This is just a little story from the County Kerry Gaeltacht, to keep you motivated in using the Irish language every day.
I went campervanning on the Dingle Peninsula, with a good friend. We parked up, quite late in the evening. We had plans to go to the local pub-turned-brewery, after cooking up some food.
Expectations can make or break your experience (perhaps it’s better not to have any?).
I expected the local pub, Tigh Bhric, to be a tourist spot. Walking in, there was a lovely gentle seisiún of traditional Irish music in the front of the bar. It seems to be a staple every Friday there.
At the bar, I heard a couple of people speaking Gaeilge already.
As the night went on, the locals got into their singing. There was a mix of Irish language and English language songs being sung out.
The main crowd at the bar were Irish speakers. I was delighted to hear this, and to see it wasn’t “only” tourists around.
The evening left a sweet spot for us. There is Gaeilge being spoken in Ireland. So now you have one less excuse for not using the Irish language EVERY day.
There’s definitely a fada on the ‘i’ – otherwise there’d be no ‘ee’ sound.!
Tigh doesn’t have a fada on the i because of the “gh”: https://www.teanglann.ie/ga/fb/tigh That happens sometimes, such as in the case of “cinnte”.
Is breá liom an scéal seo! Go raibh maith agat as roinnt!
It’s Tígh Bhric, not ‘Tigh Bhric’. The ‘fada’ makes a world of difference.
Sorry if I got the spelling wrong. I spell “tigh” without a fada, do they do differently?
http://www.westkerrybrewery.ie/
Glad you liked it.
Just got back from my first trip to Ireland. I absolutely loved hearing The Irish language. I don’t speak Irish but it was wonderful. A young lady in a little bar called O’Conner’s in Salthill, Galway thanked me in Irish for a small courtesy. She could tell I didn’t understand so she said, “that was thank you in Irish”. So I said “then I’ll say your welcome in English. “. I so wished I spoke Irish. I felt lacking. I heard Irish spoken in Dingle, in Galway, county Cavan, the Aran Islands and even Dublin. It’s beautiful and I will learn it for my next trip to Ireland. ❤️
You should learn Irish, you will love the feeling of speaking it! Plus when you go back (and learning Irish will add to the long list of reasons to propel you back there), you can interact with the locals in a way English speaking tourists cannot. Also, there are some great Irish speaking courses over there (Donegal has one of them).
Here is a great article on the Donegal Irish Language immersion program from this site, Bitesize.Irish
http://bitesize.irish/blog/oideas-gael-2/
Here is the Oideas Gael website http://www.oideas-gael.com/en/
Here is a good way to search for Irish Language Immersion programs in a Gaeltach (which is the word for Irish speaking community) https://www.google.com/search?q=Gaeltach+immersion+programs&oq=Gaeltach+immersion+programs&aqs=chrome..69i57.6235j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Here is a good way to search for Irish language classes (and, just, add your area after the search criteria to look for classes in your area) https://www.google.com/search?q=Irish+Language+Courses&oq=Irish+Language+Courses&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i61j69i65j69i61.6571j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Go n-éirí leat! (May you succeed! ((Pronounced = Guh nye-ri laht!))) ☺☺☺♥
Sláinte chugat! (Good health to you!) ((Pronounced = Slan-cha hog-at!))
CORRECTION:
This is the correct link to search for Irish Language Immersion programs in a Gaeltacht (the one I sent you above was misspelled ((accidentally left the t off at the end of Gaeltacht)) ☺).
https://www.google.com/search?ei=iugvXe2TBYettQa9ob2ICg&q=Gaeltacht+immersion+programs&oq=Gaeltach+immersion+programs&gs_l=psy-ab.12…0.0..92668…0.0..0.0.0…….0……gws-wiz………12%3A0j13%3A0.AaPAMwq_ZJ8&ved=0ahUKEwjtgJSwxL3jAhWHVs0KHb1QD6EQ4dUDCAo
It certainly depends on where you go in those places. Dingle town, for example, is predominantly English as a “town” language, but there is certainly Irish being spoken around. Thanks for sharing about your trip to Ireland.
Go hiontach a Eoin faoi an teach tábhairne Tigh Bhric
Bhí sé go deas ann, cinnte.