I am sure you all may see alot of this, so I apologize in advance for my newness. I have recently traced back my lineage 'Surname Mullins' to County Cork. My brothers father-in-law helped me retrace it as our family seems to drop off the planet in 1698ad. In any case, I have recently wanted to re-discover my Irish roots.

I have started reading online journals and am currently in the middle of 'Sinn Fein: A Hundred Turbulent Years' by Brian Feeney, and it has really inspired me to learn the language, and the culture. While I was born and raised American I have a strange compelling to learn all I can and to teach my four sons (soon to be five) about their lineage.

Here is my problem, with the language I dont even know where to start. This seems to be a very good site for this kind of thing, so if any of you could offer some advice I would really appreciate it.

Good news:
There are lots of learning materials from which to choose.

Bad news:
There are lots of learning materials from which to choose.



It would help guide us in recommendations if you tell us what your goals are - reading...writing...conversing...or the whole lot? Do you have a dialect preference? How much time do you plan to spend each day learning?

Given that your people are from Cork, you might like to try Munster Irish. The Pimsleur Irish CDs are in Munster Irish, and although there's no book for that course, a transcript is available here:
http://www.gaeilge.org/pimsleurtranscript.html

The original (circa 1960) Teach Yourself Irish course is in West Cork Irish; several dozen folks are currently working their way through that TYI online right now:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TYIMunster/

If you're not particular about dialect, let us know a bit more about your goals and we'll make some recommendations.

Le meas,
Cionaodh

Great! Thanks for the direction. I did not know there were several dialects. In answer to your question about goals, I am a little ambitious so my answer at this time is "the whole lot".

I think I might like to try Munster, I am assuming the West Cork is a variety of Munster. An additional question on dialects is "Will I confuse myself/others if I mistakenly learn other dialects?"

Time per day: What would you recommend? I would like to learn quickly, however I don't want to kill myself either. My family is having a reunion this July and I would like to speak decently by then. (none of them speak Irish but I am trying to get them interested.)

My work is in computers, do any of you hang out in chat rooms. I learn alot by simply watching and asking questions. Its how I learned Linux.

(Sorry for the extremely long post, and if I say anything offensive (political etc) please forgive.)

Scríobh Roibeaird:

>>Great! Thanks for the direction. I did not know
>>there were several dialects.

Three major ones (Munster, Connacht & Ulster), with some "sub-dialects" within each of these. Each dialect has a cadre of cheerleaders on this discussion board, and I'm sure they'll make themselves known soon.



>>In answer to your question about goals, I am a
>>little ambitious so my answer at this time is
>>"the whole lot".

Maith thú!


>>I think I might like to try Munster, I am assuming
>>the West Cork is a variety of Munster.

It is; that dialect also has a handful of other sub-dialects within it.


>>An additional question on dialects is "Will I
>>confuse myself/others if I mistakenly learn
>>other dialects?"

While it's best to learn one dialect as "your own", it's also good to know a lot about other dialects, and although as a beginner you won't know which is which, in time you'll come to recognise them.

If you occasionally slip an Ulster or Connacht word/phrase into your speech while in Kerry or Cork, locals will undoubtedly understand you; learners may not, as they haven't an "ear" for the dialects yet.

One thing I neglected to mention in my first reply; if there's a class/teacher near you, learn whatever dialect they're learning, as those are the people with whom you'll be able to practise until you're able to get to a Gaeltacht and perfect things.


>>Time per day: What would you recommend?

As much as you can manage.

If you're working and/or have a family, you'll probably be lucky to put aside an hour day. If you can devote more than that, do so. If you can find a weekly class near you, add that to your schedule. There's a fairly comprehensive listing on this site:
http://www.daltai.com/classes.htm

If you don't find something there, let us know where you're located and we'll see if anyone knows of classes/teachers closer to you.


>>I would like to learn quickly, however I don't
>>want to kill myself either. My family is having
>>a reunion this July and I would like to speak
>>decently by then. (none of them speak Irish but
>>I am trying to get them interested.)

To be fluent by July would require "killing yourself", I'm afraid. However, you can master lots of "small talk" and carry on very basic conversations with the amount of studying you could realistically do between now & then.


>>(Sorry for the extremely long post, and if I
>>say anything offensive (political etc)
>>please forgive.)

We have a very vigilant moderator here; if you cross the line, you'll know about it.



