Madam, - I refer to the reply from Michael Finlay (November 9th) to my letter of October 30th.
Mr Finlay persists in his opinion that the Irish language transliteration músaem and the Romance borrowing San are not proper Irish words. He assures us that he has "never heard or seen San being used publicly for saintly dedications in Irish, and he prefers iarsmalann to músaem."
Iarmsalann is a composite of iarsma meaning "vestige" and the suffix "-lann" meaning "land, chamber". To the best of my knowledge, iarsmalann is a word composed around the start of the Gaelic Revival; that is to say, it is a little over a hundred years old. The word lann does occur in placenames, but as far as I know it isn't productive as a suffix in ordinary Irish speech in any of the surviving dialects. The word lantán, diminutive of lann, does occur in West Kerry Irish.
Maybe Mr Finlay is in need of glasses. San features in several Irish dictionaries and grammars - Dinneen's, Ó Dónaill's, An Foclóir Scoile, An Foclóir Beag, An Caighdeán Oifigiúil (p.85), Graiméar Gaelige na mBráithre Críostaí (p.27, p.79).
As regards his not having heard it, it occurs in the expression Oíche Fhéil tSin Seáin (St John's Eve) in Galway Irish, Sin being the genitive singular of the variant form Sain, or Sin. Dinneen also gives Féile Shain Seáin, a Munster version of St John's Day (June 24th).
In the Irish of Co Waterford St Nicholas is known as San Nioclás. A bit like the "old-time religion", if it was good enough for those old speakers of Irish, it is good enough for me.
The example I quoted from the RIA's Dictionary of the Irish Language was from Father Andrew Donlevy, whose Catechism was published in Paris in 1742. The two San places referred to were in Paris. Father Donlevy, a Co Sligo man, grew up in an Ireland which was predominantly Irish-speaking. His Catechism is noted for its fidelity to ordinary, simple Irish. What a pity the most recent Irish-language Catholic catechism didn't follow that simple intelligible style!
As regards Sráid Fhearchair for Harcourt Street, when Irish speakers refer to the street in Irish, they invariably call it Sráid Fhearchair. Speakers of one language frequently, and with gay abandon, mangle a word from a foreign language, or use a native word which sounds somewhat like the word in the foreign language. A certain Lord Marlborough is known to Spanish speakers as Mambrú.
Mr Finlay assures us that Fearchar is a meaningless word. Far from it. It is a Gaelic personal name that is still in use in Gaelic Scotland. According to Donnchadh Ó Corráin and Fedelma Maguire, it means "friendly". (Irish Names, The Lilliput Press, Dublin 1981/ 1990: p.96). - Yours, etc.,
SEAMUS de BARRA, Beaufort Downs, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.