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There isn’t a “rule”, as such. To quote Ó Dónaill, in the FGB entry for “ar”:
“(In references of a general nature it does not normally affect initial letter of following noun, e.g. ar muir, ar cíos, ar cosa in airde, on sea, rented, galloping. In qualified or particularized references it lenites, e.g. ar mhuir na beatha, ar chíos mór, on the sea of life, at a high rent. Eclipses in a few instances, e.g. ar gcúl, backwards)”.“ar ndóigh”, “ar gcúl”, “ar dtús” and “diaidh ar ndiaidh” are probably just historical anomalies.
“Gabh i leith” means “come here”. When pronounced “goille”/”gulla”, it’s often the equivalent of “c’mere”, ie an informal “come here” that isn’t actually an order, just an announcement that I have something to say (“come here to me”, “come here till I tell you”).
“Cogar” can also be used in the same way.
“Gabh i leith, ar chuala tú faoi ….”
“Cogar, ar chuala tú faoi ….”“Ar dhéis Dé go raibh a (h)anam (dílís)” is undoubtedly the most common, widely used even among people with very little Irish.
“Cómhbhrón ó chroi” is
“anam” can be qualified with “dílis” or “uasal”.
“Ní maith liom bhur dtrioblóid”/”Ní maith liom do thrioblóid” is the equivalent of “I’m sorry for your troubles”.
Almost every death in Ireland is marked on http://www.rip.ie, and friends and family members leave condolence messages there, if you want to look for further examples.
Hugo is correct – “theas” isn’t a noun, so you can’t say “sa theas” – it just doesn’t make any sense in Irish.
Apart from the grammar, from a phonological point of view it’s also uncomfortable to say, because words that start with “t” don’t take a séimhiú after “sa”, (you say “sa teach” or “sa tuaisceart”, for example), so “sa theas” just feels wrong, (even though the “h” in “theas” is just a normal part of the word, and “theas” isn’t the noun “teas” (heat/warmth) with a séimhiú).
You can say:
Tá sé ina chónaí theas i gCorcaigh.
Tá Corcaigh sa chuid theas den tír.
Tá Corcaigh taobh theas de Tiobráid Árann.