Le meas,
Cionaodh

Hi Roibeaird,
I've put together some links to beginners courses, dictionaries, grammar and media etc..

http://www.brightonmusicians.4t.com/links.htm

hi Roibeaird,

I'm actually looking for the exact opposite...I need help finding family records between 1600 and 1750 in Munster. Perhaps one hand can wash the other...what resources have you used and where did you find them?

I would first try to find a class in your area.

I'd get a buddy to learn with, so you have someone to talk to

Aside from reference material (Folens' Briathra na Gaeilge can't be beat), I really think the easiest way to jump start the learning process is to take that buddy and both do Buntús Cainte. What grammar you pick up from it will be contextual, but you'll quickly build vocabulary and the ability to build sentences with it...

oh, yes...for a jumpstart, do the pimsleur, too...but the course is short so you'll be done with it quickly...

(Message edited by antaine on December 23, 2005)

(Message edited by antaine on December 23, 2005)

My mothership recently did her "O'Connor" research and obviously being one of the most popular names she had her work cut out.

But, have you tried ;

Family Archives - Index to Griffith's Valuation of Ireland.. There's various volumes covering different years etc. N'fheadar an cabhair é seo...

Welcome or Fáilte should i say Roibeaird! ;)

The most difficult thing I encountered was the fact that the Diocese of Cashel and Emly is the only one in the country with closed records.

Not to mention that I'm looking to cement paternal line connections in the 1600-1770 range (so I'm back past all civil birth/death records and Griffith's Valuation), and that frequently what little records exist during that period exclude Catholics.

Sigh...it's been about ten years...I'll get there eventually...

Asarlaí,

Sorry, I have been gone for a few days. Nice thing for me is that my family name has been well documented to around 1698, where my great-great-great-grandfather emmigrated over from France, along with some other Huegenots. I was able to trace this quite easily connecting with several universities where other Mullins' had pretty much done the work for me. In addition my family name was on the passenger manifest as well. (I forget the boat) I started by running a search on my great-grandfather. Then by checking with grandparents I was able to go back about four generations, and was able to confirm this with the variety of sources. (hard to beat living grandparents with this and most grand-parents are happy that you are looking into this) There is also a 'Mullins' at the University of Kansas that helped me get back as far as 1698. There was where I was stuck for several years. Then my father-in-law (who is very Irish) wanted to be sure that his daughter was marrying into a good Irish family. (Up until then we did'nt even know we were Irish but we had our suspicions.) and he did some additional work through a variety of sources he has in his personal library. He however attacked it from the other side. He started with a variety of very old books he owns on the family names from Irish history perspective and was able to fill in the blanks from Ireland to France. I am really not sure which books he used, but they have been handed down to him generation to generation and can trace many Irish families, but getting him to open up about it is very difficult. During my reading of the Sein Fein book I realized that problems (politically) started escalating in Ireland around 1698-1798 when it finally came to a head.
Here is the problem. Many Irish left Ireland in this time span. The 1600-1800 is a tough range to cement. I am sorry I cant provide something a little more meaningful for you but that is how I eventually got to my own goals. I might add that this has been a fifteen year process for me so dont give up hope. I also realize that the amount of time my family has been here in U.S.A. you may think that I might as well forget my Irish heritage and accept my Americanism. But it has been just the opposite for me, and I am looking at the potential of eventually moving to Ireland. Sorry this post is so long.

No problem. I'm wondering what books he has. I just ordered O'Hart's pedigrees, I know he takes the Hogan paternal line from Ogan to 1657 for sure, and am hoping he comes down more recent than that as well. My own research has be back to 1740ish, I could conceivable cover that span with two or three more names...

"During my reading of the Sein Fein book I realized that problems (politically) started escalating in Ireland around 1698-1798 when it finally came to a head."

It started way before that - 1169 to be exact..

Do come to Ireland - the craic is almighty!! ;)

Yeah, the hatred of the English rulers of the normal Irish Catholics in the past didn't help my mam's research..

"Do come to Ireland - the craic is almighty!! ;) "

'oh mother dear i'm over here
and i'm never coming back
what keeps me here's the reek of beer,
the ladies, and the craic'
-McAlpine's Fusiliers

Domhnall,

Thanks for the invite! I myself am looking for a great craic and hooley (did I say that right?). There is so much to absorb, so much to learn. Soon maybe, soon.