Na Comharsana: The Neighbours

A shed roof off in the night, and six men in the yard before the kettle boiled.

Bhí stoirm mhór ann oíche Dé Sathairn.
There was a big storm on Saturday night.

Ar maidin, bhí díon an tseid ar an mbóthar.
In the morning, the shed roof was on the road.

Ní dúirt mo mháthair faic, ach chuir sí an citeal síos.
My mother said nothing, but she put the kettle on.

Roimh a naoi, bhí seisear fear sa chlós.
Before nine, there were six men in the yard.

Níor ghlaoigh éinne orthu.
Nobody called them.

Chuala siad faoin stoirm, agus sin a bhí ann.
They heard about the storm, and that was that.

Bhí an díon thuas arís roimh am lóin.
The roof was up again before lunchtime.

Thug mo mháthair tae agus cáca amach chucu.
My mother brought tea and cake out to them.

Níor iarr éinne pingin.
Nobody asked for a penny.

An tseachtain ina dhiaidh sin, chuamar féin síos chuig teach Uí Néill.
The week after that, we ourselves went down to O'Neill's house.

Bhí geata le deisiú aige.
He had a gate to fix.

Sin mar a oibríonn sé anseo.
That is how it works here.

A note on this one

Meitheal is the old arrangement where neighbours gathered to get one farm's work done and then moved on to the next, with no money changing hands. The word is still used for anything done by a crowd pulling together, from a hay day to a beach clean.