Derry natives behind monumental, first-of-its-kind Irish language dictionary

Derry City natives Pádraig Ó Mianáin and Joe Ó Labhraí  are part of a team behind a ground-breaking new monolingual Irish dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge that was launched on Tuesday by the President of Ireland Catherine Connolly. 

An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge [The New Irish Dictionary] provides Irish language speakers and learners, including those in Derry, with a new way to understand, use and learn the Irish language — without relying on dictionaries in English or in other languages. 

Pádraig, who is originally from Derry City and now lives in Carn Tóchair, near Maghera, is chief dictionary editor and Joe, who is from Derry City, is one of the senior editors for the historic An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge project. Pádraig and Joe, working alongside a team of editors, began compiling the dictionary in September 2022, with the project scheduled to be completed by August 2027. An initial tranche of 20,000 entries, comprising 40,000 word senses, is now live on Focloir.ie to access free of charge.

An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge is the first comprehensive monolingual “Irish-Irish” dictionary. Until its publication, anyone trying to understand an unfamiliar Irish word or phrase typically had to look it up in an Irish–English dictionary and understand it through the lens of English.

President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly launched the new dictionary at a special Foras na Gaeilge event in the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin on Tuesday evening. Commenting on the new Irish dictionary, President Connolly said: “A contemporary monolingual dictionary is an essential resource in any living language, in which the language itself and its uniqueness are defined in its own words and by its own community, instead of constantly being defined through the medium of another language. This new dictionary places the Irish language and Irish speakers on an equal footing with other modern languages and communities. Irish-language dictionary resources are now a model of best practice for other minoritised languages around the world.”

Chief dictionary editor of An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge Pádraig Ó Mianáin, from Carn Tóchair said: “The publication of this monolingual Irish dictionary is a significant step in the ongoing development of dictionary resources in Foras na Gaeilge. We have observed increasing demand for a monolingual dictionary from our users in Derry and across the world, so we are delighted to finally take the first step in meeting this need. We look forward to adding to and developing the dictionary over the remaining two years of the project.”

CEO of Foras na Gaeilge, Seán Ó Coinn said: “For generations, Irish speakers, including those from Derry, who encountered unfamiliar Irish words were forced to translate them into English and then search for definitions in English dictionaries. This tedious process not only created unnecessary barriers to learning but also shaped how Irish speakers understood the world – through the lens of English.

“The new monolingual Irish dictionary changes this paradigm. Instead of asking “What’s the English for X?”, speakers will now be empowered to ask “What does X mean?” in their own language. This shift has the potential to transform the teaching and learning of Irish at all levels — from young children discovering new vocabulary for the first time, to advanced speakers seeking deeper linguistic insight.”

The monolingual Irish dictionary has several features that make it the first of its kind, as follows:

• It reflects Irish as a living language by including real-world, every-day, contemporary usage, aiming to re-affirm current good practice in the standard language as well as recognising common dialectal forms.
• It includes definitions of foreign words that are in common use in the Irish language, such as ad hoc, al fresco, baguette, cappuccino and aide-de-camp.
• Many phrases, idioms and proverbs have dedicated entries and definitions.
• It not only meets the needs of advanced Irish speakers but also gives helpful grammar and pronunciation guidance for those less sure about how to use and pronounce words and phrases.
• The dictionary aims to provide guidance where needed as to the intricacies of Irish grammar, more than would ordinarily have been provided in previous dictionaries. This is done through various means such as usage notes, grammar information within entries, or widespread use of examples that illustrate different points of grammar.

An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge is available to access free of charge online at Focloir.ie.

The main phase of the dictionary project is scheduled to be completed by August 2027, by which time it will comprise 30,000 entries and 80,000 senses.

The project is principally funded by the Government of Ireland’s Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht in Dublin and the Department for Communities in Belfast, with additional support from the Department of Education in Dublin.