Discovering the Irish for ice cream
Uachtar reoite — literally "frozen cream". A short look at the phrase and where it comes from.
The Irish for ice cream is uachtar reoite — pronounced roughly ook-tar roh-cha. It translates literally as "frozen cream", which is about as direct as a name can get.
It is a compound of two ordinary words. Uachtar is cream — the same word used for the cream on top of milk, and related to the sense of something being on top or uppermost. Reoite is the past participle of reoigh, to freeze.
Ordering one as Gaeilge
- Uachtar reoite, le do thoil — an ice cream, please
- Dhá uachtar reoite — two ice creams
- Tá sé blasta — it is tasty
You will hear it most in the Gaeltacht and around Irish-language schools, and there is a fair chance a child in an Irish-medium school will order in Irish at the hatch just to see whether you follow. We manage.
Ice cream in Ireland
Ireland has a long and genuine attachment to the stuff, helped along by a dairy industry that produces very good cream. The 99 in particular is treated as close to a national dessert, and arguing about which county does it best is a reliable way to lose an afternoon.
Related words worth knowing
- Cón — a cone
- Reoiteog — an ice pop or lolly
- Uachtar — cream
- Milseog — a dessert
- Blasta — tasty
None of this is essential to ordering a 99, but it does explain why the Irish name is so plain. Where English borrowed a compound that sounds like a treat, Irish just describes the thing in front of you: frozen cream.
