We have covered the top Irish language baby names in another post. Remember that a lot of names in use for Irish babies are not in any way “Irish”. Still, many a young person has been named in the Irish language over the years. This tradition continues quite strongly in Ireland, even though the English language is by far the most dominant language in society (see Irish language facts for more about this).
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The Irish language, also known as Irish Gaelic, or simply “Irish” in Ireland, is a member of the Goidelic group of the Celtic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. The language is categorised into three periods: Old Irish (7th–9th century A.D.), Middle Irish (10th–16th century), and Modern Irish (since the 16th century). (Lehman, An Introduction to Old Irish, 1975)
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I want to tell you a bit about Irish language grammar. But grammar is complex, and is a vast topic! So let’s hit a couple of interesting parts of Irish grammar. But for more in-depth information, you could look into Bitesize Irish Gaelic, which are online Irish Gaelic lessons.
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Hold on there with your naming! Naming your child is obviously quite a permanent event. Don’t name your child based on the information of just one source (such as this site). Always get some more opinions. It’s the only sensible thing to do!
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First thing’s first! Irish weddings in Ireland (those that are held in the English language) don’t particularly have “Irish language wedding toasts”. But if you’re of Irish heritage there’s no harm in showing it on the special wedding day! With some simple phrases you can treat your guests with your Irish toasts. If you work it well, you’ll be able to impress the guests, while sharing some entertaining yet caring thoughts.
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As you may or may not know, there are three main Irish language dialects:
* Munster dialect (south of Ireland, such as counties Kerry, Cork and Waterford)
* Connacht dialect (Connemara Gaeltacht and Aran Islands in the west of Ireland – both in County Galway, and County Mayo)
* Ulster dialect (north of Ireland, such as Donegal and Belfast)
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Bitesize Irish Gaelic has Irish Gaelic phrases.
Search Irishionary for Irish Gaelic words. It’s a collaborative Irish dictionary.