Irish

[ahy-rish]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ireland, its inhabitants, or their language.

noun

1. the inhabitants of Ireland and their descendants elsewhere.

2. the aboriginal Celtic-speaking people of Ireland.

3. Also called Irish Gaelic. the Celtic language of Ireland in its historical or modern form. Ir, Ir.

4. Irish English.

5. Irish whiskey.

Irish

/ ˈaɪrɪʃ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ireland, its people, their Celtic language, or their dialect of English

2. informal,  ludicrous or illogical

noun

1. (functioning as plural) the natives or inhabitants of Ireland

2. another name for Irish Gaelic

Sensitive Note

See Irish pennant.

Other Word Forms

• Irishly adverb
• anti-Irish adjective
• half-Irish adjective
• non-Irish adjective
• pre-Irish adjective
• pro-Irish adjective
• pseudo-Irish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Irish¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English Yrisse, Iris(c)h; compare Old English Īras people of Ireland (cognate with Old Norse Īrar ); -ish ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. get one's Irish up, to become angry or outraged.

   Don't go getting your Irish up over a little matter like that.

see luck of the devil (Irish).

Example Sentences

He has long been internationally recognised as the greatest Irish poet since WB Yeats.

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Irish rock band Kodaline have announced they are splitting after more than a decade together.

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From the ancient Irish practice of mumming to walking the red carpet, the Armagh Rhymers were central to a meeting of myth and couture for McQueen's Paris Fashion Week show.

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Variously compared to Irish writer Samuel Beckett and Russia's Fyodor Dostoyevsky, late American critic Susan Sontag called Krasznahorkai "the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison with Gogol and Melville".

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Karl Davies, then 57, was working at Wrexham's Oscar Mayer ready meal manufacturing site when he greeted a manager in the accent while listening to Irish music, an employment tribunal heard.

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