Pronunciation

I haven't quite mastered the ability to read an Irish word and know whether it is a person, place thing, adjective, much less how to correctly pronounce it. I received an email that ended with "Eoin, Customer Service Helpdesk." I needed to reply, but I wasn't quite sure to whom I should address it--is Eoin the author's name or is it an Irish word for something like "sincerely"? If I wrote, "Dear Eoin," is that saying "Dear Regards" or is it properly addressing the person I'm communicating with by name?

So I Googled it. Eoin is a name, pronounced like "Owen." Ahh.

Then I met someone named (as it sounds) "Locklin." But when I was to write his name down, I discovered it was spelled "Laughlin." Ah, yes, my second grade teacher's name was Ms. McGlaughlin, I can remember this one.

Meanwhile, I was listening to a talk by an Irish person today and he kept saying "na-ee-a". What is that?? He was saying "Make the most of na-ee-a." Then he'd refer to the "pa-ee-a-a" in something. Hmm...

Eventually I used context clues to discover that na-ee-a is "now" and pa-ee-a-a is "power."

Wow. Or should I say wa-ee-a?