Gaeilgeoir

English

Alternative forms

• gaeilgeoir

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Irish Gaeilgeoir

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡ(w)eɪlˌɡoɹ/

Noun

Gaeilgeoir (plural Gaeilgeoirs or Gaeilgeoirí)

1. (Ireland) Someone who speaks Irish fluently or often.
   • 2014 February 1, Seán Mag Leannáin, “We'll soon find out whether we lose our native language forever”, in The Journal:

     Another remarkable development is the way Gaeilgeoirí have made their own of the new social media – they’ve taken to Facebook and Twitter like ducks to water.

   • 2022 January 23, Victoria White, “The New Gaeilgeoirs: Forecasts of the Irish language’s demise are greatly exaggerated”, in Irish Independent:

     Tate Donnelly, a Gaeilgeoir from Co Monaghan who was, at 21, the youngest candidate in the 2020 general election, running for the Green Party, admits these younger speakers are not using the language of the Gaeltacht, but argues that we need “a new colloquialism”.

   • 2023 February 24, Claire Fahy, “‘Bursting Proud’: Ireland Cheers Paul Mescal for Embracing Irish Language”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Brendan Gleeson, a well-known Gaeilgeoir, or fluent Irish speaker, also gave an interview in Irish, while Colin Farrell, his co-star in “Banshees of Inisherin,” slowly backed away and was relieved to quickly find someone who would ask him questions in English.

Irish

Alternative forms

• Gaedhilgeoir (superseded)

Etymology

From Gaeilge (“the Irish language”) +‎ -eoir.

Noun

Gaeilgeoir m (genitive singular Gaeilgeora, nominative plural Gaeilgeoirí)

1. Gaelophone, Irish speaker or learner

Declension

Declension of Gaeilgeoir (third declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative Gaeilgeoir Gaeilgeoirí vocative a Ghaeilgeoir a Ghaeilgeoirí genitive Gaeilgeora Gaeilgeoirí dative Gaeilgeoir Gaeilgeoirí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an Gaeilgeoir na Gaeilgeoirí genitive an Ghaeilgeora na nGaeilgeoirí dative leis an nGaeilgeoir don Ghaeilgeoir leis na Gaeilgeoirí

Derived terms

• Gaeilgeoireacht f (“(act of) speaking Irish”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of Gaeilgeoir

radical	lenition	eclipsis
Gaeilgeoir	Ghaeilgeoir	nGaeilgeoir

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “Gaeilgeoir”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “Gaeilgeoir”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024