Gaeltacht

English

Official Gaeltacht regions in Ireland

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Gaeltacht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡeɪltəxt]

Noun

Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí or Gaeltachts)

1. (Ireland) An officially recognised area where the Irish language is the predominant language in daily use.

Usage notes

• Both the native Irish plural Gaeltachtaí and the anglicised plural Gaeltachts are found in English usage.

German

Etymology

Borrowed via English from Irish Gaeltacht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɛːltaxt/

Noun

Gaeltacht f (genitive Gaeltacht, plural Gaeltachten or Gaeltachtaí)

1. Gaeltacht

Declension

Declension of Gaeltacht [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Gaeltacht	die	Gaeltachten, Gaeltachtaí
genitive	einer	der	Gaeltacht	der	Gaeltachten, Gaeltachtaí
dative	einer	der	Gaeltacht	den	Gaeltachten, Gaeltachtaí
accusative	eine	die	Gaeltacht	die	Gaeltachten, Gaeltachtaí

Irish

Alternative forms

• Gaedhealtacht (Ulster, otherwise obsolete)
• Gaedhealtachd (East Ulster, otherwise obsolete)

Etymology

From Gael +‎ -tacht (compare Old Irish goídelta). Cognate with Scottish Gaelic Gàidhealtachd.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): [ˈɡeːl̪ˠt̪ˠəxt̪ˠ]
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): [ˈɡeːl̪ˠt̪ˠaxt̪ˠ]

Noun

Gaeltacht f (genitive singular Gaeltachta, nominative plural Gaeltachtaí)

1. Irish-speaking area

   Antonym: Galltacht

Declension

Declension of Gaeltacht (third declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative Gaeltacht Gaeltachtaí vocative a Ghaeltacht a Ghaeltachtaí genitive Gaeltachta Gaeltachtaí dative Gaeltacht Gaeltachtaí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an Ghaeltacht na Gaeltachtaí genitive na Gaeltachta na nGaeltachtaí dative leis an nGaeltacht don Ghaeltacht leis na Gaeltachtaí

Derived terms

• Breac-Ghaeltacht (“mixed Irish- and English-speaking districts”)
• Gaeltacht Chiarraí (“the Kerry Gaeltacht”)
• Gaeltacht Chorcaí (“the Cork Gaeltacht”)
• Gaeltacht Dhún na nGall, Gaeltacht Thír Chonaill (“the Donegal Gaeltacht”)
• Gaeltacht Mhaigh Eo (“the Mayo Gaeltacht”)
• Gaeltacht na Gaillimhe (“the Galway Gaeltacht”)
• Gaeltacht na Mí (“the Meath Gaeltacht”)
• Gaeltacht Phort Láirge, Gaeltacht na nDéise (“the Waterford Gaeltacht”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of Gaeltacht

radical	lenition	eclipsis
Gaeltacht	Ghaeltacht	nGaeltacht

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) “Gaeltacht”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “Gaeltacht”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “Gaeltacht”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025