Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6622-3299

Document Type

Book Chapter

Disciplines

Agriculture, Anthropology, Ethnology, Cultural and economic geography, History, General language studies, Gastronomy, Food Studies, *Irish Food Studies, Food History

Publication Details

Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and Dónall Ó Braonáin, ‘Seventy-two Words for Potato: Exploring Irish language resources for Food History’ in Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and Dorothy Cashman (eds), Irish Food History: A Companion (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy: EUt+ Academic Press, 2024), 512-543.

Abstract

The Irish word for generous is flaithiúil, which stems from the word ‘flaith’ or prince, so in Irish to be generous is to be princely. The Irish for the Department of Justice is An Roinn Dlí agus Cirt—literally, the department of the law and what is right: the Irish language separates the law from what is right or just. The Irish saying ‘Fáílte Uí Cheallaigh’—the welcome of the O’Kellys—carries memories of an exceptional hospitality event that happened seven centuries ago in east Galway/ south Roscommon but is still preserved in today’s speech.10 This chapter seeks to discuss the wealth of Irish language sources for the study of Irish food history. It explores how engagement with these sources can provide a more rounded perspective on the story of food in Ireland. Having first explored several Irish language sources and variations of terminology for dairy and oats, using the potato as a case study, the chapter will uncover the diversity within the Irish language for all aspects—from cultivation to consumption—of this relatively recent staple of the Irish diet.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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