There is also a Pending Contributions list from other users of this site. Professor Dolan has not yet added these to the archive because he does not have enough verification about the usage or meaning or both. If you recognise any of the words please let tell us what you know about the word by filling out the Make Your Contribution form.

The entries in this archive are designed to have the same format as an English dictionary. Each entry in the archive will have some but not necessarily all of the following fields. To search the archive click here.

Headwords – Each entry will have at least one headword. Some entries have more than one, reflecting alternative spellings and pronunciations. For entries with alternative spellings, the first (on the left) is deemed by Professor Dolan to be the spelling that reflects the most common usage. For example the entry for “eejit” has the following alternative spellings, “eedgit, eegut, eedjiiot” with the main spelling as “eejit”.

Pronunciation – IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols are used to provide a guide to pronunciation for non-Hiberno-English speakers. Alternative pronunciations are separated by |. For a key to the phonetic symbols used in this archive click here.

Grammatical label – This label distinguishes the grammatical usage as being a noun, verb, adjective and so on.

Linguistic label – In some cases a linguistic label will be applied to distinguish it as slang, pejorative, colloquial and so forth.

Meaning – Multiple meanings will be separated by a ‘;’.

Derivation - The symbol < indicates the etymology or an etyomological explaination; for example “< ME” means that it is derived from Middle English, and < L < Gk., means that the form is derived from Latin which originally came from Greek.

Oral Citation – Oral citations appear in single quotes. Oral citations will provide either the name of the contributor and the county for the source of the citation, just the county for the source, or no contributor or source at all. Some citations are taken from printed glossaries all of which are in the bibliography. If the usage is local this will be pointed out, otherwise assume that the usage has general currency.

Published Citation – Published citations appear in double quotes. Before each citation, is the authors surname followed by (an abbreviation of) the book title with the page number and sometime the line number. For example, Joyce, U., 223.7-8: "He bore in mind secrets confessed". The sources of all published citations are listed in the bibliography. Click here for the bibliography.

For a complete list of abbreviations and symbols used in this archive click here.

To search the archive click here.