!

[TayWhyte]

Even though I'm studying Scottish Gaelic at the minute, this was very helpful. The days are very similar. Your break down of Wednesday through Friday was extremely interesting by your explanation of the etymology. I can definitely see their structure after watching. Very useful in memorizing them as well.

[racheltoner]

ah grma a Ciara, love your lesson and explanations, its special.

[pompikaushal]

Dia dhuit Ciara! I badly needed a video on days of the week in Irish, as the concept was not clear in my mind! You explained every thing clearly! Dé Luain, Dé Máirt and Dé Domhnaigh reminds of Lunes, Martes and Domingo of Spanish, moreover I think Dé Domhnaigh is also like French Dimanche! Really a great video! I found it very useful and interesting! Físeán an-spéisiúil agus úsáideach!
Go raibh maith agat agus slán go fóill!

[sleepsmartsmashstress]

What the focal?!What the focal?! Monday also sounds Mundane which also makes sense. Besides Roman and Italian one way to interpret the days of weeks can also be the heavy French influence on Irish. lundi mardi mercredi are French fof Monday Tuesday Wednesday with dimanche for Sunday

[jimbwie]

What the actual focail is even going on? :) Thanks for these videos. I've been inspired and have picked up one of the language apps. I achieved the impossible and failed pass Irish back in the 80s - having been six years behind my classmates, after moving down south to Waterford from Dungannon. So, with your fun videos and this language app, I'm learning that I wasn't as completely ***te at Irish as I'd thought. 'Tanks a millin! 'Tanks!

[seangilmartin]

Go raibh maith agat! I assume that you'll be doing the months of the year (míonna na bliana) soon. Keep up the good work.

[naomiseraphina]

Go raibh mile maith agat, a Chiara! Is fisean seo ar fheabhas ar fad! Bhi lan ceisteanna agam faoi na laethanta na Seachtaine, agus tuigim nios fearr anois. Beir bua agus beannacht! --Naomi

[gabsie]

The Latin related to Dé Domhnaigh is dies dominica, which like Ciara said means the day of Our Lord. I knew it meant that, but did not know the latin for it.

[Gaeilgeoir]

Físeán iontach! I was taught that Dé Luain, Dé Máirt, etc means *on* Monday/Tuesday, etc while An Luan, An Mháirt etc is used to state what day it presently is. That's how I was taught to differentiate them. 👍🏻

[billnicks]

Troscad is a much older word for fast. Aoin has christian associations. Troscad had a magical connection and was used for fasting against people of a high status in the Brehon laws.

[OssoryOverSeas]

Ciara, the fasting referenced with Dé Céadaoin, Déardaoin, and Dé hAoine, comes from ancient Christian tradition which was once common to all Christianity. Christians lived out their memory of Christ by fasting on Wednesday to remember Christ's betrayal by Judas; fasted harder on Friday in remembrance of the Crucifixion; and celebrated the Eucharistic feast on Sunday to remember that Christ rose from the grave and defeated death on Sunday; hence Dé Domhnaigh, "The Lord's Day." While the Irish Church was originally independent, gradually, Ireland fell under spiritual control of the bishops of Rome (over the 1100's). This was after Rome itself had broken away from the rest of Christendom and formed the Roman Catholic Church, while the rest of Eastern Christianity (which was once connected to Ireland) become known as the Orthodox Church. Rome slowly changed its beliefs and slacked its practices away from the original Orthodox Christianity, and Ireland lost the ancient fasting tradition of abstaining from meat and dairy on Wednesdays and Fridays. However, the rest of the Orthodox nations kept this tradition alive down to this day. Ireland was once like Greece and Russia in her spirituality; look at what they have now, its it's the closest thing to ancient Irish Christianity.

[clarewasseman]

Go raibh mile maith agat. My Irish teacher pronounces the De part as a J. Is that regional?

[dmitrystarostin]

Moon day [+], Mars day [+], Mercury day [?], Jupiter day, Venus day, Saturn day [+], Dies Dominica [+].

[Fortyball]

Go raibh maith agat!

Tá siad an-cosúil le Briotainis...

Gaeilge - Brezhoneg - Franςais
Dé Luain - Dilun - Lundi
Dé Máirt - Dimeurzh - Mardi
Dé Chéadaoin - Dimerc'her - Mercrudi
Déardaoin - Diriaou - Jeudi
Dé hAoine - Digwener - Vendredi
Dé Sathairn - Disadorn - Samedi
Dé Domhnaigh - Disul - Dimanche

[brinlov]

Love these videos so much! I'm a total beginner so these simple concept videos are perfect for me!

One question about how you pronounced Oíche Shamhna - is it only /i:hə/ or is /i:çə/ one way of pronouncing it too? I think that's how I learned it, but does the "ch" vary in pronunciation too?

GRMA!

[stiofan]

An-shuimúil. Ceist amaháin maidir leis an traidisiún den oíche ag tosnú le luí na gréinne. An sean-traidisiún é sin, nó an bhfuil sé fós i bhfeidhm? Cad é an téarma ceart i gcomhar 23:00 ar an Domhnach - Oíche Dhomhnaigh nó Oíche Luain? GRMA