Let me start by saying I love the Irish language...from the moment I first heard it at a local Celtic Fest I knew I had to learn it. The only problem is that I wanted to learn to speak the way the man at the Fest spoke. He was from the Gweedore region, which I believe is in Donegal because he said that Irish is at it's best when it's done in the Donegal Irish.

Most of the resources that I have come across are either from the Connacht or Munster regions. I have recently purchased "Irish On Your Own" which has been absolutely cool to put it midly, but it lacks somethings for the dedicatied learner. I mean, it's great for conversations but I am wanting a little more than what they give you. In particular, the pronunciation area. The tapes help me with the material but if it doesn't say it on the tapes, I don't know how to say it like a northerner would.

This is very true for the prepositional pronouns. Your site is one of the best I've come across, with explainations and everything, but I was hoping to learn how to say them in the Donegal Irish.

Can anyone here help me...I am not asking for all of them, I know there are so many. But maybe with some of the more common ones like: ag, as, ar, le, do, de, ó, chun/chuig, and roimh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/blas/learners/beag1.shtml

Try this link, Mark.

Here's a few points about the Ulster dialect. (Donegal is in Ulster).

"á" is pronounced as "a", a flat "a".

Using english sounds, "Taw" -> "Taa".

"ch" is not pronounced at all, unless it's at the start of a word, in which case, it's pronounced as "h".

Using english sounds, "Boocil" -> "Boohil", "Cunic" -> "Hunic"


If you're really serious about learning Gaeilge and learning it in the Ulster dialect, there's a Gaeltacht in Donegal.

-Phil

Sorry for my taking so long to respond...thanks I am aware of Blas. While it is a great site to listen to, I am a little more advanced than the lessons covered.

No matter, I will keep looking. However, I do have a question that I was wondering if anyone here could answer? How close is Donegal Irish to the dialects found in Belfast and the other northern regions?

The reason I ask is that I have been offered to go to Queen's University and take one of those two to three month deals, and I am wondering, if they help me...will my family in Donegal be able to understand me when I try speaking it to them?

Mark

Yes,Donegal Irish and the Irish youd learn in Belfast would be pretty much the same, they both speak Ulster Irish

I'm aware of no significant differences between Belfast and Donegal Irish with the possible exception of pronunciation. One would probably understand the other the way an American from Philadelphia understands an American from Houston.

That works for me...besides I like the idea of visiting Belfast. It is a nice town I hear.

Thanks again

Mark

They should be able to understand any dialect.

-Phil

Mark,

If you want to learn Irish as spoken in Gweedore, you could go to Gweedore

http://www.crannog.ie/bearla2.htm

If you live near NYC, then you might want to take a class from a Gweedore native,

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/irelandhouse/fr_language.html

There are a number of books on Donegal Irish:

Leslie L. Lucas, Grammar of Ros Goill Irish Co. Donegal, The Queens University of Belfast, 1979

Heinreich Wagner, Gaeilge Theilinn, Mount Salus Press, 1959.

Damien Ó Muirí, Comhréir Ghaeilge Ghaoth Dobhair, Coiscéim, 1982

Seán Ó hEochaodaidh, Sean-chainnt Theilinn, Dundalgan Press, 1955.

Seán Mac Maoláin, Cora Cainte as Tír Chonaill, An Gúm, 1933.

Úna M. Uí Bheirn, Cnuasach Focal as Teileann, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉirireann, 1989.

I think all of these are still in print. However, all but the Lucas book are completely in Irish, so you might want to get a little fluent in the official standard Irish before diving into these.

Go n-éirí an teanga leat,

Lúcas

Mark,

Bain sult as Béal Feirste! As an áit seo mé. Níl mé i mo chonai ansin anois - As London mé anois- mór mo náire, mar níl mé abalta Gaeilge a labhairt leis daoine go rialta.
Not that mine would be good, ach ba mhaith liom í a labhairt ach aon lá
Anyway... if you need any info re Belfast etc... pls ask as I will do my best!

Slán go fóill

Siobhán

Is as Éire mé

I'm from Ireland.

Say if I move to London in a few years (lol) I would still be from Ireland.

So the best thing to say would be

Tá cónaí orm i London anois
Táim i mo chónaí i London anois.

I'm not trying to critisize you here, but you seem very fond of leaving out "is" in your sentences. I suggest you leave it in atleast until you're fluent. It can cause confusion sometimes. eg.

