When did the Irish language cross into Ireland? What was there before it? Was “Celtic” spoken across Europe? How much did the Irish language change over the centuries? Those are only a few of the questions I had for Dr Ranke de Vries.

Ranke holds the Ben Alder Chair of Celtic Studies at St Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Ranke holds a Ph.D. in Early Irish from Trinity College, Dublin.

What you’ll hear:

Click the audio player above, and you’ll get to hear:

The classification of modern Celtic languages

* Check out our video Irish vs Gaelic for an overview.

* There’s Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic (from Isle of Mann) in one grouping.

* Another grouping includes Welsh, Breton (in Brittany, France), and Cornish (in Cornwall, English).

* There were many other variants of Celtic languages that stretched across Europe down to Turkey. Those languages are now well-dead, and people have studied to track where they were in Europe.

The Irish language has changed over the ages.

* “Early Irish” covers several phases of the Irish language, starting at about 600 A.D.

* Ranke’s speaks how the language changed over time, with a general trend of its grammar simplifying over time.

Scottish Gaelic is still spoken in parts of Canada

* In schools in Nova Scotia, including Antigonish, hundreds of kids are learning the language.

Mentioned in the show

International Congress of Celtic Studies

It takes place every four years. In 2015, it took place in Glasgow, Scotland.

There are several hundred lectures there to choose from.

Right now, there’s a lot of work in e-hummanities and digitisation: original manuscripts are being digitized, which means that researchers can study them now across the world in detail.

Dating of Irish language manuscripts

One challenge is the dating of manuscripts. It’s often hard to tell when a manuscript was written.

It might have been copied and change inadvertently over the ages.

And texts in a manuscript may span hundreds of years.

Is Irish going to simplify?

Ranke doesn’t draw any hard opinion, but does point out that Irish has been simplifying grammatically over the ages.

Noticeably, there were many more cases in use in Early Irish.

What was spoken in Ireland before the Irish language appeared?

Dr. Peter Schrijver has studied this topic, and has written on it.

There in fact a term for it: Goidelic substrate hypothesis (on Wikipedia).

There are some Early Irish words that appear quite ‘un-Celtic’, which may indeed be remnants of words that were spoken in Ireland before the time of the Celts.

Lebor na hUidre

This is an old manuscript held at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, which Ranke got to study.

Try Bitesize Irish Gaelic for free

Bitesize Irish Gaelic is our online program to learn to speak Irish Gaelic in Bitesize portions. Get to try it for free with a no-obligations free trial.

Eoin had lots of questions for Ranke in this episode! And now is your chance. For the first couple of weeks after this episode is published, comments are open for you to reply below. Ask your question (as long as the comments are open).

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Get insights into Irish Gaelic’s positive future in Ireland and in Irish society. Broadcaster Conn Ó Muíneacháin grew up with a passion for the Irish language. He came to the conclusion that he had to create content in the Irish language through blogs and podcasts to strengthen his ties to the language. What you’ll hear: …

Irish Will Live with Conn Ó Muíneacháin (Ep. 48) Read More »

The post Irish Will Live with Conn Ó Muíneacháin (Ep. 48) first appeared on Bitesize Irish.

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Go to www.bitesize.irish/links to find out more about courses and membership #GaeilgeGachLá

Get insights into Irish Gaelic’s positive future in Ireland and in Irish society. Broadcaster Conn Ó Muíneacháin grew up with a passion for the Irish language.

He came to the conclusion that he had to create content in the Irish language through blogs and podcasts to strengthen his ties to the language.

What you’ll hear:

Click the audio player above, and you’ll get to hear:

* As a learner of Irish Gaelic outside of Ireland, your experience isn’t that different to speakers within Ireland.

* “We’re all in the same boat”, as Conn said. You see, living in Ireland, you don’t necessarily get a chance to use the Irish language any more than someone living outside of Ireland. The reason being that the community around you

* How immigration into Ireland in the past couple of decades has normalized the fact that people can speak different languages within Ireland (and not just English)

* How the Internet came about just in time to perhaps save the Irish language, and other such languages

Mentioned in the show

* @conn on Twitter

* Your chance to follow Conn’s interests, with a mix of Irish and English language.

