Irish Dictionary Advice

There are not that many Irish dictionaries available online. There’s Focal.ie, An Foclóir Beag, and EnglishIrishDictionary.com, for example. But that’s about it.

All of these dictionaries are closed. They do not harness the power of the Internet masses, of the large Irish-speaking community online. They don’t make their databases freely available to the Irish language community, either.

Here’s where a collaborative dictionary could help. Such a dictionary would be empowered by its users. It could keep up-to-date with current word usage. Wiktionary is such an effort, but it’s not very easy to quickly search through.

Here’s where Foclóir Gaeilge.ie comes in. It will be an Irish collaborative dictionary. With a simplicity for searching, and a simplicity for adding to it. Simple as that.

The dictionary will be accessible through both Irish and English language interfaces.

Here’s a sneak preview: http://www.focloirgaeilge.ie

This blog is only in its infancy, but I’d still like to point you towards the site’s top 3 articles. Enjoy! Bainigí taithneamh astu!

Believe it or not, the last official English-Irish dictionary to be published was 50 years ago, but Tomás de Bhalraithe (see English-Irish Dictionary reviews).

The dictionary project (see foclóir.ie) has been undertaken by Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the whole island of Ireland. Part of their responsibility is to develop Irish dictionaries.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve already covered choosing an Irish dictionary for beginners and advanced. There is also an Irish dictionary comparison over at LearnIrishGaelic.com

Here are some places to pick up your Irish dictionary of your liking.

1. Litriocht.com

Claims to have “Every Irish Book in Print”. The web site’s interface may not be perfect, but they do offer a great range of Irish books. Specifically, look at their dictionaries section.

Prices in Euro and shipped from Co. Kerry, Ireland.

2. Amazon.com

It’s good to pick up a dictionary, especially if you’re already familiar with Amazon. However, their classification of Irish dictionaries isn’t very straight forward. The edition of a certain dictionary they stock may not be the latest edition, and it’s often not easy to make out exactly what dictionary you’re reading about!

3. An Spailpín Fánach

Sells a small selection of Irish dictionaries, but the dictionaries are the old An Gúm (publisher) favourites.
Prices in Euro and shipped from Co. Galway, Ireland.

4. Gill MacMillan Publishers

Search their catalogue for “dictionary”. They publish several (alternative) dictionaries. Quite pricey shipping from Ireland to the US.

5. Some more

Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.co.uk also stock some Irish dictionaries.

Reply if you know of any more online stores I should include!

Traditionally, not many useful Irish dictionaries have existed, and those that have existed - while being of highest quality - may not have been updated in decades. The world of the Internet (an Idirlíon) has given a new place for the Irish language to exist. Learners and speakers of Irish who may have been once isolated can now communicate online. Online Irish tools have also been developed.

Below I list the big Irish word reference sites that you can use for translations.

1. EnglishIrishDictionary.com

EnglishIrishDictionary.com is probably the most popular Irish English dictionary online. It’s quick to use, and contains most common-day entries. It seems to be based on the database of Collin’s Irish dictionaries. You can search quickly in both Irish and English.

2. Focal.ie

Focal.ie is lead by Dublin City University, probably arising from their Irish-language entrepeneurship centre called Fiontar. Focal.ie is quite extensive, and contains many everyday words, but brands itself as a “terminology database” rather than a full dictionary. It is great for science and technology terms. Focal.ie has a bi-lingual interface, and you can search for terms in both English or Irish.

3. An Foclóir Beag

An Foclóir Beag is a dictionary hosted by the University of Limerick, and has an Irish-only interface. It is an Irish-Irish dictionary, and is especially useful for its verb tables.

4. Acmhainn.ie

Acmhainn.ie is another searchable Irish terminology resource. It’s an Irish-only interface, and classifies terminology for subjects such as biology, health and media.

5. An Chrannóg

An Chrannóg has a non-searchable word list, but has its 13,000 headwords classified by alphabetical letter.

Irish Gaelic Translator.com is not a dictionary, but a community-based translation forum. You can register on the forum and ask the community for Irish translations, and search existing translations. If the translation is uncertain, members will discuss what is the best translation for your phrase.

Let me know of any other online Irish dictionary!