Now you can chat about skeletons, werewolves, ghosts, and banshees in the Irish native tongue.
There's no better way to impress a crowd than with your Irish language skills, and as we get ever closer to the spookiest day of the year, you can start showing off. Halloween is, after all, a Celtic holiday.
With great help from those at Irish Culture and Customs, we put together a list of 30 Halloween words in Irish, along with their pronunciations.
So now you can finally call your friend a Hobgoblin in Irish, you can tell your Irish gran to watch out for that ghostly, sinister, supernatural werewolf, or teach your trick or treaters the Gaelic spin on their favorite door-to-door greeting.
You can also download a great poster by clicking here.
Trick or Treat: Cleas nó cóir (class noh koh-ir)
Witch/Witch's Broomstick: Cailleach/scuab chaillí (kyle-yeukh/scoob khyle-ee)
Bat: Ialtóg (ee-al-toe-g)
Sinister: Drochthuarach (druk-who-er-ukh)
Scared: Scanraithe (skahn-rah-heh)
Ghost: Púca or taibhse (pookah or tie-v-sheh)
Moon: Gealach (gi-ahl-ukh)
Hobgoblin: Bobodha (bub-owe-gah)
Turnip: Tornapa (tur-nah-pah)
Pumpkin: Puimcín (pim-keen)
Pumpkin: Puimcín (pim-keen)
Ghostly/spooky: Taibhsiúil (tyev-shool)
Banshee: Bean Sí (ban-shee)
Scream/shriek: scréach (shkraykh)
Shadow: scáth or scáil (skawh or skaw-il)
Tomb: Tuama (to-a-mah)
Graveyard: Reilg (rell-ig)
Love Irish history? Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group.
Coffin: Cónra (cohn-rah)
Skeleton: Creatlach (krat-lukh)
Ghost story: Scéal taibhsí (sshkale tie-v-she)
Halloween: Oíche Shamhna (ee-ha how-na)
Costume: Culaith (cull-ah)
Costume: Culaith (cull-ah)
Nightmare: Tromluí (trum-lee)
Vampire: Vaimpír (vam-peer)
Blood: Fuil (fwill)
Werewolf: Coinriocht (kon-ree-ukt)
Devil/Demon: Diabhal (jowl)
Death: Bás (baws)
Terror/Terrifying: Uafás/uafásach (oo-faws/oo-faws-ukh)
Spider/spiderweb: Damhán/damhán alla (dow-awn/dow-awn ah-lah)
Supernatural: Osnádúrtha (uss-naw-duur-hah)
What is your favorite Irish Halloween word? Let us know in the comments!
* Originally published in 2014. Updated in October 2022.
Comments