* Blacknight.com

* Where you can register a new .IRISH domain name.

* tuairisc.ie

* High-quality news in the Irish language. If you’re just learning the language, see if you can pick out a couple of words. Don’t be put off that you don’t understand the text.

* NÓS

* Irish language magazine, with content online

* Raidió na Gaeltachta podcasts

* Massive amount of Irish language radio programming available on-demand in podcast format.

* That means you can subscribe to a show there that you like, and get updates automatically in your podcast player.

* TG4 television station

* Look for the “TG4 Player”, where you can watch shows on-demand.

* TG4 was established in 1996 in Ireland. It’s based in the Connemara Gaeltacht.

* Since it was launched, we firmly believe it gave a new energy to the Irish language. It showed to people in Ireland that there were people living and laughing through the Irish language.

* Willie Clancy Summer School

* The link is to our photos from there. It’s held in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland.

* Musicians travel to from world-wide to learn from the best traditional Irish music players. It has a long-standing tradition.

* Conn describes in this podcast episode that Raidió na Gaeltachta has extensive programming from there for the entire week. They interview a large mix of people during that week. They’ve noticed over the years that it’s easier now to find people on the street who are happy to be interviewed in the Irish language, without being ashamed or too afraid of doing it.

* Try Bitesize Irish Gaelic for free

* You get three weeks’ access to our online learning program. It’s your chance to make a real, deeper connection with your Irish heritage.

* Learn to speak the Irish language, in Bitesize portions.

* You’ll start with covering phrases for your first conversation in Irish Gaelic.

* Imagine your next trip to Ireland: using some Irish Gaelic with the barman, you’ll put a smile on the locals’ faces.

Discussion podcast about learning to speak Irish Gaelic (in English). Imelda White is from Ard a’ Ratha in County Donegal, Ireland. She has taught Irish language classes in California for several decades. What you’ll hear Imelda’s kind encouragement and words of wisdom to learners of Irish Gaelic who feel stuck Reasons to attend a Deireadh …

From Donegal to California with Imelda White (Ep. 47) Read More »

The post From Donegal to California with Imelda White (Ep. 47) first appeared on Bitesize Irish.

Support the show

Go to www.bitesize.irish/links to find out more about courses and membership #GaeilgeGachLá

Discussion podcast about learning to speak Irish Gaelic (in English). Imelda White is from Ard a’ Ratha in County Donegal, Ireland. She has taught Irish language classes in California for several decades.

What you’ll hear

* Imelda’s kind encouragement and words of wisdom to learners of Irish Gaelic who feel stuck

* Reasons to attend a Deireadh Seachtaine, or language immersion weekend

Mentioned in the show

* Ard a’ Ratha, County Donegal

* San Francisco Immersion Weekend

* John “The Tae” Gallagher recording

Get the next episode as soon as it’s up

The show comes out each fortnight on Thursdays at 8am EST. Thanks for listening. Subscribe for free using the options in the box below.

We’d love to hear from you about this episode. Just leave a comment below.

Do you have a suggestion for a future guest? Then please do contact us.

This is a list all our past episodes.

Eoin

Dave Hogan of Dove Chauffeur Drive reads his inspiring story “And We Think We Know”. Dave is a member of the Kinvara Writers’ Group in County Galway, Ireland. This is an episode of our podcast. What you’ll hear Dave’s touching account of a family he was driving around Ireland Mentioned in the show Dave’s blog …

“And We Think We Know” by Dave Hogan (Ep. 46) Read More »

The post “And We Think We Know” by Dave Hogan (Ep. 46) first appeared on Bitesize Irish.

Support the show

Go to www.bitesize.irish/links to find out more about courses and membership #GaeilgeGachLá

Dave Hogan of Dove Chauffeur Drive reads his inspiring story “And We Think We Know”. Dave is a member of the Kinvara Writers’ Group in County Galway, Ireland. This is an episode of our podcast.

