Lá Cois Trá: A Day by the Strand

The tide out, sandwiches with sand in them, and nobody willing to go in first.

Chuaigh muid síos go dtí an trá go luath ar maidin.
We went down to the strand early in the morning.

Bhí an taoide amuigh agus an gaineamh fliuch faoinár gcosa.
The tide was out and the sand wet under our feet.

Thóg m’athair an seanphluid amach as cófra an chairr.
My father took the old blanket out of the boot of the car.

Rith na páistí síos chuig an uisce ag screadaíl.
The children ran down to the water screaming.

Ní raibh duine ar bith sásta dul isteach ar dtús.
Nobody was willing to go in first.

Bhí an fharraige fuar, mar a bhíonn i gcónaí.
The sea was cold, as it always is.

D’ith muid ceapairí agus gaineamh iontu.
We ate sandwiches with sand in them.

Níor ghearán duine ar bith.
Nobody complained.

Thit mo dheirfiúr ina codladh faoin ngrian.
My sister fell asleep under the sun.

Nuair a tháinig an taoide isteach, bhailigh muid linn.
When the tide came in, we gathered ourselves off.

Bhí gaineamh sa charr ar feadh míosa ina dhiaidh sin.
There was sand in the car for a month afterwards.

Lá maith a bhí ann.
It was a good day.

A note on this one

Two past tenses sit side by side here. Chuaigh, bhí and tháinig are irregular and have to be learned one at a time. The regular ones simply lenite: tóg becomes thóg, tit becomes thit, and a verb starting with a vowel takes d’, so ith becomes d’ith.