Local Dishes

1. stobhach Gaelach

   Irish stew (lamb and potato stew)

   Usage

   Menus usually print the English "Irish stew". The traditional meat is lamb (uaineoil); some places use beef instead, so ask if it matters to you

   Grammar Note

   "Stobhach" is a masculine noun. "Gaelach" is the adjective "Irish, Gaelic"; after a masculine noun it takes no initial mutation

2. cál ceannann

   Colcannon (mashed potato with cabbage or kale)

   Usage

   Potatoes mashed with cabbage or kale and butter; milk, cream, leeks or onions are often added. Coins were traditionally hidden in it at Samhain (Halloween). The English name "colcannon" comes from this Irish phrase

   Grammar Note

   "Cál" is a masculine noun; "ceannann" means "white-headed". No lenition after a masculine noun. "Cál ceannann" is colcannon

3. brúitín

   Mashed potato (champ)

   Usage

   Peeled potatoes boiled and mashed with butter (im) and milk (bainne); usually called "champ" in English. It comes with almost every traditional plate in Ireland

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun, from the verb "brúigh" (to crush) plus the diminutive suffix "-ín"

4. bacstaí

   Boxty (potato pancake)

   Usage

   Grated raw potato mixed with mashed potato, flour and egg, then cooked on a griddle. Common in the west and in Donegal (Ulster). The same food is also called "steaimpí". The English "boxty" comes from this word

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun

5. cadal

   Coddle (Dublin sausage and bacon stew)

   Usage

   A Dublin dish of sausage, bacon, potato and onion simmered together, associated with the Liberties since the 18th century. It is written in English on menus as "coddle" or "Dublin coddle".

6. putóg dhubh

   Black pudding (blood sausage)

   Usage

   Pig's blood mixed with barley (eorna), oats (coirce) and spices in a casing, sliced thick and fried as part of an Irish breakfast. The version from Clonakilty in Co. Cork is the best known

   Grammar Note

   "Putóg" is feminine, so the following adjective "dubh" (black) is lenited to "dhubh"

7. drisín

   Drisheen (Cork blood pudding)

   Usage

   A speciality of Cork (Munster) and Limerick. Blood is mixed with milk, so it is creamier than black pudding; in Cork it is served with tripe as "Packet and Tripe". Note that a separate homograph "drisín" means "small bramble", so context matters outside a food setting

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun

8. crúibíní

   Crubeens (boiled pig's trotters)

   Usage

   Boiled pig's trotters, usually eaten with the hands and often served with cabbage. A market and old-pub snack, spelled "crubeens" in English

   Grammar Note

   Plural of "crúibín" (masculine; "crúb" hoof/claw plus the diminutive "-ín").

9. bairín breac

   Barmbrack (fruit loaf)

   Usage

   A sweet loaf with raisins and sultanas, eaten at Samhain (Halloween). A ring was baked inside, and whoever found it was said to be marrying soon. The English "barmbrack" comes from this Irish phrase

   Grammar Note

   "Bairín" is a masculine noun meaning "loaf"; "breac" means "speckled". No lenition after a masculine noun.

10. arán sóide

    Soda bread

    Usage

    Bread raised with bicarbonate of soda instead of yeast, so it needs no proving time. A staple of the Irish table, served buttered

    Grammar Note

    "Arán" (bread, masculine) followed by "sóide", the genitive of "sóid" (soda). Noun plus genitive noun is the ordinary Irish way of building this kind of compound

11. arán donn

    Brown bread (wholemeal soda bread)

    Usage

    Wholemeal soda bread. It comes with almost every bowl of pub seafood chowder or soup.

    Grammar Note

    "Arán" is masculine, so the adjective "donn" (brown) is not lenited

12. bonnóg

    Scone (bannock)

    Usage

    A café staple, served with butter and jam or cream. "Bonnóg aráin" means a cake of home-made bread

    Grammar Note

    Feminine noun, genitive "bonnóige", plural "bonnóga"

13. bricfeasta Éireannach

    Full Irish breakfast

    Usage

    Sausages (ispíní), egg (ubh), bacon (bagún), black pudding (putóg dhubh) and fried tomato (tráta friochta). It is what almost every B&B serves. Some people in Ulster prefer to call it a "bricfeasta Ultach" (Ulster breakfast)

