Get to grips with some Gaelic Irish Words

Learning a few Gaelic Irish words can a trip to Ireland a lot more fun -photo courtesy of Paul Downey

If you want to learn to speak Gaelic or Gaeilge or Irish as it is also known, it is worth getting to grips with the basic list of Gaelic Irish words below. If you spend some time in Ireland, you will see Gaelic on lots of signs and placenames and hear it on Irish television and radio.

While English is certainly the dominant language in all but some Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) areas, a trip to Ireland will be so much richer if you have at least a smattering of Irish Gaelic.

It is important to know also that some Gaelic words vary from one dialect to another. In Ireland there are three key dialects in the North (Ulster), West (Connaught) and South (Munster). For example, the word for table in Connaught and Munster Irish is bord while in Ulster Gaelic it is tábla.

Because of TV and improved communications, most Gaelic speakers are also now more familiar with and influenced by each other's dialects, so learning one dialect does not cause the communication difficulties it might once have.

Anyway, most people in Ireland learn standard (caighdeán) Gaelic in school, basically a mix of all three dialects. I have taken the most common form of the Irish words below. I give a non-linguistic pronunciation guide to the words below, a fairly literal translation and the English translation.

And while it can be a little daunting for someone learning the language at the beginning, it is important to know that the form of a Gaelic word can and does change, not only in the singular and plural forms, but also depending on whether it is used in the nominative, vocative, accusative, and genitive cases.

"What the hell does that mean?", I hear some of you ask. While I won't go into all the details (for that you need a more intensive grammar lesson), the easiest way to explain is with an example of the kind of changes that Irish words can undergo.

Gaelic Irish Words by category

I have also included what is a simple video of the categories on this page but should be enough to help you with getting the pronunciation right. I am not a native speaker but it should be reasonably accurate.

Food
Eating
Days of the Week
Months of the Year
Counting 1-10
People and Family
Colours/Colors
Modes of Transport
Around the House
Parts of the Body

Irish Gaelic Phrases and Expressions Page

Food

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Eating

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Days of the week in Gaelic

Months of the Year in Gaelic

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Counting

The Gaelic Irish words used for counting change somewhat when used with an object. For example, if I am just counting 1-3 (cardinal numbers), it will be simply a haon, a dó, a trí. However, if I put an object (noun) with it to count boats it will become aon bhád amháin, dhá bhád, trí bhád. I include both below for numbers 1-10.

1 to 10 in Gaelic

Word Pronounced In English	a haon, aon bhád amháin ah-hane, ane vawd a-wawn one, one boat
Word Pronounced In English	a dó, dhá bhád ah doh, gaw vawd two, two boats
Word Pronounced In English	a trí, trí bhád ah tree, tree vawd three, three boats
Word Pronounced In English	a ceathair, ceithre bhád ah ka-hir four, four boats
Word Pronounced In English	a cúig, cúig bhád ah koo-ig, koo-ig vawd five, five boats
Word Pronounced In English	a sé, sé bhád ah shay, shay vawd six, six boats
Word Pronounced In English	a seacht, seacht mbád ah shawcht, shawcht mawd seven, seven boats
Word Pronounced In English	a hocht, ocht mbád ah hucht, ucht mawd eight, eight boats
Word Pronounced In English	a naoi, naoi mbád ah nee, nee mawd nine, nine boats
Word Pronounced In English	a deich, deich mbád ah deh, deh mawd ten, ten boats

Middle Left

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People and Family

Gaelic Irish words -quite common on Irish lavatories and sometimes without the images to help! photo courtesy of dlkinney

Word Pronounced In English	fear, fir fahr, fir man, men
Word Pronounced In English	bean, mná bahn, min-aw woman, women
Word Pronounced In English	cáilín, coll-een, coll-een-ee girl, girls
Word Pronounced In English	buachaill, buachaillí boo-chill, boo-chill-ee boy, boys
Word Pronounced In English	athair ah-hur father
Word Pronounced In English	máthair, máithreacha maw-her, maw-hru-cha mother, mothers
Word Pronounced In English	deartháir, deartháireacha dre-hawr, dre-haw-rich-ah brother, brothers
Word Pronounced In English	deirfiúr, deirfiúreacha dre-foor, dre-foor-ach-ah sister, sisters
Word Pronounced In English	mac, mic mock, mick son, sons
Word Pronounced In English	iníon, iníoní in-een, in-een-ee daughter, daughters
Word Pronounced In English	uncail un-kill uncle
Word Pronounced In English	aintín an-cheen aunt
Word Pronounced In English	páiste, páistí pawsh-teh, pawsh-tee child, children
Word Pronounced In English	duine, daoine din-eh, dee-neh person, people

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Colours

Word Pronounced In English	bán bawn white
Word Pronounced In English	dearg jar-ig red
Word Pronounced In English	buí bwee yellow
Word Pronounced In English	gorm gur-im blue
Word Pronounced In English	glas gloss green
Word Pronounced In English	oráiste or-awsh-te orange
Word Pronounced In English	donn down brown
Word Pronounced In English	liath lee-ah grey
Word Pronounced In English	bán-dearg bawn-jar-ig pink
Word Pronounced In English	corcra kur-kra purple
Word Pronounced In English	aintín an-cheen aunt
Word Pronounced In English	páiste, páistí pawsh-teh, pawsh-tee child, children

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Means of Transport

Word Pronounced In English	gluaisteán, carr glewsh-tawn, kawr car
Word Pronounced In English	bus bus bus
Word Pronounced In English	leoraí loh-ree truck
Word Pronounced In English	traein tray-in train
Word Pronounced In English	tarracóir taw-ra-kore tractor
Word Pronounced In English	rothar ruh-har bicycle
Word Pronounced In English	eitleán et-il-awn airplane
Word Pronounced In English	bád bawd boat

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House

Word Pronounced In English	teach ty-ach house
Word Pronounced In English	gairdín gar-jeen garden
Word Pronounced In English	pictiúr pic-tyoor picture
Word Pronounced In English	guthán, guh-hawn, telephone
Word Pronounced In English	clog clug clock
Word Pronounced In English	fuinneog fwin-yogue window
Word Pronounced In English	cathaoir cah-heer chair
Word Pronounced In English	tolg tull-ig sofa, couch
Word Pronounced In English	lampa lawm-pa lamp
Word Pronounced In English	solas sul-ass light
Word Pronounced In English	bord bored table
Word Pronounced In English	leabhar lau-er book

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Irish words for Parts of the Body

Word Pronounced In English	gruaig grew-ig hair
Word Pronounced In English	súil soo-il eye
Word Pronounced In English	gualainn goo-lin shoulder
Word Pronounced In English	lámh lawve hand, also arm
Word Pronounced In English	ceann kyan head
Word Pronounced In English	uilinn ill-inn elbow
Word Pronounced In English	bolg bull-ig belly, stomach
Word Pronounced In English	cluas kluss ear
Word Pronounced In English	cos kuss leg, also foot
Word Pronounced In English	srón shrone nose
Word Pronounced In English	béal bay-il mouth
Word Pronounced In English	gliún glue-in knee
Word Pronounced In English	fiacla fe-ah-kla teeth

I am open to correction or suggested improvements on anything above. I would also love to hear of other categories of Gaelic Irish words you think should have been included as basics. Get in touch with me through the contact GaelicMatters page. Or add a comment below

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Other Pages Related to Irish Words

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