Dia duit,

My name is Sam (if the username didn't give that away!), from England though of Irish heritage (grandmother was born in Ireland and was brought up there but moved to England when my great grandfather became a missionary. My mother lived in Ireland, albeit briefly but has lived in England most of her life after marrying a Yorkshireman!).

Anyway, recently the last Irish-speaking relative of mine died. I've always loved the country, the culture, the people and the language. As such, I have decided to learn the language. I used the free-version of the Byki software provided by Transparent Language and have learnt most stuff on there now.

I'm keen to expose myself to as much of the language as is possible by listening to the radio and what not. Part of this has involved collecting songs in Irish-language, currently it has three in. Could anyone provide suggestions to good songs in Irish to listen to?

Also, I was thinking of studying for a GCSE in Irish, is this is a good idea or not worth bothering?

Many thanks for taking the time to read this, hope to start getting more involved!

Sam

Dia's Muire dhuit, Sam2000. Tá fáilte romhat anseo.

Why not try studying for TEG www.teg.ie? It's a series of carefully graded tests that you can work up to and earn a recognised Certificate. You could study for a GCSE as well.

As for songs try John Beag's "Pócaí folamh' is cloigeann tinn" (empty pockets and a sore head!) or Cóilín Pháraic Shéamais. I like Róisín El Safti's singing and Tim Dennehy's. If you listen to RnaG you'll hear plenty.

Can you get Raidio na Gaeltachta where you live?

Write a few sentences in Irish here and we'll respond.

Best of luck anyway. Go n-éirí go geal leat.

Dia's Muire is Pádraig dhuit, Sam!

You can get Raidio na Gaeltacha online.

http://www.rte.ie/radio/how_listen.html

http://www.rte.ie/rnag/index.html

There are millions of songs in Irish - what do you mean by good?

Many singers have examples and lyrics online:
see e.g. www.futafata.com

Aontaim le Aonghus about futafata.com.They make CDs of nice simple songs ,rhymes and riddles.Aimed, I guess,at primary school kids.Also You might try John Spillane and Padraigín ní hUallachain.

Go n-éirí leat Sam.