Part of: The Trouble with Normal: Queer linguistics meets minoritised languages (Panel session)
Authors: John Walsh, Jamie Murphy
Abstract:
Despite its status as an official and national language, Irish is in a minoritised position with only small numbers of active, regular speakers in a context of wider passive knowledge due to language policy since 1922, which made it a core subject throughout mandatory education. Terminology creation led by official agencies began in 1927, initially to focus on educational requirements. A Permanent Terminology Committee was established in 1968 and is now under the auspices of the national language planning agency, Foras na Gaeilge (Ní Ghallchobhair, 2014). Despite a huge increase in Irish language terminology in the past 20 years, due in part to the status of Irish as an official working language of the European Union, only recently has work begun on terminology related to LGBTQ+ identities and other related matters. The first part of this paper outlines the sociolinguistic context of Irish and reviews previous attempts, some ad-hoc, at LGBTQ+ terminology creation — for example, a first and second edition of a Queer Irish-language Dictionary ‘An Foclóir Aiteach’ (Ní Choistealbha, 2018 & Mac Eoghain, 2022). It also critically engages with debates about the need for sustained, reciprocal engagement between grassroots actors and authoritative bodies like the Terminology Committee.
The second half outlines the bottom-up approaches employed by the Terminology Working Group (An Mheitheal Téarmaíochta) within the queer arts collective AerachAiteachGaelach (‘GayQueerIrish’). The Terminology Working Group consists of members of the LGBTQ+ community interested in terminology creation and language usage who meet to discuss emerging and already established terms in the Irish language. This working group is one of many facets of AerachAiteachGaelach, an arts collective of around 80 members ranging from artists and writers to poets and drag performers. The efforts made by this working group within AerachAiteachGaelach contrast with traditional top-down institutional models of term creation and dissemination. While discussion around queer terminology creation has been detailed in previous research (Murphy and Mac Murchaidh, 2025 & Mac Risteaird, 2023) this paper details the group’s workflow, including the development of a bespoke Irish‑language corpus for potential term extraction, consultation with the wider LGBTQ+ community and subsequent collaboration with the Terminology Committee to ensure authoritative dissemination within the Irish-language speaking community as a whole.
References:
Mac Eoghain, Tadhg, 2022. An Foclóir Aiteach [The Queer Dictionary]. 2nd ed. Union of Students in Ireland/Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn. https://amle.ie/an-focloir-aiteach-the-queer-dictionary-2nd-edition/
Mac Risteaird, Seán, 2023. ‘Móreagrán Aiteach’. Iris Comhar, 83(6). 1-43.
Murphy, Jamie and Mac Murchaidh, Ciarán, 2025. ‘LGBTQ+ terminology in Irish and other Celtic languages: promoting pride in domain gain’. Translation Spaces, 14 (1), 99-119.
Ní Choisdealbha, Laoighseach. 2018. An Foclóir Aiteach [The Queer Dictionary]. 1st ed. Union of Students in Ireland/Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn. https://usi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AN-FOCL%C3%93IR-AITEACH.pdf
Ní Ghallchobhair, Fidelma. 2014. Ár dtéarmaí féin. Dublin: Cois Life.
