Motherfoclóir

The Swedish language represents a kind of "what might have been" for Irish speakers - although there were less Swedish speakers than Irish in the world at the beginning of the 19th century, Swedish is the language of choice for millions of people who also have perfect English. In today's episode, Gearóidín phones in from Finland to tell Darach and Eimear about how Swedish is a minority language there, how different it is from Finnish, and how the story of the Finns sounds familiar to Irish people. The cultural impact of these countries is considered, including Stieg Larsson and Max Martin. ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ***** * ****** Join Darach at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace Centre in Magherafelt on the 9th of August. He’ll be in conversation with Lynette Fay from BBC Radio Ulster about his journey since starting @theirishfor. Tickets at https://seamusheaneyhome.ticketsolve.com/shows/873602197?_ga=2.124528527.424322507.1564084535-1144120869.1564084535 --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the most powerful books for and about teenagers take the form of a diary: Adrian Mole, I Capture The Castle, Go Ask Alice and even The Color Purple (although that spreads beyond the teenage years). So begins Máire Zepf's extraordinary new book "Nóinín", one of the most exciting books published as Gaeilge in some time (featuring cover art from Motherfoclóir's own Kirsten Shiel). Belfast's Máire Zepf is Northern Ireland's first ever Children's Writing Fellow and the author of nine books so far... and she's only getting started. In today's episode, Darach talks to Máire about her inspiration, the writing process, the sharp difference between this book and her previous works, online and offline woes, balancing writing and parenting and why "the way it's taught" is a +353 phonezone phenomenon. Thanks to Gearóidín for the readings from "Nóinín", published by Cois Life. Extra music on this episode by Dauwd: check out "Theory of Colours" on bandcamp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re nearly at the end of this strange and dark decade and it’s hard to know what to make of it at this stage. So much has happened since New Year’s Eve 2009 that could not have been predicted, much of it bad. However, one of the nice things that was not expected ten years ago has been the rise of Irish language activism through social media, where unconnected individuals with a love of the language found a way to make it relevant to their online friends. Different social media platforms have different appeals to different people. While Darach does his thing on Twitter, Múinteoir Meg prefers to rock the ‘gram, incorporating Irish language phrases and vocabulary into her posts and stories about food, fashion and travel. She joins Darach, Peadar and Clodagh on today’s show to talk about it, being an Irish teacher in 2019 and the Irish for goji berry. ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ****** * ***** * ****** Join Darach at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace Centre in Magherafelt on the 9th of August. He’ll be in conversation with Lynette Fay from BBC Radio Ulster about his journey since starting @theirishfor. Tickets at https://seamusheaneyhome.ticketsolve.com/shows/873602197?_ga=2.124528527.424322507.1564084535-1144120869.1564084535 --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"For me, the Irish language was like a ghost limb". The days leading up to the 12th of July are often tense and dramatic ones in the North of Ireland, but never more so than in 2019. After months and months of stalemate and stagnation in Stormont - frustratingly coinciding with the British-Irish border being in the centre of a geopolitical crisis - the DUP's bluff was called with two amendments to the Northern Ireland Act passing in Westminster. An Irish Language Act is one of three factors in the mix as the October deadline looms. In today's episode, Darach talks to Belfast journalist Claire Mitchell about the events of the week. She brings him up to speed and gives him the background for all these developments, while also telling him about how Gaeilge fits in to her life and her Northern Protestant heritage. Claire is a contributing editor with sluggerotoole.com --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some people out there wouldn’t see a rabbinical calling and a love of Irish dancing and sean-nós singing as a likely pairing. Those people have not met Darach’s guest this week. Saoirse Cecelia Beyer is a New Jersey-based rabbi with a passion for traditional Irish singing and dancing styles which has taken her to fleadhs all over. In this week’s episode, she tells Darach about being a “purveyor of joyful Judaism”, learning conversational Connacht Irish but Donegal Irish songs, PG-13 humour in religious education and the significance of the chosen name Saoirse. She also offers an informed interpretation of controversial passages of Genesis and Leviticus which might surprise you. --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gearóidín is a Gryffindor. Peadar is a Hufflepuff. Darach, however, is a muggle who has not read the books, only seen a few of the films and has not yet tuned into the audiobook (famously read by Ros na Rún guest star Stephen Fry). However, so pervasive is the influence of JK Rowling’s books that even he knows more about them than texts he has had to study for exams. The