contae

Irish

Alternative forms

• condae (Aran, Ulster)
• conndae, conntae, cunndaí, cunntae, cunntaí, cunntaoi (dated)

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman counté, from Latin comitātus, from comes (“count”). Akin to English county.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /kuːn̪ˠˈt̪ˠeː/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈkuːn̪ˠd̪ˠeː/ (corresponding to the form condae)
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌn̪ˠd̪ˠai/ (corresponding to the form condae)

Noun

contae m (genitive singular contae, nominative plural contaetha)

1. county

Declension

Declension of contae

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative contae contaetha Vocative a chontae a chontaetha Genitive contae contaetha Dative contae contaetha

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an contae na contaetha Genitive an chontae na gcontaetha Dative leis an gcontae don chontae leis na contaetha

Derived terms

• baile contae, príomhbhaile contae (“county town”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
contae	chontae	gcontae
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “conntae”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 181
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “contae”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN