What can we make of a language that has 32 words for field?

Writer and broadcaster Manchán Magan encountered the remarkable richness of the Irish language as a young child, and his grandmother Sighle was determined that he would learn to speak it in the place where it was the common language of daily life. This was Muiríoch in the west Kerry Gaeltacht, where Manchán spent his childhood holidays in his grandmother’s house. The Irish he learned there dates back to a time when the multiplicity of words for objects, actions, ideas and feelings reflected a way of life with a profound appreciation for the natural world. 

In Dingle Manchán spoke with Ireland’s Edge founder Nuala O’Connor about his new book, 32 Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape.

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