Choosing an Irish Dictionary (Beginners)
If you’ve just started on your journey of learning (or re-learning) the language of Irish – well done! Comhghairdeas! Learning any language is a difficult process that demands a lot of attention and continuous practice.
Picture below is of An Foclóir Beag (and Irish-Irish dictionary not discussed here), and a well-used Foclóir Póca:
There are several ways to begin learning the language. If you’re lucky enough to have an Irish lesson in your area, that’s a great option. Otherwise, your best way to begin is to get an Irish language learning course such as Turas Teanga, Teach Yourself Irish, or TeachMe! Irish.
If you’re serious about learning the language, buy a printed dictionary (foclóir) straight away! You’ll actually find that there are not too many options when choosing an Irish dictionary. However, you’ll want to choose one that meets your current needs. Don’t buy the biggest heaviest dictionary available (for now).
Get a reasonably sized foclóir which contains enough examples to get you started, but without overwhelming lexigraphical information.
For this, I recommend Foclóir Scoile (”school dictionary”) or Foclóir Póca (”pocket dictionary”). Both contain the same content, where as Foclóir Scoile has a larger font and is not pocket sized. Foclóir Póca’s font is just too small for comfort! Both are bi-directionary (Irish-English and English-Irish). Foclóir Scoile is published by An Gúm, the Irish state-owned publisher for Irish language books. This dictionary will stand to you well into your Irish-learning adventure.
Below, a picture of Fóclóir Póca opened up. The font is too small for comfort. I recommend Foclóir Scoile instead for this reason. I don’t have a copy of Foclóir Scoile now, hence no pic.
Below is a close-up shot of Foclóir Póca.
Foclóir Scoile ISBN 1-85791-132-6
Foclóir Póca ISBN 1-85791-047-8
My favourite alternative dictionary is Collin’s Irish Dictionary. It has a more modern feel to it than Foclóir Scoile, and some versions highlight each headword entry in colour. There are variations such as Collin’s Express and Collin’s Pocketsize. Any of these should do.
Where to buy an Irish dictionary?
- Litriocht.com claim to sell every single Irish language book in print. You will find a number of dictionaries there.
- Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk both stock a number of Irish dictionaries.
- Your local bookshop! It never hurts to get them to order in a specific dictionary you are seeking.
Niamh Ultaigh said
am June 20 2008 @ 2:35 pm
The page you have shown from the Focloir Poca is English to Irish.
In the Focloir Scoile does the Irish to English part give the Irish pronounciation?
Do you know any keyboard tricks to get the fada/eru?
Thank you
Eoin said
am July 10 2008 @ 3:55 pm
Hi Niamh. I checked Foclóir Póca, yes, the Irish side does have pronunciation for each entry.
If you are using an Irish Windows computer, try holding Ctrl and Alt at the same time, plus the letter to put a fada on.
There are more suggestions on how to type fadaí here:
http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/articles/?p=8
Amanda Adamowicz said
am July 20 2008 @ 10:54 pm
I was just curious, I only need to know how to spell or translate from english into Irish, the phrase Lucky In Love. Could you help me? I really dont want to go out to buy a dictionary for one small thing.