Beir bua - literal translation and usage

Just thought I'd post an answer to a query I sometimes get in repsonse to emails I send!

Beir bua - literal translation is 'Be victorious' or 'bring victory'.

I'm really not sure of the original usage - I am imagining hordes of warriors setting off into battle with 'beir bua' ringing in their ears.

I do know that nowadays it's widely used as a courtesy phrase - e.g. for signing off letters or emails.

Buíochas, a Mhichelle!

Did you see my post earlier requesting that a chart of the prepositional pronouns be added to the site?  I wrote it in Irish, and may have butchered it beyond comprehension...but I thought it would be great to have a chart of prepositional pronouns here for reference, rather than having to go to another site all the time to find them.

If I put one together, would you be willing to post it?

Dale D

Hi Chelle and Dale, The phrase is one I use a lot. Beir in this case means something like take or seize and bua means a victory. It was written as buadh until quite recently when the spelling was reformed. Have you ever heard of Boadicea or Boudicca, the warrior queen of the Celtic Iceni in Norfolk who rose up against the Romans and slaughtered whole towns full of colonists? Her name means Victorious and is the same as Irish buach (formerly buadhach). I usually use the full phrase "Beir bua agus beannacht" - Take a victory and a blessing! It is still used a lot and sometimes abbreviated to BB7B. Note that the 7 is the usual symbol for and in Irish - the ampersand wasn't used in the language at all. Chelle and myself are trying to get some materials about the prepositional pronouns sorted out and we'll post them here. Would it help if I put together some phrases and sentences with the most common prepositional pronouns? :-)

Just to point out, the Tironian et, which is used in Irish instead of 'agus' or an ampersand '&', is NOT a 7. 7 is a number. The correct symbol to use is ⁊. If this displays as a block on your computer you just need to download a font that supports it.

Beirigí bua,
Séamas

Hi James, I didn't make myself clear there. As you say, it isn't a 7, though 7 is the character which is almost always used in typewritten Irish these days, as it looks very similar. In emails, I would usually use a 7 rather than an ampersand when writing 'agus'. This character which stands for 'agus' has been in use for a long time in Irish and I have always presumed that it probably predates the use of Arabic numerals by hundreds of years, but. I must admit, I had never heard of the name Tironian 'et' and I didn't know that it isn't specifically Irish, so thanks for the heads-up on that! Apparently it was a form of shorthand invented by Marcus Tullius Tiro, Cicero's scribe.  

Today I needed to know what the phrase discussed here meant. I found the back and forth so interesting that I have joined. Nothing to share but will be interested to follow this old thread and see what is new here. I am in Milwaukee Wisconsin home to Milwaukee Irish Fest the largest Irish festival in North America. It is held the 3rd weekend of August. It was started in about 1980. Their is a gael tacht area at the festival. Reagrds, Mary

A Mháire, 

Fáilte. 

I had not seen this thread before. I too think it is facinating. This is the first I've heard of the Tironian et and/or it's symbol used in Irish or otherwise. 

An bhfuil Gaeilge agat? Do you go to the Irish Fest?