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Tying to find correct wording

I am trying to find the correct way to say always a Murphy at heart in galeic. My cousin and I both have changed our last names due to marriage, I have a wonderful picture of my sister cousin and I and got prints made. I want to add that caption in the frame for us as well as our parents! I found I gconia (' over the c and I) agus go deo O'Murchad I (' over the i) gcroilar (' over the i and a) I'm hoping someone here can tell me if that is correct. Thank you!

Crystal Japor

3 replies

There are a few different forms of Gaeilge for Murphy.  The phrase we would use here would be   Ó Murchú go deo.   There is a fada over the O and u

mgthenseyIrelandXO Volunteer

I'm not familiar with the expression myself (not being of Murphy ancestry, so far as I know), but if you want the full translation, with the "in my heart part" as well, it would be:

Ó Murchú i mo chroí go deo.

or, with the older form of the name (before the spelling reforms in the mid-20th century):

Ó Murchadha i mo chroí go deo.

There is a fada (acute accent) over the "i" in chroí, which might be hard to spot (just like the fada's in the other words).

There were at least three separate Murphy "clans" (maybe more - it's the most numerous surname in Ireland).  The "Ó" form was most common, but in Ulster, particularly in Armagh and Tyrone, the form was usually Mac Murchadha, so if you know that your ancestors came from there, you could use this instead;

Mac Murchadha i mo chroí go deo.

There's also an adjectival form of the name which could be used (with the Ó form or the Mac form), which is Murchadhach, giving you:

Murchadhach i mo chroí go deo.

It's like saying, "[I'm] one of the Murphy's", rather than "[I'm] an O'Murphy".

Almost everyone dropped the Ó or Mac in the 19th century, and Murphy is one of the surnames in Ireland which has been slowest to readopt the prefix(es), with most people who do so choosing the Ó form.  Another anglicized form of the name was/is O'Morchoe, which is closer to the Irish pronunciation.  It is believed that, in all cases, the name came from the Irish word murchadh, meaning "sea warrior", so Ó Murchadha/Ó Murchú would mean "descendant off the sea warrior".

 

 

kevin45sf@yahoo.com

Dia dhuit,

Ó Murchadha is the older spelling of Ó Murchú. 

Irish traditionally would not have had an 'h', there would be a dot over the d to signify the sound of the h. These ways were rationalised by the civil servants in the 30's.  Ó Murchádha still continues. It is my married name. I am checking with Grandad, who was an Irish speaker as a child, and see what he comes back with and to make sure we have the correct spelling.. It might take a day but he did suggest the first line.  

Is Murchadha mé i gcónaí.   ................................................   Always a Murphy.

Other options from a translator:

'Murchadha a bheidh ionam i mo chroí istigh go brách'.........I'll forever be a Murphy at heart.

Is Murchadha i mo chroí istigh mé..........................................I'm a Murphy at heart.

Anne Mc Carthy--Murphy.

Aine Ui Murchadha.

Anne McCarthy MurphyIrelandXO Volunteer

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