Is “craic” a fake Irish word?

The term “ craic ” defines the Irish people. It expresses a sense of fun and joy that only we Irish can provide and a love for life that other nationalities could never properly conceive of. Akin to many other cultural phenomena, traditions, and personalities that the Irish hold dear – see Saoirse Ronan, Eamon De Valera, many of our traditional musical instruments, and even St.

Patrick himself – the word craic may not have originated in Ireland at all, but may well be a blow-in from our neighbors in Scotland and northern England. Some English language linguists have even criticized the spelling of craic as a false attempt to claim the Irish origins of a word that originated elsewhere and should be spelled “crack.” This battle was recently taken up by Nelson McCausland, MLA and former Minister for in the Northern Ireland Executive for Culture, Arts and Leisure, in a scathing opinion piece in the Belfast Telegraph in 2016.

Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! In his column, McCausland said that although the word is now taken as meaning fun, gossip, news, entertainment, or simply an enjoyable experience in Irish, “crak” originated in Middle English, appearing throughout northern England and Scotland to mean conversation or news before being adopted in Ireland, especially throughout Ulster, in the mid-20th century. References to “crak” or “crack” can be found in English and Scottish folk songs dating from the mid-1.