The months in Irish
All twelve, in the standard forms printed by Foras na Gaeilge’s English–Irish dictionary on focloir.ie : the same reviewed strings our print composer uses when it turns “18 July” into Irish with one press.
| English | Irish | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| January | Eanáir | AN-awr |
| February | Feabhra | FYOW-ra |
| March | Márta | MAWR-ta |
| April | Aibreán | ab-RAWN |
| May | Bealtaine | BYAL-tin-eh |
| June | Meitheamh | MEH-hev |
| July | Iúil | OO-il |
| August | Lúnasa | LOO-na-sa |
| September | Meán Fómhair | man FOH-ir |
| October | Deireadh Fómhair | JER-oo FOH-ir |
| November | Samhain | SOW-in |
| December | Nollaig | NUL-ig |
The calendar wears its history
Four of the names are the old seasonal festivals themselves: Bealtaine (May) and Samhain (November) mark the year’s two hinges, Lúnasa (August) keeps the harvest festival’s name, and the -Fómhair months of September and October are literally the months “of harvest”. December is simply Nollaig (Christmas) the month named for its feast.
Writing a date
See how dates are written in Irish for the full pattern, or let the composer do it: every personalised print offers the date as Gaeilge with the month names above, deterministically. No machine translation anywhere.