# Gaelic word definition?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 23, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142 "2010-01-23T18:34:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142/1 "2010-01-23T18:34:23Z")

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From this Irish poem/song:

> **[45. The Rising of the Moon - Collection at Bartleby.com](https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/anthology-of-irish-verse/45-the-rising-of-the-moon/)**
>
> 45. The Rising of the Moon “OH, THEN tell me, Shawn O’Farrall,Tell me why you hurry so?”“Hush, ma bouchal, hush and listen;”And his cheeks were all

on line three there is a word: **bouchal**.

What does it mean? Googling and using on-line dictionaries yields no useful definitions.

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**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142/2 "2010-01-23T18:41:22Z")

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The spelling I have for that word is “bhuachaill” and it apparently means “boy” or “lad”.

Apropos of further Googling, if you like, the “anonymous” author is John Keegan “Leo” Casey (1846-70).

ETA: And now I have that song totally stuck in my head.

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142/3 "2010-01-23T19:01:29Z")

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excellent…thanks:)

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**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142/4 "2010-01-23T21:48:00Z")

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Just to let you know that in Ireland, the language this word is in is most commonly referred to as _Irish_ rather than _Gaelic_. IAN Irish but I’ve lived there a good while and I think many Irish people feel it is imporant to call it that, because it make the point that this, rather than English, is the country’s language.

_Gaelic_ usually refers to the related but separate Celtic language spoken in Scotland.

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**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaelic-word-definition/526142/5 "2010-01-24T19:07:00Z")

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> [@emmaliminal](#):
>
> The spelling I have for that word is “bhuachaill” and it apparently means “boy” or “lad”.
> 
> Apropos of further Googling, if you like, the “anonymous” author is John Keegan “Leo” Casey (1846-70).
> 
> ETA: And now I have that song totally stuck in my head.

I stumbled across his grave of late in Glasnevin Cemetery, in Dublin. It is oddly place, with no direct access anymore but the gravestone has these elaborate scenes carved on it, they can be seen at the bottom of [this](http://homepage.eircom.net/~johnkeegancasey/) page. It is one of the more interesting gravestones in that cemetery imho.