BELFAST native Pól Mac Fheilimidh is part of a team behind a groundbreaking new monolingual Irish dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge that has been launched by the President of Ireland Catherine Connolly.
An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge provides Irish language speakers and learners with a new way to understand, use and learn the Irish language — without relying on dictionaries in English or in other languages.
Pól is an editor of the historic An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge project, and is part of a team led by chief dictionary editor Pádraig Ó Mianáin and dictionary programme manager Cormac Breathnach. The team 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.”
Pól Deeds, Irish Language Commissioner for Northern Ireland and Seán Ó Coinn, CEO of Foras na Gaeilge at the launch Photo: Leon Farrell.
CEO of Foras na Gaeilge, Seán Ó Coinn said: “For generations, Irish speakers, including those from Belfast, 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.
President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly officially launching An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge, at an event in the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin
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.
