Resources for archaeological researchers interested in Gaelic

  • AcairBooks – Publisher based in Lewis, publishes Scottish Gaelic, English and bilingual books.
  • Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba (AÀA) – Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland. An ongoing SMO project building an online database of Gaelic place-names, their original forms, and their translations. Where the place-name is unavailable, there is a contact form to enquire.
  • Am Faclair Beag – online Gaelic dictionary incorporating Dwelly’s work.
  • Clò Ostaig – SMO’s publisher/imprint. Provides an avenue of publication for literature written in Gaelic or about the Gaelic language and culture, allowing a written Gael perspective on the world. 
  • Comhairle nan leabhraichea – The Gaelic Books Council provides support for Scottish Gaelic writers and publishers and as an organisation seeks to raise the profile and reach of Scottish Gaelic books in Scotland and internationally.
  • Comann Dualchas Innse Gall – The Outer Hebrides Heritage Forum – was established to support the advancement of heritage organisations across the Outer Hebrides in researching, recording, and sharing the rich heritage of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
  • Digimap – an online map service providing access to OS and historical maps (amongst others). 
  • LearnGaelic.net – resources for learning basic Gaelic words, phrases, and grammar, including podcasts, videos, songs etc Also provides a dictionary (with soundbites) and a thesaurus.
  • Faclair na Gàidhlig – an ongoing project to create an online Gaelic dictionary that “document[s] the history of the language from the earliest manuscript material onwards, placing Gaelic in context with Irish and Scots”. 
  • National Library of Scotland Map Finder – online database of scanned maps dating back to the 1700s, covering the entirety of Scotland, England, Wales, and the island of Ireland. In the Highlands and Islands the older maps sometimes hold unrecorded and rarer micro place-names, although it should be noted that this was prior to the orthographic standardisation of written Gaelic.
  • Storymaps – online resource for map building. 
  • Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o’ Riches – an online database repository of over 46,000 recordings from across Scotland from the 1930s onwards, focused on songs, music, history, poetry, traditions and stories. These are held in Gaelic, Scots, and English and are sometimes accompanied by transcriptions.
  • Urras leabhraichean nan eilean – Islands book Trust, publishing company based in Lewis that publishes books on the history of Scotland’s islands.

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