Harry Potter novels have been translated into over seventy languages… including Irish, and that’s where the Motherfoclóir train stops today. In this week’s episode, we look at Harry Potter agus an Órchloch as translated by Máire Nic Mhaoláin. We consider the many challenges and opportunities that a translator tackling such a well-kown text has to take on board. How do you replicate accents? What about acronyms and anagrams? What about the parallel translation of a screenplay? And how about those words which might scurry in the long shadow of copyright laws? The gang also consider the impact that the series has had on pop culture in general, its role in Blair-era “Cool Britannia” soft power and the dangers of legacy management in the internet age. Special thanks to Laura McGloughlin for advice on this episode. --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to food, television or books, there are no tougher critics than small children. They won’t spare your feelings the way adults have been trained to, but they are loyal to what they love. However, small children’s access to food an entertainment is controlled by busy, tired and all too imperfect parents, who often have a hidden agenda of wanting the child to “learn something”, “just be quiet” or even “speak Irish”. This is the Hobbesian world that Sadhbh Devlin has chosen to tell her stories in, and in today’s episode, she talks to Darach, Peadar and Gearóidín about the child’s imagination, the guilt of being a working parent, the thrill of swearing, the relationship kids’ authors have with their illustrators and publishers… and the multitude of concerns a writer needs to be aware of, from sensitive language to health and safety. The gang also manage to talk about future proofing crime dramas, the mysterious land of Brazil and writing for yourself. You can get Sadhdh’s books “Bí ag Spraoi Liom!” and “Beag Bideach!” from www.siopaleabhar.com or www.futafata.ie. --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s mailbag time again! Here at Motherfoclóir we love to receive your correspondence, suggestions, corrections and observations. Since we last opened the mailbag we’ve received a wheelbarrow-full of such letters and it’s high time we shared them with you. Clodagh and Éimear join Darach in dipping into the bag and find communications about traditional music, An Triail, the notorious episode 82, possible future topics… and focphocaí. And we were cited in the bibliography of an essay! And we have a poem from a listener! The bar has been raised. If you’d like to contact us, we’re at [email protected] . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's in a name? For most of the world's population, Irish names are the only contact they have with Gaeilge, and this is where its reputation for beauty and difficulty is perpetuated. Prospective parents have a great responsibility in naming a child… as to writers of characters in a novel. In this week's episode, Éimear, Darach and Clodagh are joined by Colm O'Regan, the talent behind the Irish Mammies books and columnist with The Examiner. As a Dad and a novelist, he tells the gang about naming children and characters, the rise and fall of certain names, the storm dividend and the subtle difference between doves and pigeons. Colm's new book "Ann Devine, Ready for Her Close-Up" is available here: https://www.dubraybooks.ie/Anne-Devine-Ready-for-Her-Close-Up_9781848272460 --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like an old friend you don't really want to see right now, summer has arrived in Ireland, and with it a smartly-turned out stampede of Spanish students. For decades, these stylish loudmouths have been teaching Irish teenagers how to kiss and how to swear like a Spaniard in their version of Irish college. In today's episode, Darach talks to reverse Spanish student Éimear Duffy and Salamanca Erasmus veteran Claire Murray about the differences and similarities between Irish and Spanish, a language which outnumbers English as a first language but lives as a problematic minority tongue in some wealthy countries. Is it all down to the way it's taught? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh, the Johnny Giles of the Motherfoclóir High Table, put his money where his mouth was this year, deciding to stand for election. After a gruelling PR-STV count, our boy won his seat and will represent his fellow Clondalkinites for the next five years. He is one of the 10% of South Dublin County Council representatives to have graduated from a single Gaelscoil, Colaiste Cillian in Clondalkin. In today's episode, Peadar tells Darach all about the experience- why democracy is our cricket, Irish in local government and community activism, the Dubliners and the joy of placenames. * NOTE - Clondalkin is not "the village/meadow of the larks". Darach's misunderstanding was based on a misunderstanding of a lyric by Clondalkin native Mic Christopher (whose album "Skylarkin" deserves your attention). --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gráinne Ní Mhuilneoir is the new bainisteoir of An Siopa Leabhar on Harcourt Street, taking over from our good friend and occasional contributor Caitlín Nic Íomhar (who has since been published in the excellent poetry collection "Calling Cards"). You might know Gráinne from @BooksAsGaeilge on Twitter. In this week's episode, Gráinne tells Darach and Gearóidín about her time at publishing house Cois Life and her new