Irish America

Irish Language

An Irish Slant on the English Language

By Dan Casey
January 2000
By Dan Casey
January 2000

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Terence P. Dolan's Dictionary of Hiberno-English is not like any other dictionary or, for that matter, like any other reference volume. It's the first general dictionary of the Irish dialect of English ever published and, in spite of its heady title, a good read for Irish and Irish-American word-hoarders and word-mongers -- from the burly longshoremen on Pier 54 to the … [Read more...] about An Irish Slant on the English Language

Motherfoclóir: A New Kind of Irish Language Revival

By Sharon Ní Chonchúir, Contributor
February / March 2018

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Darach Ó Séaghdha has been putting the fun back into the Irish language by translating words into English in a humorous, thought-provoking way, and deftly using Twitter to expand his audience. He now continues the exercise in a new book, Motherfoclóir, in which he also reflects on the role the Irish language played in his own life.  ℘℘℘ The people of Ireland have a strange … [Read more...] about Motherfoclóir: A New Kind of Irish Language Revival

Census Reports on Love and Language

By Olivia O’Mahony, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2017

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The results of the Republic of Ireland’s most recent census, conducted April 24, 2016, were released April 6. The census, which occurs every five years, requires everyone on Irish soil to submit a thorough account of their personal information for the production of updated national statistics. First produced in 1821, the census tracks the changes in Ireland’s population … [Read more...] about Census Reports on Love and Language

Mother Teanga

By Colin Lacey, Contributor
June / July 2017

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The Irish language has roots stretching back at least 5,000 years, and shares words with Sanskrit, the ancient classical language of India.  ℘℘℘ Almost all of us can speak a little Irish, and often do. Words like “galore” and “brogue,” for example, or “smithereens” have all passed directly from Irish into English, often with little change to their original pronunciation. So … [Read more...] about Mother Teanga

A Guide to Pronouncing
Irish Names

By Adam Farley, Deputy Editor
April / May 2016

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In January, actress Saoirse Ronan stopped by the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She was there to promote her movie Brooklyn, but the conversation moved into Ronan teaching Colbert (whose ancestry is 15/16 Irish) both how to speak with an Irish accent and how to pronounce traditional Irish names – something that has no doubt been a problem since at least the eighth century, … [Read more...] about A Guide to Pronouncing
Irish Names