Approximately 800 years have passed since the introduction of the English language to Ireland and 400 since the establishment of an Irish Literature in English. However, for complex socio-political reasons there is, as yet, no comprehensive dictionary of the English of Ireland to which readers of Irish Literature - and indeed, of any aspect of Irish studies - can turn to for 
assistance when they encounter completely unfamiliar words and phrases, or apparently familiar words used unconventionally by Irish writers.

This work is designed to provide the general reader, as well as the specialist, with direct and easy access to this important but elusive andoften-overlooked element of Irish Literature. Quotations from writers ranging from AE to Zozimus (including all four Nobel Laureates in literature: Yeats, Shaw,Beckett and Heaney) are used to illustrate vocabulary and idioms. Also areincluded are illustrative quotations from English writers, such as Spenser andThackeray, who wrote about Ireland. 

From archaeology (crannog) to zoology (graunogue), almost every aspect of 
Ireland and Irish life is reflected here in the mirror of art.