What you’ll hear

* Dave’s touching account of a family he was driving around Ireland

Mentioned in the show

* Dave’s blog – read Dave’s accounts with photos of his travels around Ireland. Feel free to get in contact with Dave there, especially if you are considering a chauffeur tour of Ireland.

* Knock shrine, County Mayo

* Listen back to Episode 044 of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, where Dave shared his background and upbringing.

Get the next episode as soon as it’s up

The show comes out each fortnight on Thursdays at 8am EST. Thanks for listening. Subscribe for free using the options in the box below.

We’d love to hear from you about this episode. Just leave a comment below.

Do you have a suggestion for a future guest? Then please do contact us.

This is a list all our past episodes.

Eoin

Ger Killeen is a native of Limerick City, Ireland, and resides near Portland, Oregon. He teaches at Marylhurst University. He shares his Irish language poetry, and his experience with the Irish language in Oregon. Discussion podcast about learning to speak Irish Gaelic (in English). What you’ll hear Ger’s beautiful poem in the Irish language – …

A Poem in Irish with Ger Killeen (Ep. 45) Read More »

The post A Poem in Irish with Ger Killeen (Ep. 45) first appeared on Bitesize Irish.

Support the show

Go to www.bitesize.irish/links to find out more about courses and membership #GaeilgeGachLá

Ger Killeen is a native of Limerick City, Ireland, and resides near Portland, Oregon. He teaches at Marylhurst University. He shares his Irish language poetry, and his experience with the Irish language in Oregon. Discussion podcast about learning to speak Irish Gaelic (in English).

What you’ll hear

* Ger’s beautiful poem in the Irish language – “Mo Bhean Sa Gháirdín”. The words are below. It’s taken from his book Lia A Léimfidh Thar Tonnta (A Stone That Will Leap Over the Waves), published by Trask House. View it on Amazon.

* How your language can shape your perception of how you view the world around you. Ger uses this to think through a problem in the Irish language, if he gets stuck in describing adequately it in the English language.

* How Limerick City has changed (and not changed) since the late 1970s.

Mo Bhean Sa Gháirdín (Poem)

Corcraíonn sí na h-ingne

lena cuid fola féin

ag lorg na sméara dubha

i measc na ndealg,

‘s beireann sí isteach leí

súiteán an tSamhraidh

is taise mhilis na hoibre

a leagann sí ar mo bhéal.

My Wife In the Garden

She paints her nails

with her own blood,

reaching for the blackberries

between the thorns,

carries into the house

the succulence of summer,

drops on my mouth

the sweetness of her labour.

Ger Killeen

Mentioned in the show

* Ger’s English language book of poetry: Blood Orbits

* The Irish language in Portland Oregon. Also listen to our interviews from Oregon with Aislinn Adams and Brian Ó Hairt.

* Limerick City: watch video

* Nancy Blakes pub in Limerick

* Dún Chaoin and Corca Dhuibhne, County Kerry. Listen to our interview with writer Felicity Hayes-McCoy who resides there

* Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Irish language writer

* Do visit go out of your way to visit the Gaeltacht regions in Ireland. The people there will be honored to hear you even try little phrases in Irish (Gaelic).

* Song Róisín Dubh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdskdLV4MWY

Get the next episode as soon as it’s up

The show comes out each fortnight on Thursdays at 8am EST. Thanks for listening. Subscribe for free using the options in the box below.

We’d love to hear from you about this episode. Just leave a comment below.

Do you have a suggestion for a future guest? Then please do contact us.

This is a list all our past episodes.

Eoin

Dave Hogan is an experienced chauffeur driver in Ireland, and a wealth of knowledge. He shares his best tips for a memorable trip to Ireland. Discussion podcast about traveling in Ireland (show is in English). What you’ll hear Get the best out of your trip to Ireland: how long to travel for, where to visit, …

Chauffeur Driven Vacations with Dave Hogan (Ep. 44) Read More »

The post Chauffeur Driven Vacations with Dave Hogan (Ep. 44) first appeared on Bitesize Irish.

Support the show

Go to www.bitesize.irish/links to find out more about courses and membership #GaeilgeGachLá