Goodnight, Raleigh! - a look at the art, architecture, history, and people of the city at night

A Night At Tir Na Nóg

The first thing that comes to mind about this place is the pronunciation of the name. I’ve heard three variations since living in Raleigh, and I’m sure there may be more. The variations are:

  • Teer-Nah-Noh (long “o”, silent “g”)
  • Teer-Nah-Nahg (short “o”)
  • Teer-Nah-Nogue (long “o”)

Even when a friend of mine tended bar here for a while and used the correct pronunciation in conversation, people still got it wrong. Even though there are ads on the radio, people still get it wrong. Now I must admit that I used the “Nahg” pronunciation for some time. Notice on the first picture how the o in “Nóg” has an accent over it. According to an Irish author enlightening readers, ó is pronounced ’o’ as in low.
So if you were using any of the other pronunciations, you now know the correct one.
And by the way, Tir Na Nóg is a great pub, definitely worth checking out any day of the week.

Caroline and Katie, two lovely bartenders

« « Previous post: Raleigh Furniture Company
» » Next post: Spring Buds Near The Legislative Building


There are 3 Comments to this article

Leo says:
03/24/2008

aahh crap. All this time I have also been saying Nahg. Guess I need to change my ways. Good post.

John says:
03/24/2008

Hey Leo – Thanks for the feedback. What I probably should have mentioned is that I mispronounced it for at least 2 years. I’m not trying to pass judgment. :)

Raleigh Boy says:
08/07/2008

Crimminy! How long has Teer-Nah-Nogue been there? Seven, eight years? I’ve been “Nahg”ing it all this time, but now I Nogue!

Leave a Comment

Stay Connected

Discuss Raleigh

  • Recent Comments:

    • Punchdrunque: Just running throught to se if any new posts have been added. And see who remembers who. I added the...
    • Kim Weiss: Fantastic article! Every bit of it needed to be said. But I’ll tolerate all of the...
    • Gregorio Sáenz: Hi, i still work on a architecture exposition of youngs architects and this year the expo is an...
    • Smoky Hollow Girl: Wow! I’ve sure hit a jackpot site. I actually grew up in Smoky Hollow. We left the area as a...
    • Joe Carnevale: The knight will be going back up with some modifications in the Cameron Village Library permanently...
    • Patti: My brother Bobby (above) was the first, followed by another brother Tom, and lastly ME all worked at the State...
    • CameronVillage: The mural has been erased to a mere wisp. So sad.
  • Contributors

    Media and Friends