Gaeilge

One of our most important opportunities, in my opinion, is our lessons in the Irish language. As a part of our Irish Cultures class, we meet with Grainne, a teacher from the Gaeltacht region, to learn what we can of the language. The Gaeltachtai are regions throughout Ireland where Irish is the predominant language. We are lucky enough to be near An Rinn- The Ring- one of the smallest Gaeltachts. We took a field trip around the Ring earlier in our trip, and it's nice to be able to connect the language with the location.

In our studies, we've learned some simple Irish phrases such as "Conas ta tu?" -How are you? and "Go maith, go raibh maith agat. Agus tu fein?"- Well, thank you. And yourself? We also learned counting and how to give out our phone numbers (which might end up a useful skill- wink, wink!). We practiced listening, writing and speaking during our three and a half hours with Grainne at the helm. Learning Irish has proven to be no easy feat!

We also listened to the myth of Cuchulainn, which the English majors in our group were familiar with but the rest of us hadn't yet heard. It reminded me of many of Yeats' poems, such as To the Rose upon the Rood of Time as well as The Death of Cuchulain. Since many of Yeats' poetry connects back to Irish folktales, learning about these tales helps connect the language, history, poetry and culture of Ireland.