A chairde,

I'm plodding my way through the book I gCóngar i gCéin by Pádraig Standún. The first chapter passed effortlessly but the second chapter seems to be a different matter altogether! Here are a few things that I've tried my hand at but am not confident with. Any corrections / confirmations would be greatly appreciated! I have underlined the parts that boggled me the most, so if anyone could explain the grammar or translation of those parts to me that would be fantastic!

Also, would it be okay to keep adding things to this thread as I go along with the book, rather than opening new ones each time I'm stumped?

An rud ba mheasa ná nár chuir na roghanna sin a máthair ná a hathair as a meabhair.
The worst thing was that those choices didn't drive her parents insane.
(Underlined: my mind wants to say that the ná there is 'than' but I'm not sure that's correct.)

ba é sin an treoir a bhí acu siúd ar chúrsaí an déagóra
That was the guidance that they had on the teenager's matters.

Ba iad na hóstáin ina thimpeall is mó a chuir fios air
They were the biggest hotels around that called on him
They were the hotels around him that mostly called on him
They were the hotels around that called him the most

Chaillfead sé an gnó mora mbeadh sé in am nuair a bhí sé saor agus ar dualgas.
He would lose the business if he wasn't in time when it was cheap and on duty? On demand?

Go raibh maith agaibh os ucht bhur gcaibhraigh!

That would be a good idea in this case, as it all relates to the same book.


Yeah, it looks like ná "than" but actually introduces a long predicate. (The English equivalent "that" is also confusing for foreigners.)


The siúd just emphasizes the acu - iad siúd is like "them", "that lot".


"It was the hotels in his neighbourhood that sent for him the most."


I'd say "free" for saor and "on duty" for ar dualgas.

I don't have the book itself so some of the context is hidden from me.

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
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).

Breandán has explained everything well, I just wanted to say something about this as it can be a bit confusing.

Let's take the simple sentence:

Ba é an pian an rud ba mheasa = The worst thing was the pain.

Here you are saying: (the worst thing) = (the pain)

The thing you are talking about is called the subject ("the worst thing" in this case) and the thing
you say it is is called the predicate ("the pain")

Again:
Is é an fear an sagart
an sagart = subject
an fear = predicate

However sometimes the predicate is far too long to come directly after the copula Is/Ba.

For example the writer wants to say:
The worst thing was that those choices didn't drive her parents insane.

So the subject is: The worst thing = An rud ba mheasa
The predicate = that those choices didn't drive her parents insane = nár chuir na roghanna sin a máthair ná a hathair as a meabhair

If you look at that you can see that the predicate is very long and if you built the sentence the normal way you'd get:

Ba é nár chuir na roghanna sin a máthair ná a hathair as a meabhair an rud ba mheasa
(Nobody would actually say this)

For that reason, you "delay" the predicate with "ná", which isn't the same as "ná" meaning "than", giving:
Ba é an rud ba mheasa ná nár chuir na roghanna sin a máthair ná a hathair as a meabhair.

Then, sometimes, in long sentences like this the copula is dropped or is understood without being said, so people say:
An rud ba mheasa ná nár chuir na roghanna sin a máthair ná a hathair as a meabhair.

The "ná" basically means "namely", so you are saying:
It was the worst thing, namely that those choices didn't drive her parents insane.

_________________
The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

Oh yes some context may help; the narrator, in that part, is talking about his job as a Gondolier (that sentence actually comes shortly after the one about the hotels calling on him). The wording just seemed slippy.

And An Lon Dubh - that explanation helps significantly.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh! I'm sure I'll be back later with more