role in Ireland's premier Irish language bookshop. She tells us about new and upcoming books for readers of all ages and even tells us what her favourite Irish word is. Check out on Siopa Leabhar's cool new website www.siopaleabhar.com --- Contact the show: twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to series 2 of Motherfoclóir! We've missed you something terrible so we have. An awful lot has been happening lately so to kick things off we're having a quick look at a topic that's likely to be looming in the background for the next few months. At the end of 2018, it was widely noted that the movement to repeal the 8th Amendment want from being a political football "too divisive to even talk about" to passing a referendum by a significant majority- all in 12 months. Could the same thing happen with a United Ireland? Could some unionists accept some version of a republic to stay in the EU? In this week's episode, Darach is revisited by Naomi O'Leary from the Irish Passport podcast. They talk about this very issue and what issues a new single state on this island might face and what possibilities might be created. --- Contact the show twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! THIS MOTHERFOCLÓIRIN' FRIDAY! Like, rate, review and subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're really sorry, but sure look, it was bound to happen at some stage. Darach is still on leave and the gang has finally gone off the rails. They start out innocent enough, sure. Peadar and Gearóidín and Eimear and Osgur talk about the perils of machine translation, bad tattoos and lazy Government departments. We don't know exactly when it goes bananas, but they read a porno. An honest-to-goodness porno as Gaeilge. Live on stage in Maynooth! This is not the Ireland of Peig Sayers and Brian Ború. Needless to say, because of the graphic content of this podcast, it should not be listened to by anyone. We're so sorry. Link to "Coláiste Threesome Gaeilge" by Amy Lee: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Col%C3%A1iste-threesome-Gaeilge-Irish-Amy-ebook/dp/B072JMJ1S1 --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Motherfoclóir Beo was recorded in front of a live audience in the Maynooth Students' Union Venue as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2019\. Gearóidín and Eimear explore the 1937 Constitution and in particular the provision that a woman's place is in the home. Was this a betrayal of Brehon Law and Irish history? Or was it a reflection of what we've always done - sidelining women? Can a country fail the Bechdel Test? Peadar asks the questions as our resident legal eagle and medievalist take on over 1500 years of misogyny and patriarchy. * * * Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha is a researcher, educator and activist. It was in this latter capacity that she became the driving force behind An Foclóir Aiteach/The Queer Dictionary, a glossary of LGBTQI+ terminology as Gaeilge. So why did it take so long to codify these words about sexuality, gender identify and more? Was it the Brits? Was it the Church? Were we not bothered? Peadar and Laoighseach explore privilege, language learning, grammar rules and Freudian slips as they try, and fail, to stick to the topic. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is a lecturer in TU Dublin and a well-travelled chef and TV presenter. He's the world's leading expert in Irish food history, so why he agreed to appear on our podcast, we'll never know. Gearóidín and Peadar chat with Máirtín about the history of Irish ingredients, ancient cooking methods, and an absolute heap of cheese. Why is Irish food not held in the same regard as French, Spanish or even Danish grub? What did we eat before the noble spud arrived on our shores? Why do we eat so little seafood for an island nation? Why does Darach hate coddle? Is it because he's weird? It is, isn't it? Find out all this and more, as Máirtín takes us on a culinary journey a thousand years or more in the making. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gearóidín and Peadar discuss the idea of fluency. Can you really be fluent? Even if you know literally all the words? Gearóidín and Peadar can communicate in Finnish and French respectively by shrugging and being rude, but that doesn't indicate fluency. And as for legal language, that's a whole other ball game. When your life is on the line, are you really fluent enough to understand the language used in court? As usual, practically none of these questions actually get answered as our heroes boldly get distracted by video games, knitting and swear words. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darach is on leave, so Gearóidín takes the hot seat as the gang are joined by a special guest. Brianna Parkins was the Sydney Rose in 2016 and when she took the stage in Tralee she used her platform to call for legal access to abortion. Two years later she returned to Ireland to campaign for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and is now working in the media in Dublin. She called in to Headstuff Studios to discuss the differences between Ireland and Australia, her favourite Irish words, and her favourite deadly Australian animals. Peadar and Eimear also chatted with Brianna about her Irish roots, Dublin accents and the heart-stopping terror an Irish person suffers when a deadly venomous spider falls from your ceiling. