This is a list of English words derived from the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

B

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banshee A banshee ( ; Irish language, Modern Irish , from , "woman of the Tumulus#Ireland, fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or kee ...

: A mythical being (from ''bean sídhe'', "fairy woman"). ;

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

: A piece of wet spongy ground (from ''bogach'', "bog", from ''bog'', "soft"). ; boreen: A country lane (from ''bóithrín'', diminutive of ''bóthar'', "road"). ;bother: Possibly from '' bodhar'', "deaf, bothered, confused", or from ''bodhraigh'', "to deafen, to annoy". The earliest use appears in the writings of Irish authors Sheridan, Swift and Sterne. ;brock: A badger (from ''broc'', "badger", or a cognate thereof). ;brat: A dialectal word for an overall or apron (from ''brat'', "cloth"). ; brogan: A kind of shoe (from ''brógan'', diminutive of ''bróg'', "shoe"). ; brogue: A kind of shoe (from ''bróg'', "shoe").

C

; char: A kind of fish. Possibly from ''ce(a)ra'', " loodred", referring to its pink-red underside. This would also connect with its Welsh name ''torgoch'', "red belly." ; clabber, clauber: Wet clay or mud; curdled milk (from ''clábar''). ;

clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...

: O.Ir. meaning "bell"; into

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

as ''glocka, klocka''Kluge, F. ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache'' (1989)

de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

(whence Modern German ''Glocke'') and back into English via Flemish; cf also Welsh ''cloch'' but the giving language is Old Irish via the handbells used by early Irish missionaries.Online Etymology Dictionary
by Douglas Harper ;colleen: A girl, especially an Irish one (from ''cailín'', "young woman"). ;

craic ''Craic'' ( ) or ''crack'' is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the Article (grammar), definite article – ''the'' craic – as in the expressi ...

: Fun, used in Ireland for fun/enjoyment. The word is actually English in origin; it entered into Irish from the English "crack" via

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...

. The

Gaelicised Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaels, Gaelic or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of Celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread fro ...

spelling ''craic'' was then reborrowed into English. The ''craic'' spelling, although preferred by many Irish people, has garnered some criticism as a ''faux''-Irish word. ;

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

: The ultimate source of this word is Latin ''crux'', the Roman

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

which became a symbol of Christianity. Some sources say the English wordform comes from Old Irish ''cros''.Online Etymology Dictionary
by Douglas Harper Other sources say the English comes from Old French ''crois''''An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language'' by Walter W. Skeat (1888) (900 pages)
Downloadable at Archive.org
and others say it comes from Old Norse ''kross''.''An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' by Ernest Weekley (1921) (850 pages)
Downloadable at Archive.org

D

; drisheen: A kind of sausage (from ''drisín'', "intestine"). ; dulse: An edible species of seaweed (from ''duileasc'').''Collins English Dictionary 21st Century Edition'' Harper Collins (2001)

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esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...

: An elongated mound of post-glacial gravel (from ''eiscir'').

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Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

: A member of a 19th-century Irish nationalist group (from ''Féni'', a name for the people of Ireland). ; fiacre: A small four-wheeled

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

for hire, a hackney-coach. Saint Fiacre was a seventh-century Irish-born saint who lived in France for most of his life. The English word ''fiacre'' comes from French.

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Gallowglass The Gallowglass (also spelled galloglass, gallowglas or galloglas; from meaning "foreign warriors") were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland and Scotland between the mid 13th ...

: A Scottish

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

in Ireland (from ''gallóglach'', "foreign warrior"). ; galore: In abundance (from ''go leór'', "sufficiently, enough"). ;gob: A mouth (from ''gob'', "mouth, beak").

H

; hooligan: One who takes part in rowdy behaviour and vandalism. Possibly from the Irish surname ''Hooligan'', an anglicisation of ''Ó hUallacháin''.

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keening Keening (, ) is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition, known to have taken place in Ireland and Scotland. Keening, which can be seen as a form of sean-nós singing, is performed in the Irish and Scotti ...

: Lamentation (from ''caoin'', "to lament"). ;

kibosh This is a list of English words derived from the Irish language. B ;banshee: A mythical being (from ''bean sídhe'', "fairy woman"). ;bog: A piece of wet spongy ground (from ''bogach'', "bog", from ''bog'', "soft"). ;boreen: A country lane (from ' ...

: Possibly from ''caidhp bháis'', "cap of death", in reference either to the

black cap Black Cap may refer to: *Black cap, a cap formerly worn by English judges when passing the death sentence *The Black Cap, a London gay pub *Black Cap (Antarctica), a peak on Teall Island *Black Cap Mountain (Alaska), a mountain in Glacier Bay Natio ...

worn by a judge when pronouncing a death sentence or to the gruesome method of execution called pitchcapping. Yiddish and Turkish etymologies have also been put forward.

L

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leprechaun A leprechaun () is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. In later times, they have bee ...

: A mythical being (from ''luchorpán'', "small body"). ;

limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

: A kind of poem (from the place-name ''

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

'', an anglicisation of ''Luimneach''). ;

lough ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs whic ...

: A lake, or arm of the sea (from ''loch'').

P

; phoney: Fake. Probably from the English meaning "gilt brass ring used by swindlers", which is from Irish meaning "ring". ; poteen: Hooch, bootleg alcohol (from ''póitín'').

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shamrock A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of the Irish word and simply means "young clover". At most times'', Shamrock'' refers to either the species ...

: A clover, used as a symbol for Ireland (from ''seamróg''). ; Shan Van Vocht: A literary name for Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries (from ''sean-bhean bhocht'', "poor old woman"). ; shebeen: An unlicensed house selling alcohol (possibly from ''seapín'', diminutive of ''seapa'', "shop"). ; shillelagh: A wooden club or cudgel made from a stout knotty stick with a large knob on the end (from ''sail éille'' meaning "a club with a strap"). ; Sidhe: The fairy folk of Ireland, from ''(aos) sídhe''. See

. ; sleveen, sleiveen: An untrustworthy or cunning person (from ''slíghbhín/slíbhín''). Used in Ireland and Newfoundland (OED). ;slew: A great amount (from ''sluagh'', "a large number") . ;slob: Mud (from ''slab''). Note: the English words slobber and slobbery do not come from this; they come from Old English. ;smithereens: Small fragments, atoms. In phrases such as "to explode into smithereens". This is the word ''smithers'' (of obscure origin) with the Irish diminutive ending. Whether it derives from the modern Irish ''smidrín'' or is the source of this word is unclear.

T

;tilly: Used to refer to an additional article or amount unpaid for by the purchaser, as a gift from the vendor (from ''tuilleadh'', "supplement") . Perhaps more prevalent in Newfoundland than Ireland. James Joyce, in his '' Pomes Penyeach'' included a thirteenth poem as a bonus (as the book sold for a shilling, twelve poems would have come to a penny each), which he named "Tilly", for the extra sup of milk given to customers by milkmen in Dublin. ;

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

: Originally an Irish outlaw, probably from the Irish verb ''tóir'' meaning "pursue". ; turlough: A seasonal lake (from ''tur loch'', "dry lake").

W

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whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

: An alcoholic drink (from ''uisce beatha'', "water of life").

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See also

References

Further reading