The Irish Alphabet and the Fada: Why Accents Change Meaning

The Irish alphabet looks familiar, but it has its own rules. The most important is the síneadh fada (usually just called the fada), the accent that lengthens a vowel.

The traditional alphabet

Traditional Irish uses 18 letters:

a b c d e f g h i l m n o p r s t u

The letters j, k, q, v, w, x, y and z appear only in loanwords, such as jab or veain (van). The letter h is mostly used to mark changes to other consonants, as in bh, ch, dh, fh, gh, mh, ph, sh and th.

Vowels and the fada

There are five vowels, and each can carry a fada:

Plain	With fada
a	á
e	é
i	í
o	ó
u	ú

The fada ("long" in Irish) marks a long vowel. It's not decoration. It is part of the spelling, and it can change meaning entirely:

Without fada	With fada
sean — old	Seán — John
cead — permission	céad — hundred

Spelling céad as cead would change "a hundred" into "permission".

Capital letters

The fada is kept on capital letters: Éire (Ireland), Ó Briain (O'Brien), Áine. Leaving it out is a spelling mistake.

Why it matters when you search

Some people type without fadas because their keyboards make them awkward. If you can't find a word, try both versions, with and without the accent.

Typing the fada

• On phones: long-press a vowel to see the accented options.
• On Windows and Mac: use the Irish keyboard layout, or Alt-key shortcuts.
• In documents: copy and paste if you're stuck.

Practice

Read these words aloud and notice the long vowels:

• bád — boat
• mór — big
• tír — country
• úll — apple
• sé — six / he

Tips

1. Treat the fada as part of the letter.
2. Learn new words with their fadas from the start.
3. Use the dictionary to check spelling when unsure.

Look up any word with English Irish Dictionary →