Ever wondered what’s it like for an immigrant to come and live in Ireland? Are the Irish welcoming people? We’re sure that’s the case for most people coming to Ireland from other countries in search for a better life, but if you really want to know, you should listen to this podcast episode.

It’s not a surprise that Elena Clancy’s story is all about acceptance, welcoming others with open arms and making them feel like home. She came to Ireland over 15 years ago and did a lot of travelling across the country. It’s safe to say that she has the best travel tips for immigrants and tourists who are looking for an authentic Irish trip.

In this rebroadcast of the 34th episode of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, we talk to Elena Clancy who, after about 13 years (at the time of this episode) in Ireland, shares her experiences with travelling around the country. Elena is from Siberia (Russia) and now lives in Cork. You will also get to listen to her original impression of Irish people.

This is a re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast – episode 34, in the English language.

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If you really have a passion for the Irish language & culture, you will make it a priority to learn Irish Gaelic and visit the Gaeltacht at least once in your lifetime. Don’t feel bad if you can’t afford a trip to Ireland, you can always strengthen your connection to the Irish language by learning it or learning more about Irish culture.

The Gaeltacht isn’t a secluded area where nobody can get it, quite the opposite. Visiting the Irish-speaking areas of Ireland will give you an incredible insight in Irish culture and will give you a chance to practice the language with Irish-speaking locals.

One of our recommendations of places to visit (from the Gaeltacht) is Inis Meáin – a small island off Ireland’s Atlantic west coast. It’s a strong Gaeltacht area, where the Irish language is spoken. Listen to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast (Episode 33) and learn more about the beauty of Inis Meáin of the Aran Islands, and its cultural richness. Eoin has a great discussion with Ceri Garfield, the producer of the “Cé hÍ Máire Pháidín?” documentary (which means, “Who Is Máire Pháidín?”) about the strong Irish-speaking community in this area, and the importance of strong characters when preserving a language.

This is a re-run of the 33rd episode of Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

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When you travel to the United States, there’s a big chance that you’ll meet an American with Irish heritage. From our travels, we discovered that these people have some great stories to tell and many of them have traveled to Ireland at least once. In this podcast episode, you’re going to meet Conchúr McNeasa to whom we’ve talked about his Irish heritage.

Eoin met Conchúr at the Kansas City Irish Fest a few years ago and convinced him to be featured on our podcast. Conchúr grew up in Belfast and has some amazing stories to tell.

In this rebroadcast of the 32nd Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, you’ll get a chance to learn about what’s it like to grow in Belfast, segregation in Belfast (past and present), what’s the state of the Irish language in Belfast, what’s it like to live as an Irish man in the United States, and much more.

Go ahead, give it a listen and let us know what you think. This is a re-run of the 32nd episode of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

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With the latest advances in genealogy, tracing your family tree could bring up a few surprises. Commercial DNA analysis is a great tool for someone who wants to trace his family or to discover his Irish heritage.

If you’re interested in learning how to use these tools to discover your Irish heritage, then listen to this rebroadcast of the 31st Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in which Eoin talks to Michael Carragher (president of the Irish Family History Forum of Long Island and New York City) about how DNA testing can help you pin-point certain clans or groups of very common surnames such as Murphy and Kelly.

This re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 31 – in the English language, also focuses on other interesting topics such as heartbreaking or surprising stories you may discover while finding your Irish heritage, finding local genealogy organizations, the three types of DNA testing (Autosomal, Y chromosome and Mitochondrial) and much more.

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When you’re born in the United States but your family has strong Irish heritage, you could have the best childhood ever. Americans with Irish descent will often travel back to Ireland to visit relatives and friends. Imagine being a kid, growing up in the States but also having the time of your life discovering your Irish heritage and relatives, on the other side of the ocean.

This is the case for Michael Carragher, president of the Irish Family History Forum who grew up in New York but often visited Ireland as a child when his family went to visit relatives. He spent a big part of his childhood in County Monaghan, Ireland and noticed how the place and the people changed over the years.

By listening to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 30, you’ll also learn about what’s it like to organize a language learning meetup on Meetup.com, the feelings you get when you’re putting yourself out there to meet people interested in the same things as you, and what’s the best season to visit Ireland.

This is a re-run of the 30th episode of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

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Learning Irish Gaelic might be more important than you think. When you take upon yourself this honorable task of learning the Irish language, you’re also doing your (important) part in preserving the language and ensuring its future.

Want to learn the language and teach your children? That’s even better.

If you’re going to listen to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic 29th Episode, you’ll hear a very interesting discussion between Eoin (founder of Bitesize) and Liam Ó Cuinneagáin, founder of Oideas Gael about the past, present and future of the Gaeltacht and the Irish language. For those who don’t know, Oideas Gael was founded in 1984 and has attracted hundred of participants annually to its highly acclaimed language courses and cultural programmes (learn more about Oideas Gael).

In this re-run of the 29th episode of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast (in the English language), Eoin and Liam talk about Irish speaking communities within Gaeltacht, why it’s so important that you’re a part of the movement to speak Ireland’s native language, at what point should you travel to Oideas Gael in Ireland to learn Irish Gaelic & more.

As a bonus, you can also discover a few tips on how to learn Irish Gaelic and don’t take mistakes to seriously.

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If you would look at the number of people who actually speak Irish Gaelic, you’d think that your choices in Irish podcast are limited, but if it’s something we noticed since starting this blog, is that there are more podcasts using the Irish language than you’d think.

A perfect example of this would be the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast who promotes the most interesting Irish & Celtic songs (and other bits of Irish culture). We had the opportunity of talking to Marc Gunn – founder of this Irish Podcast on the 28th episode of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast.

By listening to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 28, in the English language, you’ll learn about American adoption of Irish culture, visiting all of Ireland, and other sources of Celtic & Irish music.

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The Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast is over 5 years old now, but in September 2014 it was just one year old. Even so, that was one full year with over 25 podcast episodes, hundreds of questions and dozens of guest on the show. People who listened to the Podcast since it’s birth, know how much it meant (and still does) for the Irish learners.

Anniversaries are good because they allow us to acknowledge our success by sticking to positive habits and working hard. This can be said about the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast but also about the process of learning the Irish language.

It may take you a long time to learn Irish Gaelic, but with each anniversary you’ll get better.

In this rebroadcast of the 27th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, you can listen back to the best-of bits of the show with Eoin. It’s always fantastic to read your comments on the podcast, the people who listen to it and share it with other Irish language enthusiasts are the heart and soul of the show.

Listen to the re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 27, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

One of the most important steps toward learning Irish Gaelic is immersing yourself in the language. We’re always recommending this to our students, as often as we can. Immersing yourself in the Irish language can be done with the help of video and audio tools.

The best thing about immersing yourself in the Irish language is that you don’t have to dive in. Just like the Bitesize method of learning Irish, we recommend opening up your learning experience to audio and video content, thus immersing yourself in the language. For example you can start listening to Irish radio or search YouTube for Irish traditional music. After that you can dive in a little bit more and maybe listen to some Irish Podcasts.

If you’re a beginner at learning Irish Gaelic, you’ve come to the right place. Listen to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast – episode 25 – and learn how David Wood (who is trained in classical music and song) used his love for the Irish music to learn the Irish language.

The re-run of the 25th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language will provide you with great tips if you want to use Irish music to immerse yourself in the Irish language.

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Dublin is one of the most visited places in Ireland. Tourists from all over the World choose the city as their main Irish destination and they will often use it as a “home base” while visiting other beautiful areas from Ireland.

Most people don’t know this but Dublin is a great travel destination on its own thanks to several hidden places that are waiting to be discovered by tourists.

We could even go further and talk about a “hidden Dublin” that only few experienced guides know about. If you want to know more about these hidden travel destinations all over Dublin, go ahead and listen to this rebroadcast of the 24th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode. You’ll hear distinguished travel writer, Pól Ó Conghaile share three of his favorite spots in Dublin, that may be overlooked by many.

This re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 24 uses the English language.

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