Irish girl's names

[Babygirlname123]

Considering an Irish girls name for our last baby.
We live in the UK, DH is Irish.
Thoughts on the below
Croia (kree-ah)
Clodagh (Cloh-da)
Fiadh (Fia)
Saoirse (Seersha)

Are they too difficult to live with over here in terms of spelling/pronunciation?
I don't really like any other Irish girls names. I kind of like Maeve, Niamh and Aoife but not enough to use them.

I know someone called Caoimhe would changed her spelling to Keeva after she’d moved to England as she couldn’t stand the difficulty of her original spelling and how much hassle it gave her

Although in fact Niamh, in Irish, is more like ni-ev (said quite softly). So in any case we are anglicising the pronunciation when we say Neeve!
It's tricky OP. I've tried to give my DC Irish names which are both easy to pronounce and spell. And that list is quite short and often they end up being more commonly used. So Tara, Orla etc for girls are all candidates.
Having said that it also is nice to have a name that is a little unusual as it gives a talking point. Perhaps give them an easy middle name so they can always use that if they dislike the hassle of the Irish name when ordering coffee when they are older?

Clodagh is lovely, and very pretty. It would also be the most likely for English people to get in the ballpark of being right if they’re not already familiar with it.

All the other three would normally need some explanation for English speakers re the pronunciation as it’s not as obvious.

When a child is a baby, literally everyone they meet is meeting them for the first time and everyone is really fascinated by the name choice so it's a big deal and it can become a real focus.
We are a multicultural society and as adults we get used to hearing names we don't instantly recognise. Teachers learn the child's names in the class before meeting them. Where I used to live in London about half of the names wouldn't be instantly recognisable to most English people. I work with a team of analysts, mostly from India, and I'm always learning new names.

I do agree with some of what you say though, and that's why I'm giving it very careful consideration. I think Saoirse is probably too difficult as people don't even know how to attempt it. Clodagh and Fiadh probably less of an issue as it's just a case of being told the last letters are silent and they could always spell it Fia or Cloda in situations where people might say it wrong.

Although I'm put off by the cockney Thea thing 😂 I don't want people to think we just can't say our 'th''s.

They are saints names or Irish names that have been Anglicised, none of them are names in the Irish language which is what the OP is clearly looking for.

It’s still a nice name. I know a 30-odd year old Bridie.

I like Aine.

I agree with this. I have a very Irish name and love that it's unusual. It's an ice-breaker, if anything, when striking up conversations.

Siún is the spelling - I really like it. Croia must be new - never heard of it.

There always Gobnait OP 😆

Your interpretation of 'loads' must be different from mine.

@JustGiveMeReason why would individuals not have different experiences? Very few people get my name wrong now & I get lots of compliments on it.

clodagh is lovely. And friends will opt for Clo.

Cara is so simple and lovely too

fiadh is insanely popular right now. At least two in every primary school class.

I always loved Grainne. Gra for short.

I don’t buy into this “being butchered” thing. People learn names. Ok Caoimhe and Aoileann and Muireann can be a challenge, but these ones in your list are not!

Croia (kree-ah)
Clodagh (Cloh-da)
Fiadh (Fia)
Saoirse (Seersha)

I'd be OK with those apart from Croia, which I'd have needed to know it was Irish or would have said Croy-a.
Very few people will get Saoirse right - it's ˈsˠiːɾˠʃə (like rhotic sersha but with ee instead of e)

@Boobyslims , I don’t buy into this “being butchered” thing. People learn names. They can butcher them, and they can't learn some names.
I have a name that only gets said correctly by speakers of that language. It has sounds that don't occur in English. What I say and what people hear are quite different, and the wrong syllable gets stressed.

I went to school with a Finola. I know Irish spelling is Fionnuala. I always thought it was a pretty name. Not sure how it’s regarded in Ireland now. Maybe too old fashioned?

I like them all except Croia, which is made up frankly. Not by you I know, but recently, and by someone who hasn’t much Irish by the sound of it.

Fiadh can also be spelt Fia in Irish if that’s easier. Fia is the modern spelling, Fiadh is older and more widely used as a name. Its first recorded use as a name (rather than simply an Irish language word) was only in 1994, so it’s a ‘new’ name really. I’ve heard people on MN worry that it could be mixed up with Thea or fear in the UK, depending on the local accent.

Saoirse was traditionally a word too not a name, though it’s been used as a name for longer than Fia/dh has, probably since the 1920s.

Clodagh is nice too. Be aware it’s not Irish language if that matters to you. It’s an anglicisation, after a river.

@RobinStrike , I believe it's fin-OO-(uh)-la, and both it and Clodagh are dated.

I like them all apart from Croia (cria means shoelaces in my area of Wales!)

Clodagh and Fiadh are easier to say/spell for non Irish people, but it’s not like Saoirse is hard to say once you know how

My name is hard to spell and pronounce if you’re not Welsh and I have survived (but usually fake name in Starbucks!)

It's my mother's name. She's 80, and she thinks it's an embarrassingly naff name.

I’m a big fan of Sinead - I think it sounds fresh now and most English people would be familiar with it thanks to Sinead O’Connor (RIP). Almost used it for my DD but it was too matchy with my son’s name.

I know an Crea instead of Chroia if you wanted to go down that route. I'm Irish and have a bog standard name, very common in England, Ireland, America the works, not an Irish language name. I have issues every time I say it on the phone I don't know why. So I wouldn't assume because you pick a standard name they're never going to have to repeat it or have no issues.

We have an aoife and an Orlaith, wish the spelling of he second had been orla though.

Love saoirse and have a beautiful granddaughter called Fiadh - she really suits the name

@user2848502016 , shoelaces is carrai or careiau. Careiau gets said as crie (cree-eh) or cria depending on local accent.

I rarely go to Starbucks but often use a fake uncomplicated 'anonymous' first name.

I have a Clodagh and we are in England. She does have to spell it and tell people how to say it. I’d say that most people get it. It’s a great name but then I’m biased!

Some of the old Irish names are coming back into use.

Irish girls names I like are

Órla - oar la
Clodagh- clo dah
Doireann - dir in
Áine - awn ya
Siobhan - shiv awn
Roisín - row sheen
Úna - ooh nah
Nóra - nor ah
Sinéad - shin aid
Ciara - keer rah
Niamh - nee ve