    Grammar Note

    "Bricfeasta" is masculine, so the adjective "Éireannach" (Irish) is not lenited. "Éireannach" derives from the country name "Éire" and always keeps its capital letter

14. ispín

    Sausage

    Usage

    The centre of the breakfast plate; plural "ispíní". Irish sausages are soft pork-and-rusk sausages, not the snappy German kind

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun

15. sceallóga prátaí

    Chips (fried potatoes)

    Usage

    The "chips" of fish and chips; often just "sceallóga". The takeaway shop itself is called a "chipper" in Irish English

    Grammar Note

    "Sceallóga" is the plural of "sceallóg" (feminine: chip, thin slice); "prátaí" is the genitive plural of "práta" (potato).

16. mála spíosrach

    Spice bag (chips and chicken tossed with spices)

    Usage

    A takeaway dish that took off in Dublin: chips (sceallóga prátaí) tossed in a bag with chicken, red or green peppers, chilli, onion and spices, usually with curry sauce on the side. You order it in a Chinese takeaway

    Grammar Note

    "Mála" is masculine, so the adjective "spíosrach" (spicy) is not lenited

17. spíosbhurgar

    Spice burger (deep-fried spiced beef patty)

    Usage

    Minced beef, onion and spices coated in crumbs and deep-fried. It was launched in the 1950s by Walsh's pork butchers in Glasnevin, Dublin, and is fried in chip shops rather than sold in burger bars. It is also called "Burgar spíosraí"

    Grammar Note

    A compound of "spíosra" (spice) and "burgar" (burger). In Irish compounds the second element is lenited, so "burgar" becomes "bhurgar" and the whole word is written "spíosbhurgar"

18. rollóg filléid sicín

    Chicken fillet roll

    Usage

    Breaded chicken in a bread roll with butter or mayonnaise, lettuce and onion, made to order at the deli counter of shops like Centra and Spar or at a petrol station. One of the most everyday lunches in Ireland

    Grammar Note

    "Rollóg" (feminine: roll) followed by "filléid", the genitive of "filléad" (fillet), followed by "sicín" (chicken). A chain of two genitives, with "sicín" depending on "filléid"

19. siamban

    Jambon (ham and cheese pastry)

    Usage

    A square of puff pastry baked with cheese and ham, sold in petrol stations, bakeries and delis. "Siamban" comes from French "jambon" (ham)

20. cáca gur

    Gur cake (pastry with a fruit and breadcrumb filling)

    Usage

    A Dublin cake: a sweet filling of breadcrumbs and dried fruit between two sheets of pastry, originally a thrifty way of using up stale bread. The name is thought to derive from "goor", an Indian word for coarse sugar.

21. blaa

    Blaa (soft white Waterford bread roll)

    Usage

    A soft white bread roll from Co. Waterford (Munster), also found in Kilkenny and Wexford. It received EU Protected Geographical Indication status on 19 November 2013 and is usually filled with ham. The spelling is the same in Irish and English (also "bla", "blah"); the name may come from French "blanc" (white)

22. duileasc

    Dulse (dried red seaweed)

    Usage

    A salty seaweed snack eaten straight from the bag; Palmaria palmata. A synonym is "creathnach". It is famously sold at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim (Ulster)

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun, genitive "duilisc"

23. carraigín

    Carrageen (moss used for a set milk pudding)

    Usage

    Boiled in milk and set as a dessert (carrageen pudding); it was also taken as a remedy for coughs and chest complaints. The English word "carrageen" comes from this Irish word

    Grammar Note

    "Carraig" (rock) plus the diminutive "-ín", literally "little rock". Masculine noun

24. oisrí

    Oysters

    Usage

    The September oyster festival in Galway (Connacht) is the best known. They are classically served with stout (leann dubh) and brown bread (arán donn)

    Grammar Note

    Plural of "oisre" (masculine).

25. faocha

    Periwinkle (boiled sea snail)

    Usage

    A small shore snail, boiled and picked out with a pin, sold in paper cups at seaside stalls and fairs; plural "faochain". "Faocha" also appears in "faocha ghliomaigh" (hermit crab) and "faocha sheilide" (snail), so use it where the food context is clear

    Grammar Note

    Feminine noun, plural "faochain"

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