This the second story in Annála Beaga ó Iorrus Aithneach. Like with the last story, I am going to transcribe it here, and note any dialectal features in it. I will not attempt a translation, however. Ar Dhomhnach Chrum Dubh tugtar turas na Curaiche. ‘Sé an Domhnach deireanach é i Read more…
This article is the second in the two-part series about fish and other sea-side animals, taken from Séamus Mac con Iomaire’s famous book Cladaigh Chonamara. As in the previous post, the list here pulls from the original print run of the book, and thus uses the older spellings and likely Read more…
This is the first of a two posts about “fish”. I say “fish” as the author also includes worms and other creatures that can be found on and near the sea in his collection, not just fish. These two selections come from Cladaigh Chonamara, the 1937 edition; there is a Read more…
Everyone knows the standard months of the year in Irish, as taught by schools everywhere: Eanáir (January), Feabhra (February), Márta (March), Aibreán (April), Bealtaine (May), Meitheamh (June), Iúil (July), Lúnasa (August), Meán Fómhair (September), Deireadh Fómhair (October), Samhain/Mí na Samhna (November) and Mí na Nollag (December). However, what most Read more…
Today’s list of “seanráite” comes from an article in Béaloideas titled Seanráite na Ceathrú Rua (NÍ Dhomhnaill, 1980/1981) (note the use of the standard na Ceathrú Rua here…as far as I’m aware, in Carraroe you’ll hear na Ceathrún Ruaidh as the genitive, and you’ll even see it written). The nice Read more…
Introduction Today we’re going to look at the website Vifax. This website is put out and organized by NUI Maynooth, and is one of the best tools for practicing your listening skills in Irish. During the school year, they release two videos weekly (last time I checked, it was on Read more…
One of the rich features of English is, in my opinion, the use of similes. It adds a level of texture to someone’s speech, and they often can be frequently used. In this post, I’ll discuss some similes in Irish. Some will be generic ones, but others will be pulled Read more…
These old phrases and proverbs (lit. old words and old expressions) were taken from a book called Máire Phatch Mhóir Uí Churraoin: A Scéal Féin, edited by Diarmuid Ó Gráinne, go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire air. They were collected in 1993 from a woman who was born in 1912 in Indreabhán, Read more…
2024 Update A lot has changed since I initially wrote this piece, sometime around 2016 or so. It was originally written for Reddit, then migrated here when the blog started. I just wanted to give an update about Duolingo now and why it’s even worse for Irish than it was Read more…
This is a continuation from the previous post. In this one the prepositions i, le, ó, roimh, thar, and idir will be used. As in the previous post, the Connemara form is on the right. The forms go: base, first person singular, second person singular, third person singular masculine, third Read more…