Talk:Oireachtas

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[edit] Meaning of "Oireachtas"

I'm not sure that Oireachtas really is the Irish for "legislature". I understood that it meant something along the lines of "gathering" or "assembly". For example, there is a traditional music festival called [An tOireachtas] - it wouldn't make a lot of sense in this context if the meaning were "legislature". --Ryano 12:25, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've removed all of the references to an English translation because I think you are probably right about this. English-Irish dictionaries often translate the word as "legislature" but I take this with a pinch of salt. It certainly doesn't have its etymology in dli or reacht which my dictionary tells me are the words for "law". We probably need a fluent Irish speaker to tell us what the proper translation is.

I'd also like to know if there's a good English translation of dáil. It certainly doesn't mean "house of representatives" as some sources say. I've also seen dáil translated as "diet" or "assembly". I suspect myself that the word doesn't really have a proper equivalent in English, and the same might be true of oireachtas. Iota 18:14, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Given that oireachtas, dáil and feis are all used to mean some sort of parliament or assembly, I doubt it's possible to say what the exact English meanings of these words are. --Ryano 09:47, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)