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darach is back in studio this week, as he and Peadar begin the podcast by discussing the rising trend of Alt-Right Twitter trolls attempting to weaponise the Irish language. The irony of two white men discussing racism is not lost on them. They meander through Brexit, national identity, Britpop and the halcyon days of 2015 as they chat about what it means to be "Gaelach". Dáithí De Mórdha's article: https://tuairisc.ie/gael-is-ea-gael-is-cuma-dubh-ban-no-riabhach/ The Scots Gaelic version of Motherfoclóir: https://twitter.com/cananballs The Scots Gaelic version of The Irish For: https://twitter.com/scotsgaelicfor --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where's Darach? He's not in the studio today, so Éimear and Gearóidín are running riot, throwing paper aeroplanes across the Headstuff classroom and talking loudly. During her curation of the @motherfocloir account in January, Éimear asked Twitter followers to tell her what drove their interest in Irish under the hashtag #WhyIrish. It was trending on Irish Twitter within hours. She tells Gearóidín all about it and the Duolingo classes and groups what were created on foot of it. There are also hedgehogs, handsome Norwegian architects and a man on the run from the law. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ireland and Scotland have a lot in common, and this is especially true of Irish and Scots Gaelic. Students of Irish could make a decent stab at the meanings of thousands of Scots Gaelic words and not be far off… left-facing fadas notwithstanding! However, though the two languages contain much of the same stuff, they were forged in different fires over the centuries- in Scotland, the language was not politicised at the same scale and it was not promoted by the State the same way in the 20th century. We will be visiting this neighbour language again soon with native speakers, but we thought having a prologue/overture first would be valuable. In this week's episode, Motherfoclóir regular Clodagh tells Darach about her experiences studying a bit of Scots Gaelic as part of her degree and they discuss "An Leabhar Liath" - the light blue book. This is a collection of love poems and transgressive verse which gives a hint of the language's poetic tradition: bawdy and irreverent, but also elegant and tender. Today's episode contains adult language and themes throughout. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is fitting that a book set in a cemetery has come to be known as the graveyard of translators. Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s masterpiece Cré na Cille was described in the New Yorker as “too good to translate” although different individuals have tried. It is widely regarded as the finest novel in the Irish language. In this week’s episode, Peadar (who has read it) tells Darach (who hasn’t read it) all about the wonders of this novel, where the occupants of the graveyard are doomed to gossip amongst each other about the petty concerns and jealousies that poisoned their lives. Comparisons to Ulysses (and Star Trek) are considered, as well as the validity of different approaches to translation, Ó Cadhain’s relationship with Brendan Behan, and the overlapping Irish obsessions with death and property. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Irish speakers are referred to in Ireland as a community, a lobby group or even a kind of secret society: a bloc of people with specific and predictable values and objectives, distinct from the mórchultúr of mainstream Irish society. This expresses itself in many forms, from characterisations on radio debates to the sexual othering of Irish speakers (the "hot Gaeilgeoir" stereotype). The truth is, of course, that Irish speakers stand in the same queues as anybody else. You might even be going out with one! In fact, most of the Motherfoclóir regulars are currently dating outside the flock. But what are the realities of such mixed relationships like? In today's episode, Darach and Clodagh meet author Valerie Loftus and Derek O'Brien, her fluent fella. They talk about Oireachtas widows, slipping into Irish, defending the language when there's no Irish speaker around and the "ecumenical matter" approach to bluffing a conversation as Gaeilge. Valerie's book "Thanks Penneys" is published by Mercier Press and available in bookshops now. You can check out Gaelchultúr's courses at http://gaelchultur.com/en/home.aspx --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been quite a year for the Motherfoclóir project - there's been online and offline mayhem of many categories in multiple languages. In this week's episode, Darach, Peadar and Gearóidín take a look back at the highlights of Bliain na Gaeilge - the debates, key people who made us laugh and cry, the @motherfocloir account, the way the present shapes the past, a very special tuít as Gaeilge… and the Irish word of the year. This episode contains more swearing than the losing side of Croke Park on All-Ireland Sunday. Sorry! --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darach Ó Séaghdha's first book, "Motherfoclóir: Dispatches From A Not So Dead Language" was the winner of the Popular Non-Fiction award at the 2017 Irish Book Awards. Today's bonus episode is an extract from the sequel, "Craic Baby: Dispatches From A Rising Language". Craic Baby is published by Head of Zeus and available in bookshops in Ireland and the UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As "Bliain na Gaeilge" draws to a close and we look back, one of the moments of Irish language activism that casts a long shadow is **#NílSéCGL - it's not okay**. The hashtag struck a chord with Irish speakers who were fed up of lazy criticisms and stereotyping in mainstream media, and recognised each other's frustration all too well. #NílSéCGL is the brainchild of Ciara Ní É (@MiseCiara), who joins Darach in the studio this week. She's a poet, teacher and activist who's been very busy lately; as well as hosting her first documentary on TG4, she's the force behind poetry night REIC, Memes na Gaeilge on Facebook and What The Focal on YouTube. She tells Darach about her adventures teaching Irish to Americans in Philadelphia, online shaming, video poetry and the importance of good manners. Ciara's documentary Tabú is available on TG4 Player. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The golden age of Irish censorship ended in 1967 when Brian Lenihan Sr introduced a time limit on certain banning orders, leading to thousands of forbidden texts becoming available. Since 1929, a wealth of modern literature and medical writing had been denied to the public by a censorship board which was not required to explain its decisions - Edna O'Brien, Brendan Behan, Aldous Huxley and many others ran afoul of its high hand. However, during this period a wealth of Irish language literature and drama was being produced which slid under the censors' radar, material which still packs a punch today to audiences who feel misled by the notoriety of Lady Chatterley and Holden Caulfield. One such work is the play "An Triail" by Máiréad Ní Ghráda, first produced in 1964 and dealing with topics like religious hypocrisy, abortion, suicide and Magdalen Laundries - all in an Ireland where Disney's Fantasia was banned. In this week's episode, Darach, Peadar and Gearóidín discuss the impact of Ní Ghráda's great work and its relevance today. Darach remembers a less resonant text he studied for his reading, unlocking a wave of '90s memories and Gearóidín reflects on the similarities between the schoolmaster Pádraig and the f*ckboys of 2018\. This episode deals with mature themes and contains some explicit language --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The partition of Ireland in 1922 only included six of Ulster's nine counties in Northern Ireland. This led to the beautiful county of Donegal being cut off- politically and economically distant from its near neighbours, geographically distant from Leinster House. This remoteness - and the fact that Ulster Irish was under-represented in the formative years of the Republic's Irish language policies - have led to Donegal seeming to be a wee bit different to others in the Republic. But is it just that they're normal and the rest of us are weird? In today's episode, Darach wanders into the world of Donegal Irish with 074 natives @AntoinBeag and @poilination. They talk about Football Special, See You Burn, fadudas, ordering soup and the Leaving Cert aural tape, among other things. Antoin Beag's opinions are not the opinions of Headstuff, its staff, sponsors, business partners, affiliates, hosts or advertisers. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Somewhere in the Gaeltacht, a local man (whose first language is Irish) is accused of assaulting another Irish speaker with a broken bottle. What language should the trial be held in? If it is to be in Irish, is the jury a random sample of the defendant's peers? In today's episode, Gearóidín tells Darach and Clodagh all about the remarkable case of Ó Maicín vs Ireland, where a defendant took his fight to be heard by an Irish-speaking jury all the way to the Supreme Court. It's a case that raises questions about the power of language, the role of judges and of legislation, the paradoxes of multilingual jurors in multilingual trials and the perils of interpretation. The perils of jury duty - and the lengths people go to in its avoidance - also get considered. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As any Caoimhe, Siobhán or Medb living abroad will tell you, Gaeilge uses different spelling conventions to Béarla. Students who struggle with this might be interested to hear more about Manx, the Gaelic language of the Isle of Man, which uses English language phonetics. Manx also has the distinction of being declared dead and interrupting its own funeral. In this week's episode, Darach, Gearóidín and Clodagh chat with Katie Kermode, an Ohio native who started studying Manx and got hooked. She tells the gang about Manx today - its Gaelscoils, radio station and ceilís - and shares some favourite Manx words. * * * Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Darach's new book, "Craic Baby: Dispatches From A Rising Language" is published by Head of Zeus and available in good bookshops now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every summer, the Irish people sacrifice thousands of teenagers to Lú, the sun god, so that he will offer them good weather. This sacrifice is called "The Leaving". There's more to Irish than the Leaving Cert and the points race; this is what we've been trying to show in the topics we cover on this podcast. However, it would be pig-headed of us not to mention the Leaving Cert course at all. In this week's episode, Ola and Darach chat with Noirín Ní Mhurchú, who is currently shepherding students through the Leaving Cert course. They talk about sraith pics, the difference between school Irish and the way Irish is spoken socially, whether single-sex education affects the texts chosen, and how we learn more than Gaeilge when we learn Gaeilge. If you're sitting the Leaving Cert in 2019, be sure to bookmark the following sites to your fón póca: www.teanglann.ie (also available as an offline app) www.focloir.ie (also available as an offline app) www.tearma.ie www.nos.ie www.tuairisc.ie www.raidionalife.ie --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**Gadhrach (adj): dog-living, full of dogs.