Irish teacher and fervent language ambassador Patricia Nic Eoin was shocked when she went to get a name tag for her beloved pup.

One of the main pet shops in Galway said they were unable to put a fada on Aillí, suggesting Patricia go instead for the English version.

“But Aillí was very determined to keep her fada and absolutely refused to wear a tag without a fada. She made some noises about getting in contact with the Coimisinéar Teanga (Language Commissioner),” she jokes.

“As I don’t happen to have any ‘fadas’ in my own name I haven’t actually encountered this problem before. But I do now have an inkling of the annoyance that all Seáns, Pádraigs and Áines must feel on a pretty regular basis.”

Patricia eventually found a great engraver on Dominic Street who handled the fada for her 18-month-old Cockapoo with ease – and so began the ‘Ruffolution’.

“While it started as a bit of fun, the Ruffolution has a serious aim: to raise awareness of the Irish language. Dogs have been saddled with names more suited to the streets of London than the beaches and bogs of the West coast,” she says.

Through her online teaching business, www.allabout irish.ie, Patricia relayed the story of her campaign and quickly realised that translating names was a fun way for students to become more familiar with how Irish spelling works.

“After I sent an email to my students, I was inundated with requests for translation. Word of the movement spread and many dogs in the West of Ireland are now insisting that their names be Gaelicised, to represent their true Gaelic identity.”

There is Banaí (formerly known as Bonnie) in Sligo; Rocsaí (formerly Roxy) in South Galway, Boo became Bú, Scully is now Scolaí, Sandy is changed to Sandaí , Walter and Walty – Bhaltair and Bhaltaí – while Marconi is now the owner of two fadas in his translation from Italian – Marcónaí.

“There are a couple of different ways that a name can be translated. ‘Transliteration’ is the process of translating a name based on the sound of the name, rather than its meaning, so ‘Roxy’ becomes ‘Rocsaí’,” explains Patricia.

“Another way to translate a name from one language to another would be to use ‘semantic translation’ – where the new name is based on the meaning, rather than the sound, of the name. ‘Sandy’ could be translated as ‘Sandaí’ or as ‘Gainmheach’ but obviously the former ‘Sandy’ is not going to come back if suddenly called ‘Gainmheach’!”

A trained solicitor, Patricia has spent time working in TG4 and at the European Commission in Brussels where she worked on the translation of legal documents into Irish. She has also written a series of children’s books in Irish and translated many other books from French and English into Irish.

Patricia and Eilís Ní Dhúill, an academic at the University of Galway, were the development editors for the Irish edition of ‘Short Stories in Irish for Beginners’ and the ‘Michel Thomas Method for Learning Irish’.

“The Ruffolution is a nice illustration of the reverse of what happened to the placenames of Ireland when they were anglicised, for example ‘Bearna’ meaning the gap becoming ‘Barna’; An Carn Mór (the big cairn) becoming ‘Carnmore’.

Originally from Kinvara, Patricia now lives in Knocknacarra. Her parents spent time on the Aran Islands, at one stage living on Inis Mór, so there was always Irish spoken at home.

She combined all she had learned from other language methods to develop her own style which she calls ‘Structured Irish’, teaching even absolute beginners from overseas with no experience of the language to speak ‘as Gaeilge’.

The main face of the movement, Aillí, is certainly enjoying her new-found prestigious ambassadorial role, reveals Patricia.

“Aillí enjoys walking on the Prom, bestowing fadas on any city dogs who cross her path, ‘madra amháin ag an am’ (‘one dog at a time’).

To get help with translations or for details of classes, log onto allaboutirish.ie

Pictured: Patricia Nic Eoin with her dog Aillí. The problem of getting an engraver to put a fada on Aillí’s name tag set the ruffolution in train. PHOTO: JOE O’SHAUGHNESY.