Re Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird’s article (There is a surefire way for the English to correctly pronounce Irish names. Just ask us. Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird, Opinion, 23 February), I had little problem with my name, Colm, growing up in Wales. My dad, from Killarney, stressed that the name should be “Cullum”, but everyone called me “Collum”, or “Col”, so I stuck with that.
It was only when I went to uni, then worked in the civil service in London, that I encountered confusion. The English could not master (or did not want to master?) this simple pronunciation, and I heard the same old “joke” many times: “Doric or Ionic?” With The Lord of the Rings came a new “joke” – Gollum. They also mocked everything Welsh language-wise.
I later moved into the private sector, and at least 50% of the time my name was misheard or misread as “Colin”, and who wants to spend the first five minutes of a meeting with stressed City clients arguing about one’s name? I gave up.
The biggest irony? Post-Brexit, I applied for an Irish/EU passport, verified with my UK documents. My name thereon: Colin. My dad is turning in his grave.
Colm (AKA Colin) Russell
Glasgow
• Like Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird, I have an Irish name that English people rarely pronounce or spell correctly, even in its anglicised form. Her article, though, reminded me of Bill Bryson’s observation that the Irish language seems to have been devised by committees for pronunciation and spelling meeting in two separate rooms, with deeply divided linguistic aims.
Catherine McLoughlin
London