** Despite her massive popularity over here, Saoirse Ronan's hosting slot on Saturday Night Live earned her a slew of criticism. The very idea that Irish people were unusually keen on dogs, an assumption which one of the sketches was based on, was nonsense… wasn't it? As the Irish language shows, there's always been an affinity for our canine cairde here- nine native breeds, a plethora of dog-based animal words and a seanfhocal or two to boot. In this week's episode, Peadar and Gearóidín tell Darach all about the dogs in their lives and what motivates them. Is owning a dog harder than raising a child? Are we ready to reintroduce wolves to Ireland? And what are certain breeds called as Gaeilge? Darach's new book "Craic Baby: Dispatches From A Rising Language" is available in bookshops now --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**"Is doiligh drochrud a mharú" - it's hard to kill a bad thing. (Irish proverb)** It's Hallowe'en again and the time is right for a Motherfoclóir Samhain Special! Is Annual Sweetgiving Day a capitalist ploy or is it I inherently socialist? Is the pagan or Christian, American or Gaelic? The spookiest time of the year is arguably more Irish than Saint Patrick's Day; it's certainly a recent arrival to our British neighbours, who were traditionally more invested in Guy Fawkes Day. Darach and Peadar discuss the enduring popularity of vampire stories and consider the Irish origins- most famously Dracula but also the Derry legend that haunted Bram Stoker's imagination. Please mind your pets on this hard fire-working night. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**Diaspora: from the Greek word diaspeirein "to scatter about, disperse," from dia "about, across" + speirein "to scatter".** The word "diaspora" was not used in the Irish context until Mary Robinson did so, powerfully sending a message about the global Irish community and the pain felt at both ends of the split of emigration. But 28 years later, is the term still apt? In the final part of our Uachtarán Trilogy, Darach talks to Peadar and Gearóidín about how presidents have presented Ireland to the world. As well as Professor Robinson's iconic light in the window, they look at Douglas Hyde's careful neutrality, Hillery's moment as Germany's Doctor Dishy and McAleese's bridge building. Inevitably this leads to a discussion of Saoirse Ronan's "Brooklyn", sentimental 80s ads and suitable judo wear. The opinions of Peadar Ó Caomhanaigh are not the opinions of Headstuff, its shareholders, sponsors, staff, advertisers, past or future investors or associates. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few writers ever managed to achieve the triple crown of critical acclaim, popular success and sustained relevance that Brian Friel managed in his five-decade long career. In this week's episode, Darach, Peadar and Siún discuss his masterpiece "Translations", which tells its story of doomed love and dark politics against the backdrop of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland in 1830 - a critical moment in the colonial project when Irish placenames were carelessly and significantly rewritten. What was the significance of this? How did it compare to other countries? And did "Love, Actually" borrow one of Friel's greatest scenes? The gang consider the text as well as the good, the bad and the ugly of Irish placenames in general. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Motherfoclóir was invited to the Kildare Readers' Festival in Newbridge in October, and this episode is the recording of that show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday 10th of October, Darach, Gearóidín, Peadar and Éimear swooped upon the Sugar Club on Lesson Street to discuss the importance of the Irish language to the role of president. Three presidents in particular are directly associated with watershed moments in the history of the language - Douglas Hyde, Éamon De Valera and Michael D. Higgins. The gang discuss the implications of their support for an interest in Gaeilge, which inevitably includes a discussion of the 1996 movie Michael Collins, TG4 dating shows, the Gaelic Leinster monarchy, Roscommon and coddle. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Hamlet has been performed in Klingon" Aisling Carolan. For a poet, the fact that the Irish word tír (country) and the English word tear (a sad drop of water) sound the same is profoundly significant. For a linguist, however, this is a coincidence and a cursed one at that. How much weight should we attribute to similar sounding words with similar meanings in different languages? In this week's episode, we consider the theory, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, that Hebrew and Gaelic languages are linked… and that the source of this link is that the Gaels were a lost tribe of Israel. Some of this is down to soundalikes, but do grammatical parallels prove a deeper link? Darach and Clodagh are assisted in their work by crafty classicist/linguist/artist Aisling Carolan, who is determined to prove a link between Pokemon and Púca. Today's episode is swear-free. