Dictionary of Bird Names in Irish

English-Irish Dictionary

Irish-English Dictionary

 

(For those with just a casual interest look at the Irish-English Dictionary and click on each !!! to see the more interesting items.)

 

Updates (latest: 25 February 2002)

 

          Kingfisher / Cruidín

 

Please send comments to the compiler - Colm Ó Caomhánaigh from Dublin  cocaomh@gofree.indigo.ie

 

Reading W.B. Lockwood’s The Oxford Dictionary of British Bird Names (Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-866196-7) inspired me to look into the meaning and origin of bird names in Irish.  I do not speak Irish, though I learned it at school like everyone else.  Most of my research on the bird names has been through the dictionaries and other books noted in the texts.  I am hoping to get access to some older dictionaries which may yield more results.

 

I have organised my information into a dictionary form and would be very pleased to hear opinions on the theories.  In particular, in the Irish-English section I have tagged with an * names for which I have no probable explanation – many of them the more common names which have probably changed most over the years.  The pictures are my own.

 

I am sure that someone has done more formal work on this subject and if anyone can direct me to it I would be much obliged.

Dónal Dalton from Passage, Co. Cork also contributed many ideas.

 

Related Links

 

In case of any doubt about which species an English name denotes, consult the following tables which give the standard scientific (Latin) names.

 

English-Latin-Irish Dictionary (Standard names only)

 

Irish-English-Latin Dictionary (Standard names only)

 

Latin-English-Irish Dictionary (Standard names only)