Notes on letters in the Irish alphabet

These notes are taken from an article in The Irish Times, January 2008

Each letter in the Irish alphabet was identified by the name of a tree, as noted in the "dictionary of the Irish Language." "A" was the first letter, and first in the "A"-group in the Ogham alphabet. Herewith "A" for ailm (pine-tree), then "B" for beith (birch), followed by "C" for coll (hazel) etc. "G" was the 12th letter of this alphabet and named gort, ivy. Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla also listed gort but additionally gives gath, designating this the seventh letter of the Modern Irish Alphabet. The above Foclóir defines gort as "a field or plantation, a corn-field and esp. a field of oats.


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