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Mailbag time again, when the Motherfoclóir team review correspondence that has been submitted to the show by email to [email protected]. In this week's visit to the postroom, Darach, Ola and Peadar read and discuss exciting epistles which deal with topics ranging from Greek and Latin, less vs fewer, the widow's memory, an aimsir ghnáthchaite agus an aimsir ghnáthláithreach, the differences between ye, yous, youse, yis and yisser… and the great coddle debate continues. Happy birthday (or even breithlá sona) to Raidió Na Life, who are 25 this week! Ola and Peadar both present their own shows as Gaeilge on this fine station - find out more at http://www.raidionalife.ie/ga/ --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Irish presidential elections are rare and brutal, but voters have chosen some truly remarkable and inspiring people for the role. Perhaps more than the role of Taoiseach, the presidency has reflected the hopes and values of Irish people and successive presidencies have marked distinct eras in the evolution of the Republic. The Motherfoclóir Team are going to bring you a short series of episodes about the presidency in advance of this year's election - in today's episode, Gearóidín and Darach discuss what the job entails as per the Bunreacht and give an overview of its soft power. Naturally this leads to a discussion of Mary Poppins. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For nearly two centuries, we have been told that English is the language of commerce and industry and that the Irish language sits outside this world, peeping in. Could a company from Ireland ever use Gaeilge in its product branding the way Ikea uses Swedish? Osgur Ó Ciardha is one half of the team behind Pop Up Gaeltacht (the other half being Motherfoclóir regular Peadar Ó Caomhanaigh). In today's episode, he chats to Darach about whether PUG has identified a market for an Irish language bar, the uses of Irish in advertising, the Euro Gaelach and the gravy train myth. Today's episode is swear-free. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Irish for Stradbally is an tSráidbhaile, which means village (or street-town if you want to be very literal about it). For a weekend at the end of summer every year, Stradbally hosts the Electric Picnic festival and this year the Motherfoclóir Podcast was invited to perform a live show for the revellers. This was a double honour for the show as it allowed local gal Gearóidín McEvoy return from Finland to Strad in triumph, basking in the jealousy of all the townsfolk who ever doubted her superstar status. She is joined on the live show by Éimear Duffy and the pair of them - finally free from the tyrannical hosting of Darach – talk festivals, feminism, skincare, strong Irish women from old and recent history, accents, Laois and even take some questions from the audience. Then the gardaí turn up. Today’s episode contains some cussin’. The views of Dr. McEvoy and Dr. Duffy are not the views of HeadStuff, its staff, contributors, owners, sponsors, affiliates or clients. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The breakthrough star of Irish twitter in 2018 must surely be @ruthiefizz – while other tweeters have hurled poorly-cogitated stock arguments at each other, her “Other Ireland” account has used the possibilities of the format to explore important ideas like consent, misogyny and mental health while also sharing informative and fancy facts about (and pictures of) wildlife. What her thousands of followers may not know, however, is that Ruth Fitzpatrick has a solid academic background in Celtic Civilisation and a special interest in Breton, medieval Welsh and Manx Gaeilge. In this week’s episode, Ruthie and Motherfoclóir regular Peadar terrorise Darach has he tries to do a serious interview about these serious topics in an absurdist subversion of the authorial voice worthy of Flann O’Brien himself. Having said that, there are still some animal names in Irish and insights into being sound and changing minds in an online world full of berks. Find cute animal names in Irish here: https://twitter.com/i/moments/796746870123102208 --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Irish for tax is cáin… not to be confused with caoin, which is crying. In life the two great certainties are death and taxes, which is fitting given that many forms of taxation were first introduced to pay for wars. Today’s Vatican City is a fragment of the Papal States, a temporal political entity that governed a portion of Italy larger than Ireland for a thousand years – from the era of Brehon Law until the age of the Home Rule movement. Records of taxes levied by the Papal States represent a uniquely continuous archive of Ireland during this period of economic, civic, political and linguistic change. This week’s guest is Chris Chevalier, a PhD candidate in Trinity whose research uses these records as a source for measuring the distribution of wealth in Ireland in the medieval period. He chats to fellow medievalist Éimear and fellow tax nerd Darach about who had cash to splash in the 14th century, papal audits (and punishments) and the Spielberg-esque adventures involved in chasing