Listed here are some of the most useful online resources for the Irish language. From dictionaries to apps and more, these valuable sources will help with accuracy, pronunciation, linguistic richness, and your reading and writing skills.
Dictionaries, grammar and phraseology #
Foclóir, téarma & teanglann
There is no doubt that foclóir.ie, téarma.ie, and teanglann.ie are very valuable resources, including as they do dictionaries, terminology databases, a grammar wizard (give it a go!) and much more.
There are introductory videos on YouTube on how to use these resources, including these detailed ones from Gaelteanga.
teanglann.ie also provides online access to other older dictionaries, such as a searchable electronic versions of Ó Dónaill’s Irish-English dictionary, the Irish-Irish dictionary An Foclóir Beag, and de Bhaldraithe’s English-Irish dictionary. The site also provides both a grammar database and a pronunciation database.
An pota focal
As well as the dictionaries mentioned above, potafocal.com is a useful supplementary resource, containing a glossary of words and phrases in Irish> It also has a spellchecker and Irish-Language Standardizer. If you struggle with the rules of ‘An Caighdeán Oifigiúil’, the standardizer is a reliable writing resource that’s worth using, particularly if you are trying to understand old texts and non-standard phrases.
Writing #
Corpus of Contemporary Irish
The Corpus of Contemporary Irish on Gaois.ie is one of the most valuable Irish resources available online. It is a online searchable database of articles, journals, and news sources containing around 21.4 million words.
Writers can search the database for phrases or clauses to see examples of them in use. If you’re unsure about the structure of a clause, you can search for it and see if there are examples of its use in the corpus.
Aistear.ie
Aistear focuses entirely on writing accuracy. It has several editing exercises, and has a companion book Cruinneas, which offers brilliant advice on the best ways to approach writing accurately in the Irish language.
Cadhan Aonair
One of the most-used tools on Cadhan Aonair is An Gramadóir. Just paste your Irish text into the checker, and you’ll get feedback on mistakes and potential issues in your text. It’s not perfect in all cases but is still surprisingly good.
There are many other tools on this site useful for those trying to navigate the online world through Irish – it’s worth spending time on the site learning about and using them.
Gaelspell & Gaelgram
Gaelspell is a highly valuable app/tool that includes a spellchecker and Grammar Checker for Microsoft Word. As these facilities do not come as standard in MS Word for Irish, Gaelspell was created specifically to address that issue and is available for Apple and Microsoft computers.
Pronunciation #
There is no single standard for spoken Irish, though a written standard exists – and so most of the resources in this section provide pronunciation guidance in the three main dialects – Ulster, Connacht, and Munster Irish.
abair.ie
ABAIR is a project of the Phonetics and Speech Laboratory at Trinity College Dublin, that has been developing synthetic voices in Irish since 2008.
The site services the three main dialects – Ulster, Connacht, and Munster – and is available in both English and Irish. If you enter an Irish word, you can hear it pronounced in all three dialects.
foclóir.ie
After finding your Irish word in this dictionary, you can also listen to its pronunciation, if available, in all the main dialects.
teanglann.ie
This language and dictionary library site also has a pronunciation database, containing audio files in the three main dialects.
Breacadh.ie
Breacadh’s main focus is on providing resources in Irish for adult learners in the Gaeltacht.
One such resource is Mar a Déarfá!, a graduated phonics/literacy programme, focusing on the sounds that native speakers use in their own spoken language. As a result, it offers a great collection – An Córlán – of dialect-based ‘sound-spelling’ materials. An Córlán is available in Irish only.
Léighleat.com
The aim of this website is to provide digital resources for primary school teachers to support them in teaching Irish.
To support the phonics scheme ‘Fónaic agus Rann, Cleachtaí agus Greann’ for infants, they created a free interactive resource to enhance the phonics lesson. The resource is designed for the three main dialects – Munster, Connacht, and Ulster. You can hear the songs being sung and the corresponding sound for each word.
Though the resource is aimed at children, it can also be useful for adult learners.
General guidance
There are general pronunciation guides for Irish available from various writers, such as Donnacha Cionga, nualéargais.ie, bitesize.irish, and The Geeky Gaeilgeoir.
Pronunciation is of course part of any Irish-language lessons available online, but this video Sounds and Spelling of Irish focuses specifically and comprehensively on pronunciation.
Media #
Television & Radio
You can watch TV programs and listen to radio programs online, or download or subscribe one of the many podcasts with Irish.
Social media
Irish is alive and well on social media ,with accounts on Instagram and TikTok such as @éasca péasca, @molscéal, @cuan.deburca, @maire\_nichurraoin, @mofoodblog, @seamboyseam, @cnag – if you follow these, you’ll soon discover many more.
There are many Irish-language accounts on X and Bluesky is gaining too. Follow interesting accounts on both, such as Motherfoclóir –@theirishfor (X), @theirishfor.bsky.social (Bluesky) – and Coiste na bhFocal Nua – @coistenabhfocal (X), @coistenabhfocalnua.bsky.social (Bluesky).
There are Facebook groups where you can have online discussions in Irish (search ‘Gaeilge’ in Groups), such as Gaeilge más féidir Béarla más gá, Gaeilge Amháin, Shop Gaeilge, and many more. Make sure to read their rules regarding the mix of language allowed.
Search with the hashtag #gaeilge on social media to see everyday conversations in Irish.
Forums #
There are great online forums like Daltaí na Gaeilge or the Irish Language Forum, where you can get insightful answers to your grammar questions and more.
When searching, you’re sure to come across other useful sites, such as bitesizeirish, nualéargais, and others.
Other resources #
logainm.ie is a very useful resource, offering translations and information on Ireland’s placenames. Audio files are often available on logainm.ie to help with pronunciation – for example, see Leitir Ceanainn.
If you need an address in Irish, go to eircode.ie, and after finding the address, you’ll see ‘Gaeilge’ as a language option above it, where you can clcik to see the Irish version of the address.
A great resource for finding the Irish form of surnames and vice versa is sloinne.ie.
Visit duchas.ie too if you can. It is a digitisation project of the National Folklore Collection of Ireland, one of the largest folklore collections in the world.
If you want information on notable Irish-language figures, try ainm.ie, the national database of Irish-language biographies.
GaelGoer is a recent app designed to connect Irish speakers, with events, chats, businesses, and more.
If you’re up for some fun, try foclach.com – a Wordle-based word game in Irish
Vicipéid, the Irish-language edition of Wikipedia, is also a very useful resource for both general and obscure topics.
