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The Irish Language
(and other Gaelics)

Most Valuable Links

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Colaiste Ghàidhlig na h-Alba [ Gaelic College of Scotland ]
This Scottish Language School is one of the major focal points for Gaelic scholars to communicate, and contains a lot of information on all three Gaelics.
Explanation of the SMO Mailing Lists

"Once upon a time there was the Email list Gaelic-L - for conversation in all three varieties of Gaelic. This list was very successful. However, it grew too big. Membership topped 1300, each receiving 20 or more messages per day. So other lists were set up:
Gaeilge-A - for fluent speakers of Irish Gaelic (no English)
Gaeilge-B - for Irish Gaelic learners (English allowed) "

 

 

Official Sites Related to Irish

Foras Na Gaeilge.ie

Irish Language Lessons

Beginners:
A Quick Summary for our International Visitors

The Irish language is also known as Gaelic. ( or "Gaeilge" when you're speaking Irish )
There are roughly three main dialects of Irish spoken, in the North, South and West.
There are 3 Gaelic languages: Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx Gaelic ( from the Isle of Man)

Manx is an ancient form of Gaelic very similar to 7th century Irish, and Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are basically the same language that split into two, about 300 years ago, for many historical reasons.

Irish is the one of the oldest languages in Europe, and earliest writing we have today was from an alphabet of notches on stone monuments, many thousands of years old, called 'Ogham', which can be translated today.

Irish speakers can understand Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic can be mutually intelligible languages, but you'd need to study a bit to be able to understand the other. Scottish Gaelic speakers find it easier to understand the northern dialects of Irish.

The word for Scottish Gaelic (in Scottish Gaelic) is "Gaidhlig". The word for Manx Gaelic in that language is "Gaelg".

The Gaelic languages are Celtic languages. Other Celtic languages include Breton and Welsh, which are not understandable for us, but they have their own unique histories.

"Alba" is Gaelic for Scotland. "Éire" is Gaelic for Ireland.


Irishcultureandcustoms.com - Some Basic Irish

 

Broadcasters - Web, Radio, TV

TG4 Irish language TV on the Web - Subscription based service
An Aimsir - The Weather

Irish Dictionary : English-Irish Irish-English
The Collins Gem Dictionary is a good pocket Irish-English/English-Irish Dictionary. Great to have, when travelling in Ireland, or even for chatting in Irish on the internet!! 		Ó Donaill's Irish-English Dictionary
This dictionary is a serious 'Must-Have' for the coffee table. This book is highly recommended, and ranges from beginner's level to very advanced.

An Teanga Bheo

Yaq's own Experimental Gaelic phrase-maker written in Javascript. CLICK HERE: GAEL 1

Also, we will be teaching you a few hundred words of Irish using memory techniques. I've tried this myself with other languages, and have gotten 98% accuracy. It's about 4 times faster than normal language learning as well. The only problem is, that we have to get our thinking caps on and CREATE this stuff before we can bring it to you. This is the reason for the delay. These lessons will also be totally FREE! Just tap your email address in here, and you will be emailed when all the good stuff is updated.

 

Irish Texts [Free books, downloads in English, Irish and Old Irish ]
Ergane Dictionary Download and install the Irish vocab
Travlang's Irish Phrases **** Click 'Submit' Many audio files included [Dialect Munster -mostly] RECOMMENDED
Smo's Weblinks A few good, but totally irrelevant links to this page, although party in Scottish Gaelic. [ Just a bookmark ]
 
English  Irish  Pronunciation
Hello Dia Dhuit dee a gwit
How are you?  Conas tá tú?  kunuss taw too
Good, thanks, and yourself?  go maith, buíochas le dia, agus tú féin?  gummaw, bweekus le dee-ah oggus too fayne?
Goodbye  Slán!!  slawn
Thank you  Go raibh maith agat  gurrah maha gut
Thanks a lot!  Go raibh míle maith agat  gurrah meela mahagut
You're welcome  Tá fáilte romhat  taw fawl-chah rowit
Please  Le do thoil.  ledda hull
Excuse me  Gaibh mo leithscéal  gomma lesh kayle
Yes  sea  sheh
No  ní hea  nee hah
Good night  Óiche mhaith  eeh hah wa
I do not understand  Ní thuigim  nee higgim
How do you say that in English?  Conas a déarfeá é sin i mBéarla?  kuniss a dare faw ay shin imayrlah
Do you speak Irish?  an bhfuil Gaeilge agat?  on will gwayle-guh a gut?
English  Béarla  bare-lah
Irish (language  Gaeilge   gwayle-guh
Irish (person, thing, etc.., )  Éireannach  ayrah-nuk
Ireland  Éire  ayrah
What is your name?  Cad is ainm duit?  codiss annum ditt?
Nice to meet you.  Tá áthas orm bualadh leat.  taw aw-huss orrum boo-lah latt
Speak in Irish to me! Labhair as Gaeilge dom lawur oss gwayle-guh dum

Here follows a list of some basic words that you may be interested in learning, as a beginner. Please note that there are a few
differences in dialects between different forms of Irish, and that this particular version may be more southern than other versions.
However, each dialect is readily understandable from the other dialects.
These words are presented in a system to help you memorise the words in question. Every effort has been made to make the
learner feel comfortable, and to build a basic vocabulary. It is not the intention of these lessons to throw you in at the deep end.
 

 

Other People's Sites

Kay Uí Chinnéide's Gaeilge Na Seachtaine (Irish of the Week) 
The Ogmios Project
TCD Irish Webpage
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8308/gaeilge.html




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