An fear é

You might tell me that means "It is the man"

But it means "Is it a man?"

Is an fear é.

Your Gaeilge seems pretty good.

Ba mhaith leat í a labhairt AR aon lá.

-Phil

Phil
"ach ba mhaith liom í a labhairt ach aon lá "
is the way someone from the north would say
"ach ba mhaith liom í a labhairt gach aon lá"

I'd like to speak Irish everyday

Ba mhaith leat í a labhairt AR aon lá.

I would read as
You'd like to speak it on any day

[Aonghus]

> "ach ba mhaith liom í a labhairt ach aon lá "
> is the way someone from the north would say
> "ach ba mhaith liom í a labhairt gach aon lá"

Interesting. I read it as "I would be pleased to speak it [even if for] only one day."

Is that incorrect?

Maybe Siobhán will tell us what he meant:-)

--Al Evans

Al,
Siobhán would firstly like to tell you SHE has not had a sex change.LOL.(I'm sure that was only a typo!)
I did mean "every day" by "ach aon lá". Aonghus is correct. I understand that this is a perfectly acceptable way of saying "Gach aon lá" and I have always used it.

Phil,
Constructive criticism is fine!
My Irish is quite rusty these days,so my grammar and construction may not always be great. I always appreciate correction, otherwise how would I learn?

As for "Tá mé i mo chonai i Londain", I know I should have used this rather than "Is as Londain mé". I can only say in my defence that it was getting late!

Slán

Siobhán

Al
I don't think the meaning you got could be taken, something is missing.

I have a feeling (from reading Lá) that it would be more usual for a Northerner to write it as achan lá.

"I would be pleased to speak it [even if for] only one day."

I'd write
ba mhaith liom í a labhairt, [fiú] murbh ach do lá amháin é

Aonghus,
Tá bron orm! ACHAN is, of course the correct word. My apologies for the confusion caused by my mistake.

Siobhán

Siobhán,

Sorry for having taken so long to respond I just got back. What in your opinion makes Belfast worth it. I hear it is the place to visit in the north if your younger than 50.

And Lucas...thanks for the links. I have sent a letter to NYC and have already recieved a positive response. I know also that there is a Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal native that teaches preschoolers and adults in California. Although I have not yet received a response from there.

For anyone here that knows...how much of a difference is there between the accents of Gweedore and Donegal...I would think their Irish would be the same.

Mark

I would like to be able to speak it some day.

I'd say the following:

Ba mhaith liom go mbeinn in ann é a labhairt ar lá amháin.

-Phil

some day - lá éigin or lá amháin
ar lá amhain - on one particular day


I would like to be able to speak it some day.
Ba mhaith liom bheith in ann í a labhairt lá éigin
or
Ba mhaith liom bheith in ann í a labhairt lá amháin


(Tá Gaeilge baninscneach!)

Mark,
I'm probably very biased as Belfast is my home town. Belfast is a very lively place with loads of good pubs, restaurants etc..As it has a couple of Universities, it is a great student town and over by Queen's you'll find loads of places to go.
I found this site which will give you a bit of info re pubs, tourist attractions, places to go and so forth.

http://www.belfast.net/Tourism/

If you're a history buff, the Linenhall library is a fantastic place to rummage through. It's run by a guy called John Gray. You'll find fascinating historical documents that you won't find anywhere else. If you get a chance to talk to john, grab it as he is very knowledgeable!
At the site above, you will find some info re Belfast Castle. I wld recommend you pay it a visit, not only to see the Castle but to climb Cave Hill as you will get spectacular views of Belfast overlooking Belfast Lough from there.
If I can help with anything else, plse let me know.

Siobhán

Mark,
This is the link to the Linenhall library.

http://www.linenhall.com/Home/home.html

Slán

Siobhán

Siobhán,

I went to the site with all the tourist info...not bad if I do say so myself. I have been wanting to visit Belfast for some time now. Looks like I will be killing two birds with one stone. One, I will get to see the city, and two I will get to visit Queen's University and talk with some of the teachers there about their Irish Studies programs.

I guess it is the "luck-of-the-Yanks" for me.

Mark

Whoa, looks like you have a lot of replies.
I was going to say, my teacher was from Belfast, so I have a bit of an Ulster dialect. There are differences in Donegal Irish though. I know that a dh is pronounced as a 'ye' sound. Also, my friend from Donegal pronounced ainm as AH-NEM, and I say ANN-YEM.
But as I said, looks like you got plenty of help here.