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Language

Irish (Gaeilge) is the country’s official language. In 2003 the government introduced the Official
Languages Act, whereby all official documents and street signs must be either in Irish or in both
Irish and English. Despite its official status, Irish is really only spoken in pockets of rural Ire-
land known as the Gaeltacht, the main ones being Cork (Corcaigh), Donegal (Dún na nGall),
Galway (Gaillimh), Kerry (Ciarraí) and Mayo (Maigh Eo).
Ask people outside the Gaeltacht if they can speak Irish and nine out of 10 of them will
probably reply, ‘ah, cupla focal’ (a couple of words), and they generally mean it – but many
adults also regret not having a greater grasp of it. Irish is a compulsory subject in schools for
those aged six to 15. In recent times, a new Irish curriculum has been introduced cutting the
hours devoted to the subject but making the lessons more fun, practical and celebratory.
Irish divides vowels into long (those with an accent) and short (those without), and also
distinguishes between broad (a, á, o, ó, u) and slender (e, é, i and í), which can affect the
pronunciation of preceding consonants. Other than a few clusters, such as mh and bhf (both
pronounced as w), consonants are generally pronounced the same as in English.
Irish has three main dialects: Connaught Irish (in Galway and northern Mayo), Munster
Irish (in Cork, Kerry and Waterford) and Ulster Irish (in Donegal). Our pronunciation guides
are an anglicised version of modern standard Irish, which is essentially an amalgam of the
three – if you read them as if they were English, you’ll be able to get your point across in
Gaeilge without even having to think about the specifics of Irish pronunciation or spelling.

Thank you (very) much.
BASICS Go raibh (míle) goh rev (meela)
maith agat. mah agut
Hello.
Dia duit. deea gwit Excuse me.
Hello. (reply) Gabh mo leithscéal. gamoh lesh scale
Dia is Muire duit. deeas moyra gwit I’m sorry.
Good morning. Tá brón orm. taw brohn oruhm
Maidin mhaith. mawjin wah Do you speak (Irish)?
Good night. An bhfuil (Gaeilge) agat? on wil (gaylge) oguht
Oíche mhaith. eekheh wah I don’t understand.
Goodbye. (when leaving) Ní thuigim. nee higgim
Slán leat. slawn lyat What is this?
Goodbye. (when staying) Cad é seo? kod ay shoh
Slán agat. slawn agut
Yes. Want More?
Tá. taw
No. For in-depth language information and
Níl. neel handy phrases, check out Lonely Plan-
It is. et’s Irish Language & Culture. You’ll
Sea. sheh find it at shop.lonelyplanet.com, or
It isn’t. you can buy Lonely Planet’s iPhone
Ní hea. nee heh phrasebooks at the Apple App Store.

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