The potato, for better or worse, has played a major role in Irish life. Despite being a simple vegetable, it has had a significant influence on Irish culture and even on the Irish language. Such is the relationship between the people of Ireland and the humble spud that a search of the Irish terminology database, tearma.ie, reveals no fewer than 90 different terms involving the word “potato”—though, admittedly, not all are directly linked to the edible kind.

The need for greater speed when discussing potatoes is evident, as several concepts related to the food that would require a phrase or string of words in English are condensed into single-word terms in Irish. The main Irish word for potato is *prata* (prawh-tah), and this is the word used most often. However, there are many other options if you wish to be more precise.

Here, we take a look at some of the most spud-tacular Irish potato words:

### 1. Paidrín (pad-reen)
**Meaning:** Very tiny potato
Interestingly, *paidrín* is also the Irish term for the rosary. Could this be a nod to the need for prayer if your potato crop turned out small?

### 2. Sliomach (shli-muck)
**Meaning:** Very wet potato
Even the sound of this word suggests something mushy and soft.

### 3. Creachan (cray-cawn) / Sceidín (shced-een) / Poirín (pour-een)
**Meaning:** Very small potato
The term *creach* by itself means “a loss” or “a pity,” perhaps reflecting the desire for larger potatoes. *Poirín* can also mean “small round stone.”

### 4. Caldar (kal-dar) / Peil (pell) / Cnap (k-nop)
**Meaning:** Very big potato
Note that *peil* also means “football” in Irish. If you add *caldar* before *fir* (men) or *mná* (women), you can describe a big, robust man or woman.

### 5. Ionam (Un-um)
**Meaning:** Sweet potato
The sweet potato can also be called by more literal terms such as *prata milis* (“sweet potato,” with *milis* meaning sweet) or *prata Spainneach* (“Spanish potato”).

### 6. Dradairnín (Drad-arh-neen) / Screamhachóir (shcrave-a-core)
**Meaning:** Small, useless potato
The Irish were clearly concerned about their potato crops producing small, unusable tubers.

### 7. Prata Breac (prawh-tah brak)
**Meaning:** Semi-rotten potato

### 8. Sceallóga (shkal-og-gah)
**Meaning:** French fries (or chips, as they are called in Ireland)

### 9. Sceallán (shkal-awhn) / Scoilteán (skull-tawn)
**Meaning:** Potato set
A “potato set” is a potato or part of a potato used for planting as seed.

### 10. Brioscáin (bris-kawn) / Criospái (chris-pee)
**Meaning:** Potato chips (crisps in Ireland)

### 11. Smóladh (smul-ah) / Duchan (doo-can)
**Meaning:** Potato blight or disease
*Smóladh* is the term now used for potato diseases, while *duchan* is a more historical term referring to the blight that devastated potato crops in Ireland during the 1840s and was blamed for the Great Hunger.

### 12. Langan (lan-gawn) / Scealbhoir (shcel-vore) / Logan (log-awn)
**Meaning:** Portion of potato left after removing sets
These terms refer specifically to the part of the potato left after some has been taken away to be used as seed.

### 13. Fálcaire (fal-k-ra)
**Meaning:** Old seed-potato
A seed potato is one that has been planted and used for producing seeds (like a potato set). *Fálcaire* specifically refers to a potato once it has served this purpose.

### 14. Bruitín (brew-teen)
**Meaning:** Mashed potato
The word *bru* means to force or apply pressure, fitting for mashed potatoes.

### 15. Samhaí (saw-vee)
**Meaning:** Couch potato
Not an exact description of a potato itself, but still a cool word to use for anyone too lazy to get up from the couch—watch their confused looks!

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The rich variety of Irish terms for potatoes underscores just how central this humble vegetable has been—and continues to be—in Irish life and language.

*H/T: tearma.ie*
https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/craic/irish-words-potatoes