research materials from one European city to the next. You can find out more about Chris’s work here: https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/researchers-use-papal-tax-assessments-to-map-medieval-economy-of-ireland/ --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Flatley has been in the news again with his new film “Blackbird” (possibly named for an Irish set dance) and his questionable choice of followed Twitter accounts. No matter how successful his foray into action movies is, it is certain that he will be mostly remembered for and associated with Irish dancing. Irish dance, with its distinctive costumes, moves and tunes, is this island’s most recognisable unique cultural export and the point of greatest overlap in the experience of people who live in Ireland and the global Irish diaspora. Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the first performance of Uisce Beatha/Riverdance, the show that was critical in stirring interest in set dance across the globe. But why isn’t there a Bolshoi or La Scala academy of Irish dance in Ireland? Why are some dances for watching and others merely for participating? And how much of the emphasis on presentation in this female-dominated field is justified? In this week’s episode, Motherfoclóir regular Clodagh McGinley tells Darach all about a youth spent in wigs and pumps that were two sizes too small. It’s a tale of high kicks, nits, injuries, vomiting, inter-school rivalries, stage mams, baffling VAT rates and moments of sheer artistry. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**"If I were a boy /Even just for a day /I’d roll outta bed in the morning /And throw on what I wanted and go"** **Beyoncé Knowles, If I Were A Boy, 2007** Welcome to our 50th episode! If you're a regular listener you may have heard us mention the Modh Coinníollach before… but what is it? As with Peig who we chatted about last week, the Modh Coinníollach has become a kind of mascot for those who have bad memories of Irish from school. This has become a tired cliche in need of a good shake. In order to get a good handle on the Irish conditional mood, Darach summons German-speaker Peadar and Spanish-speaker Éimear to compare it to the arrangement in other European languages. Is our conditional really so bad on a global scale? The gang also chat about Muppets, Haribo, Fatal Deviation and Beyonce, and Peadar gives a cheeky tip for spoken Irish. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Peig passes the Bechdel Test". Sparklingly witty, unfailingly honest, sometimes misunderstood and with a grá for the Gaeilge, Tara Flynn and Peig Sayers are two women who have been unfairly criticised a lot in recent years. Although Peig is sadly unavailable, Tara was kind enough to visit Darach this week for a chat. Tara tells Darach about her iconic work on the Morbegs (and the attention to detail put into the Irish language content), reevaluating Peig as an adult and the simple joys of the offline life. Tara's book "Rage In" published by Headstuff is available in bookshops now and her new podcast "Taranoia" is out now, go find it. * * * Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

_The Irish word for a rat, francach, can also mean a French person (when capitalised)._ In their most recent media campaign, Vodafone have paid tribute to a long-standing tradition in Irish advertising; the French crush. Prior to this Ireland has had a history of taking cues from our Gallic pals - most famously the tricolour. French is the most-widely taught foreign language in Ireland and comparisons between it and Irish are inevitable. But how apt and how valuable are such comparisons? French exists as a successful minority language in Canada but France is one of the most most hostile jurisdictions to minority languages in the EU. How will Ireland, as the defender of Gaeilge and the custodian of EU English, get on with France after Brexit with regard to our two languages? In this week's episode, Clodagh McGinley (who recently graduated from Trinity with a degree in Irish and French) chats to Darach about the two languages, loanwords, faux amis and the joys French Twitter. --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Famously, much is lost in translation. However, writing is a lonely calling, and the act of literary translation by one's peers presents an opportunity for literary intimacy. Two versions of a poem, presented side by side, can be more than the sum of the parts. Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill is one of Ireland's most brilliant and resonant poetic voices, and "Pharoah's Daughter" - a collection from almost thirty years ago - is still urgently relevant and accessible. Ní Dhomhnaill's dánta are accompanied by translations from a gathering of Ireland's finest English language poets (including Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon). In today's episode, Darach, Siún and Peadar read and discuss some of the poems in this collection… opening the door to a world full of love, sex, hope, feminism, laughter heartbreak, politics and hard-won intimacy. You can get "Pharoah's Daughter" at www.cnagsiopa.com or www.gallerypress.com Adult themes this week. Seriously: ADULT THEMES.Ceo, Craiceann agus Cumhracht: An Introduction to Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill --- Contact the show at https://twitter.com/motherfocloir or email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices