In short, yes. Saying ‘Gaelic’ for Irish is ok and you can use it. That in itself doesn’t seem like a controversial statement but say it in Ireland or especially online, no doubt you will get comments saying ‘um actually it’s Gaeilge’ not ‘Gaelic’ or ‘Gaelic means GAA not the Irish language’ or ‘Gaelic is a family of languages, it’s like calling English, Germanic’.
This is one of the biggest hangups when it comes to the Irish language.
Table of Contents
Note: In this post, we will use Gaelic (the English word for Irish) and Gaeilic (one of the Irish words for the Irish language) and address this from the perspective of an Irish person.
People who are against the word Gaelic
We’ve found that the common traits of the people who complain and call out others who call it Gaelic:
1. Are nearly always calling out Americans
2. Are usually not Irish speakers themselves or rarely use the language
3. Are often younger (Before Gen X)
4. Rarely speak about the language apart from defending this point and also lamenting the educational system
5. Heard this argument somewhere – perhaps school – and it was ingrained in them to keep repeating it to others as a gotcha moment.
6. Speak of the confusion between Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic (As noted above, in this post we’re looking at the word from the perspective of an Irish person speaking to those who are against it, in Ireland)
We think this is a very problematic attitude to have because if someone calls it “Gaelic” in an Irish context, let’s face it, we know what they mean. But that on its own isn’t a strong case, so let’s dive in.
Gaelic is an ancient word
Firstly let’s look at Gaelic vs Gaeilge.
Gaelic / Goídelc is an ancient word used for the language that was around as far back as 600 C.E. At 900 C.E. the language had already transitioned into Middle Irish and was also known as Middle Gaoidhealg.
Irish, Scottish and Manx are all descendants of Middle Gaoidhealg. Therefore Old Gaelic, the language, is the forebearer to Modern Irish.
Yes, it is true that “Gaelic” as an adjective can mean “pertaining to the Gaels” and as a noun, refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels. And yes, indeed, the Irish language is generally known simply as Irish but saying “Gaelic” or “Irish Gaelic” to describe Irish isn’t necessarily incorrect.
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
The earliest known use of the word Gaelic is in the mid-1600s. OED’s earliest evidence for Gaelic is from 1652, in the writing of Thomas Urquhart, author and translator.
Below, compiled by Erisceres, the etymology of Gaeilge, Gaelainn, etc. and how each form came to be. It’s presented in approximate order of how each development came to be throughout history.
- Old Irish Goídelc > Classical Gaelic Gaoidhealg (gen. Gaoidhilge, dat. Gaoidhilg)
- Gaeilge (Connacht) <. Gaoidhilge)
- Gaelg,Gailck (Mann) <. Gaoidhilg
- dat. Gaoidhilg > Gaoidhlig (Ó Cuív, 1944, § 419)
- Gaeilic (Ulster) and Gàidhlig (Scotland) < Gaoidhlig
- Gaoidhlig > Gaoidhling (Ó Cuív, 1944, § 339; Breatnach, 1947, § 483) cf. tairsigh > tairsig > tairsing (Ó Maolchathaigh, 1963, p. 226), this development appears to occur with dat. forms ending in slender –g becoming analogically similar to dat. forms like Éirinn and abhainn in dialects where they would be pronounced like Éiring and abhaing
- Gaeilinn (Waterford) < Gaoidhling
- Gaoidhling > Gaoidhealaing, possibly in analogy with forms like Gael (Gaoidheal) and Gaelach (Gaoidhealach)
- Gaelainn (Cork) < Gaoidhealaing
- Gaoidhealaing > Gaoidhealainn, probably by influence from neighbouring dialects that pronounce it as Gaoidhealaing but the change being that final slender –nn is not pronounced like final slender –ng in these dialects but maintaining the analogy with the dat. slender –nn ending in forms like abhainn
- Gaelainn (Kerry) < Gaoidhealainn
Note: Modern dialectal forms of Gaoidhealg come from many sources and general knowledge. One particularly useful source is map 114 in Wagner’s LASID, referenced below. For historical forms and inflections of Gaoidhealg, Goídelc, etc., eDIL (also below) is a useful point of reference.
“We don’t call English, Germanic”
People also tend to raise the point when giving out to people that, “Well we don’t call English, Germanic so why would we call Irish, Gaelic”. See below as a typical example:
Well… no one calls English, Germanic. English, the language is never called Germanic – it is, however, a Germanic language.
The difference is, people – including native Irish speakers – do call Irish, Gaelic.
Think of the Ultaigh
In Ulster, Gaeidhilg is still used, but it’s pronounced Gaeilic, similar to the English word – they’re not the same, the pronunciation differs, the Ulster Irish word is just the name of the language in Ulster Irish, the English Gaelic is a borrowing of that name, adapted to English pronunciation. English borrowed the term Gaelic somewhere around the 17th century when Gaedhilg was the most common spoken form.
Below, a snippet from LASID (Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects – H. Wagner, 1958-69) with a map showing you exactly where the word Gaeilic is used in Ulster. You can find the digitised version here.
Image courtesy of Conchúr Mag Eacháin (Taighdeoir Gaeilge, Eagarthóir Cúnta – Foclóir Stairiúil Gaeilge)
Have a listen to native Irish speakers
We’re not sure how many examples of hearing Gaelic / Gaeilic are out there that said by speakers, but just so you’re aware, we’ve compiled a selection of examples below.
.30 seconds in, native Irish speaker. He says it a few times in Irish:
08:30 in another native Irish speaker and poet. He says it in English:
Sound files for the word ‘Gaeilge’ in the three major dialects spoken by native Irish speakers on Teanglann.ie (if the below doesn’t work for you, click the link):
In texts in Ulster Irish, you will find the language spelt as Gaeilig, Gaeilic, Gaedhilg and perhaps a few other ways. Below from Doegen.ie: This archive of Irish dialect sound recordings was made during 1928-31 and contains folktales, songs and other material recited by native Irish speakers from 17 counties:
Moya Brennan says “Gaelic” a heap of times in this recent interview. Moya, of Clannad, is the eldest child of a musical family that grew up in Gaoth Dobhair, a Gaeltacht area in County Donegal:
Also recorded in Donegal, Eamonn Mac Ruairí uses ‘Gaeilic’
Maidhc Dainín Ó Sé, a famous native Irish speaker and author, even though he’s from Kerry uses it here in English (around 0.40 in). Incidentally uses another word for Irish, common in West Kerry, Gaoluinn.
In the introduction, Seosamh Ó hÉanaí says it in English:
In a recent statement (2025) by Taoiseach Mícheál Martin in English, he also refers to the language as ‘Gaelic’
Gaelic means Gaelic Football
Absolutely, it can mean that – particularly in Ulster. Though many people too just refer to it as GAA (like with the ‘a’ sound like HA in the English word Happen). But that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong for to refer to the language as so. Irish is certainly Gaelic in the adjectival sense, at the very least. We speak of Gaelic games, Gaelic culture, the Gaelic Revival, Gaelic literature, and even Classical Gaelic and so on.
The word “Gaelic” was used by one of most beloved writers
What says Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney who contributed a poem to ‘Hockney’s Alphabet’ titled G as in Gaelic:
Guh. Guh.
Like breath being shunted
The sound of the Gaelic
word for voice –
written as guth
and in the plural
having the sense
of vowels and rhymes.
Another, different
voice is glór,
voice of the river, say,
voice of the wind
that shakes the barley
in gort, a cornfield.
And gort is the Irish
name for the letter:
field full of guh-grain,
granary of G-ness.
(Photo by Seamus Heaney: – Listen Now Again. A National Library of Ireland exhibition celebrating the life & work of Seamus Heaney).
The majority of us here in Ireland call it: Irish or Gaeilge
This is true, partly for two reasons:
- Learners far outnumber native Irish speakers who use different words for the language
- Learners are unaware of the other words for Irish in the Irish language (for example, in many Munster texts, you’d find Gaedhealaing, Gaedhlaing, Gaelainn, Gaoluinn etc.)
And because of this, people will make fun of people who use the word “Gaeilic” – particularly if it’s an American – when they say it.
People have been indoctrinated through the school system to call the language Irish and dissuaded from calling it Gaelic. But until quite recently, you would encounter many older members of the community who still referred to the language as Gaelic.
30 years later, the number of people who didn’t come through the school system has of course dwindled as the older members of the community have passed on, hence comments such as “no one calls it Gaelic” from younger Irish members.
Referencing Gaelic outside of Ireland
The reference to Gaelic / Gaeilic outside Ireland is a snapshot of the English usage amongst Irish people at the time of the mass emigrations to other lands, well before the Republic made its decision. This usage has been passed down within families for generations, hence the North American and Australian usage of Gaelic.
So what about Gaeilge?
No one is stopping you from calling the language that. It’s not either or.
Gaeilge (the standard and Conamara name of the language in the language) is a (genitive) form of Gaedhilg (~Gaeilg in modern spelling) which commonly used to be used as the name of the language in pre-reform texts. This in turn is another form (dative, accusative) of Gaedhealg, Gaoidhealg which is an even older form.
See the LASID map above for further usages of Gaeilge.
Similarly, no one is stopping Munster speakers from calling the language Gaelainn / Gaoluinn either. All versions are fine and correct.
The politics surrounding the word ‘Gaelic’
The Irish Language was referred to as both Gaelic and Irish until the Republic was formed. “Irish” was mainly used by academics; “Gaelic” was used by the common people.
The Republic chose “Irish” over “Gaelic” for political/nationalistic reasons.
Conradh na Gaelige i.e. “The Gaelic League”, the cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide was named before the Republic was formed and thus is a prime example of the usage of Gaelic.
Erisceres, who shared a post on Leinster Irish, also writes:
“One of the biggest problems that plays into this attitude is the politicisation of the language and how it was made as a nationalist symbol by our own government.
“Once Ireland gained its independence, the government elected to make the language the first official language of the state and officially name it “Irish”, associating it with national identity.
“Unfortunately, this has not been helpful for the depleting minority communities that actually natively speak the language. The nationalist attitude remains today, Irish citizens feeling entitled to ownership over the language and its name despite the fact that the vast majority of these folks are not native speakers let alone practising speakers of the language.
“I like the fact that natives might have a more universal mindset about the language rather than the national mindset of non-natives, restricting themselves by political borders; it’s all one dialectal continuum”.
What about Scots Gaelic?
For clarity, people have been known to say Irish Gaelic instead or Gaeilge or just Irish. Also useful to know is that in Scottish Gaelic the vowel sound for the name of the language, Gàidhlig, is different. Listen here. Whereas in comparison this is Gaelic in the Irish language. Listen here (click Ulster).
Professor Colm Ó Baoill wrote in “The Gaelic Continuum” in Éigse (2000), page 132:
“It is worth adding that the Gaelic language itself sees itself as a single unit. While it is becoming fashionable among the educated in Ireland to equate Gaeilge with ‘Irish’ and Gàidhlig with ‘Scottish Gaelic’, and while some writing in Scottish Gaelic like to use Gaeilge, as if it existed as a separate word in their own Gaelic, to mean ‘Irish (Gaelic)’, in the spoken language itself there is only one word, varying with dialect from Gaolainn in the south of the continuum to Gàidhlig in the north.
“This word denotes all the Gaelic dialects, and the terms Gàidhlig na h-Eireann agus Gaeilge (etc.) na hAlban are needed to point up national differences. It is because we discuss this subject in English that the terms ‘Irish’, ‘Scottish’ and ‘Manx’ obtrude themselves so forcefully, convincing us that we are speaking of three different Gaelic languages.” – Professor Colm Ó Baoill
Ó Baoill’s own Professor was Heinrich H. Wagner (1923-1988) who I mentioned earlier in relation to LASID. Colm studied Ulster Irish and Scottish Gaelic in his theses for the MA (1962) and PhD (1966) degrees, and between 1961 and 1965 he collected Scottish material for vol. IV (1969) of Wagner’s Linguistic Atlas.
An Imagined Dialogue with Alan Titley
After posting this on BlueSky, a rebuttal was shared with a screenshot from one of Alan Titley’s works. While we have not spoken with him, we thought it was worth at least addressing and CC has written the following in the form of an imagined dialogue using points within that piece.
(Though we must say, quite interesting that the original poster, seemed to ignore clear evidence that native Irish speakers do use the word Gaeilic / Gaelic – but we digress).
Screenshot of Alan Titley’s work
AT: It’s Irish only, Gaelic is incorrect. I’m a historian. ‘Irish’ was the term given to the language by both linguistic and imperial authorities until the seventeenth century. The term ‘Gaelic’ with incorrect reference to the Irish language is little more than a hundred years old.
CC: But Alan, you can’t deny that ‘Gaelic’ was widespread both as a name for the language in the language itself and in the English of Ireland at one point.
The Irish (for the most part) didn’t speak English before the seventeenth century, so you’ll admit that it was likely the Irish who brought the word ‘Gaelic’ for the language into English in the first place? You claim that ‘Gaelic’ is linguistically incorrect and that ‘Irish’ is linguistically correct based on its historical precedence in the English language, but I don’t think many linguists would agree that a loanword from another language (in this case Gaelic, brought in from the Irish) is inherently less correct than an older word in that language.
Also it is certainly more than a hundred years old as it was evidently well established and common in speech when the ‘Gaelic League’ was founded in 1893.
Ultimately, a few hundred years ago the languages weren’t really considered distinct by many people
‘with incorrect reference’.
Our Scots-Irish language is termed Galick, as they from Galicia. (1652) (From a Scot) [T. Urquhart, Παντοχρονοχανον 29 / Pantochronochanon]
And “Gaelic” is partly a direct anglicisation of the Irish word for the language and partly an anglicisation of the word “Gael/Gaedheal” with the language suffix “-ic” (as in “Icelandic”) appended.
And there are earlier examples of similar terms:
- His son..gathelos efter quhom our langag Is callit galeig (1525) i.e. “after whom out language is called” [Scottis Originale in W. A. Craigie, Asloan Manuscript (1923) vol. I. 185]
- Quhilke..commounlie is called..the Gathelik toung [Latin Gathelica lingua], albeit corrupetlie.(1596) [J. Dalrymple, translation of J. Leslie, Historie of Scotland (1888) vol. I. 73]
- Me seith þat þese Gathleus made þe Irische langage and cleped hit Gathelaf [c1410 British Library MS. Add. Gaithelaf; ?a1475 anon. tr. Gaitelaf; Latin Gaythelaf, variant readings Gaitelak, Gaitelaf], as it were a langage i-gadered of alle langages and tonges. (1387) [J. Trevisa, translation of R. Higden, Polychronicon (St. John’s Cambridge MS.) (1865) vol. I. 345]
(From the etymology tab of OED)
In other words, this kind of terminology didn’t just spring into use “a little more than a hundred years” ago.
It is affirmed, that the Gaelick (call it Erse or call it Irish,) has been written in the Highlands and Hebrides for many centuries. (1775) [J. Boswell, Letter 18 February in Life Johnson (1791) vol. I. 455]
And it’s worth bearing in mind that many of the people who now use the term “Gaelic” in English are of a stock that was speaking the language “a little more than a hundred years ago”. And some more references of the term, this time from Ireland itself and certainly from well over ‘100 years ago’:
- The vulgar dialect is called Gaedhlic. (1773) [London Chronicle 3 April 324/1]
- The Lingua Scotica, was the Gaelic of Ireland. (1789) [J. Pinkerton, Enquiry into History of Scotland vol. II. vi. 138]
- Aran, so far as I can collect, means lofty or mountainous in the Gaelic. (1825) [Transactions of Royal Irish Academy vol. 14 83]
Saying that “Gaelic” is right is not the same as saying that “Irish” is wrong.
And expressly referring to both Ireland and Scotland:
- When St Columba..gathered the monks into monastries, the Gaelic was the only language of Scotland and Ireland. (1781) [J. Clark, Answer to Mr Shaw’s Inq. 27]
- In that language [sc. Carthaginian] we might discover something to interest and surprise us much—a curious affinity perhaps to..the more expressive and harmonious Gaelic, spoken in the North, and in the Sister Island. (1826) [Morning Post 18 January]
And here’s a more recent example where they are being seen as the same language:
The Gaelic spoken in Ireland, Scotland and Man is one and the same language, with slight differences of dialect and pronunciation. (1910 in The Munster Express)
“But again, all of that aside, the term is used by many Irish people (incl. many native speakers)”.
AT: The word ‘Gaelic’ is often commandeered by people who wish to suggest that the relationship of the Irish language was somehow peripheral.
CC: It was certainly commandeered in that way by many members of the Language Freedom Movement in the sixties and it continues to be true for a minority of cranky ‘West Britons’, however that fact does not delegitmise the word as it was and is used in the natural local dialects of many people in Ireland, without any political undertones, people for whom the nationalist sentiments of language ideologues and their LFM ‘West Brit’ enemies in relation to the name of the language couldn’t be further removed from their own lives and personal relationships with their native dialects, of English or Irish.
They aren’t commandeering it for political purposes they simply inherited it as a natural part of their speech in the Hiberno English of the areas they grew up in.
“Irish may be more popular with the young everywhere (the schools likely being heavily responsible for this), but the current popularity of one word does not make wrong another, especially if there are people still using the less common word naturally in their dialects!
More recent commentary:
References:
- LASID: Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects (H. Wagner, 1958-69)
- Wagner, H. (1958). Map 114. In Linguistic atlas and survey of Irish dialects: Vol. I. Introduction, 300 maps (p. 114). Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
- Professor Colm Ó Baoill: “The Gaelic Continuum” Éigse (2000), pp 121–134
- “Goídelc.” Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language. Accessed December 3, 2024. https://dil.ie/26311.
- Breatnach, R. B. (1947). The Irish of Ring, Co. Waterford: A phonetic study. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
- Ó Cuív, B. (1944). The Irish of West Muskerry, Co. Cork: A phonetic study. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
- Ó Maolchathaigh, S. (1963). An Gleann agus a Raibh Ann. An Clóchomhar Tta.
- Doegen.ie
- “Gàidhlig” agus “Gaeilge” — ouch!
- Watch: 1929, Inis Oírr, Oileáin Árann
- Listening to people who have better linguistic knowledge than I