This is only tangentially Irish-related so I hope you'll forgive the not-entirely-on-topic subject.

I was chatting with my cousin a few weeks back and she was surprised to hear I was studying Irish. This led her to tell me that her deceased mother had in her possession a very old letter "written in Gaelic", so I asked her to send me a copy so I could take a whack at translating it. (How her mother would have come to possess such a thing is a mystery to me--she was a Welsh speaker, not Irish.)

Anyway, the letter came with my Christmas card and I was disappointed to see that it's clearly written in German, but since it's dated 6 Juli 1914, it's written in that horrifically difficult, eye-wrenching pre-Sütterlin script. The date and just a few words like daß and ist are about all I can make out. The rest of it looks like a seismograph readout to me.

Are there any German-speakers here familiar with that style of writing who wouldn't mind taking a peek at this thing for me? I'm intrigued now. Thanks.

(Message edited by Domhnall_Ó_h_aireachtaigh on January 10, 2009)

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to make out Suetterlin.

But I'd be willing to have a stab at it, and see whether my wife has any help to offer.

Scríobh chugam ag aonghusoh ag gmail ponc com

Is fusa é "Current" ná "Sütterlin", dar liom.
Más maith leat ríomhphoist a scriobh chugam: lars ponc braesicke ag rftonline ponc net.

Lars

Go raibh maith agaibh! Cuirfidh mé é amárach.

I could take a look at it if you'd like. I've dealt with handwritten Fraktur (old-style German script) before, translating genealogical/family documents for friends and family. I started with my great-grandfather Otto's papers.