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Irish novel

  • 20-12-2011 10:59am
    #1
    Meow_Meow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭


    I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a good Irish novel? I've been trying to improve but outside of such books as Fiche Bliain ag Fás, which I read in secondary school, I really can't think of any! Also, tips on places to buy one (Dublin or Cork regions) would be very much appreciated! :)


Comments

  • #2
    pog it
    Registered Users Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭pog it


    Heya! Chapters in Dublin have a good selection upstairs in the second hand books area, you can pick up books from €3. The Ilac centre library has a brilliant collection of Irish language books and you are in for some serious treats the more fluent you get.

    If you are picking up Irish from where you were at in secondary school I would start with (well this is what I did!) the translation of Harry Potter and read both the English and Irish versions side by side, and Na Comharsana Nua by Éamonn Ó Loinsigh is another great book for intermediate level Irish.
    I haven't read it but I heard that Dúnmharú ar an Dart is good for people picking up Irish again.


  • #3
    Meow_Meow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Meow_Meow


    pog it wrote: »
    Heya! Chapters in Dublin have a good selection upstairs in the second hand books area, you can pick up books from €3. The Ilac centre library has a brilliant collection of Irish language books and you are in for some serious treats the more fluent you get.

    If you are picking up Irish from where you were at in secondary school I would start with (well this is what I did!) the translation of Harry Potter and read both the English and Irish versions side by side, and Na Comharsana Nua by Éamonn Ó Loinsigh is another great book for intermediate level Irish.
    I haven't read it but I heard that Dúnmharú ar an Dart is good for people picking up Irish again.

    Wow only 3e?? That's brilliant value! Ahhh I remember doing Dúnmharú ar an Dart in second year- it was quite the thriller :P I'll definitely check out Na Comharsana Nua- many thanks! :)


  • #4
    uch
    Registered Users Posts: 7,008 ✭✭✭uch


    pog it wrote: »
    Heya! Chapters in Dublin have a good selection upstairs in the second hand books area, you can pick up books from €3. The Ilac centre library has a brilliant collection of Irish language books and you are in for some serious treats the more fluent you get.

    If you are picking up Irish from where you were at in secondary school I would start with (well this is what I did!) the translation of Harry Potter and read both the English and Irish versions side by side, and Na Comharsana Nua by Éamonn Ó Loinsigh is another great book for intermediate level Irish.
    I haven't read it but I heard that Dúnmharú ar an Dart is good for people picking up Irish again.


    It's excellent for advanced learners but also has a great storyline

    http://www.cuplafocal.ie/catalog/index.php have a look here they have some great books.

    21/25



  • #5
    pog it
    Registered Users Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭pog it


    The other thing you could do is to e-mail a couple of the main Irish language publishers, they are bound to have good recommendations.
    Email address on this page for Cló Iar-Chonnacht

    Or just browse on their website www.cic.ie.


  • #6
    deirdremf
    Registered Users Posts: 1,871 ✭✭✭deirdremf


    Meow_Meow wrote: »
    I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a good Irish novel? I've been trying to improve but outside of such books as Fiche Bliain ag Fás, which I read in secondary school, I really can't think of any! Also, tips on places to buy one (Dublin or Cork regions) would be very much appreciated! :)
    Hm, it would be handy to know something about your interests!
    Some novels: anything by Pádraig Standún, if a religious thread through the book doesn't upset you.
    Books by Maidhc Dainín Ó Sé.
    An Dochtúir Áthas, by Liam Mac Cóil
    Sionnach ar mo Dhuán, & Lig Sinn i gCathú, by Breandán Ó hEithir

    The 1st and 2nd authors are easy enough to read, the 3rd and 4th will require a much higher level.


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  • #7
    Meow_Meow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Meow_Meow


    deirdremf wrote: »
    Hm, it would be handy to know something about your interests!
    Some novels: anything by Pádraig Standún, if a religious thread through the book doesn't upset you.
    Books by Maidhc Dainín Ó Sé.
    An Dochtúir Áthas, by Liam Mac Cóil
    Sionnach ar mo Dhuán, & Lig Sinn i gCathú, by Breandán Ó hEithir

    The 1st and 2nd authors are easy enough to read, the 3rd and 4th will require a much higher level.

    It would probably be preferably not to have religious themes, but they seem rather unavoidable when it comes to Irish lit. My level of Irish is quite good, I got an A when I did it for the leaving and used to go to Gaeltachts but since I started college I forgot about it and have been learning another language intensely since, which is slowly replacing everything I knew before!


  • #8
    pog it
    Registered Users Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭pog it


    Meow_Meow wrote: »
    It would probably be preferably not to have religious themes, but they seem rather unavoidable when it comes to Irish lit. My level of Irish is quite good, I got an A when I did it for the leaving and used to go to Gaeltachts but since I started college I forgot about it and have been learning another language intensely since, which is slowly replacing everything I knew before!

    Good on you! The work will pay off. Well anyway Pádraig de Standún is a priest by the way! I haven't read anything by him so I can't say what his writing is like.
    Pádraig Ó Conaire is another great writer, short stories in the main, he's one of the best Irish language writers and quite accessible really.


  • #9
    Meow_Meow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Meow_Meow


    pog it wrote: »
    Good on you! The work will pay off. Well anyway Pádraig de Standún is a priest by the way! I haven't read anything by him so I can't say what his writing is like.
    Pádraig Ó Conaire is another great writer, short stories in the main, he's one of the best Irish language writers and quite accessible really.

    Ooh I've heard of Pádraig Ó Conaire- he's supposed to be very good- many thanks! :D


  • #10
    franc 91
    Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭franc 91


    If you subscribe to the Litriocht newsletter, they regularly send you their suggestions (and the blurb is in both languages).


  • #11
    Enkidu
    Registered Users Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭Enkidu


    I would really recommend the folklore collections like "Ar bóthar dom" by Nioclás Breathnach. These kind of things really helped me because they allowed me to build up my vocabulary and understand natural/native Irish sentences, without following the sustained plot of a novel, which I found difficult at first. Also they have really interesting and slightly nuts stories in them, a great laugh at times. I really think folklore is a great place to get to grips with Irish.

    The novel that improved my Irish the most was Séadna by Peadar Ua Laoghaire, but you will need Dinneen's dictionary to get through it. Whether it's a good novel is another question.


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  • #12
    uch
    Registered Users Posts: 7,008 ✭✭✭uch


    pog it wrote: »
    The other thing you could do is to e-mail a couple of the main Irish language publishers, they are bound to have good recommendations.
    Email address on this page for Cló Iar-Chonnacht

    Or just browse on their website www.cic.ie.[/QUOTE]



    I'd second this, CIC are excellent and their service is second to none

    21/25



  • #13
    SisterAnn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭SisterAnn


    I quite enjoyed Dún an Airgead by Eilís Ní Duibhne. It was perfect for my ability and the pacey plot was set in modern day Ireland with fairly believable characters you could identify with. I was sad when finished, which is the hallmark of a good read! I was also proud of having completed my first Irish novel. The only similar achievement to date was reading Forrest Gump in Spanish years ago when living there!

    How much you enjoy such books is a function of how your level of Irish relates to that used in the book. You need to be able to understand most of it, but it must bring your Irish forward at the same time. You have to be prepared to do a bit of dictionary work, but not so much that it becomes some kind of scholarly labour.

    I have also enjoyed the short story collections like Canary Wharf and the stuff by Ré Ó Laighléis, again because they have modern settings and characters.

    I have a huge issue with a lot of the literature chosen for schools because it so old and is more for heritage than enjoyment. If we see Irish purely as a heritage-driven entity then it is bound for death alongside Latin and Greek. Peig, mar shampla! Say no more.


  • #14
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    To see a good selection of books in Irish I would suggest having a look at litriocht.com or doping in to An Siopa Leabhar on Harcourt street Dublin, Beside Stevens green,

    I just started reading Artemis Fowl in Irish, for something a little easier I would suggest Coiste on Rí, its a 'Famous Five' type book.


  • #15
    Enkidu
    Registered Users Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭Enkidu


    I just thought I'd recommend "Ó Bhéal an Bhab", which comes with two discs of Bab herself reading the stories. They're not too hard to read with a dictionary, even for a beginner. Might be one or two confusing words from Corca Dhuibhne in there, but a good dictionary can handle it.


  • #16
    Gael
    Registered Users Posts: 1,286 ✭✭✭Gael


    Pádraig Standún's books aren't for everyone, but don't reject them purely because they tend to have religious or spiritual themes and because he's a priest. Believe me, he's a very alternative priest! Quite a few descriptive sex scenes and sexuality themes such as lesbianism in his books. Not for the faint-hearted! ;)


  • #17
    franc 91
    Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭franc 91


    Just to add to what Enkidu has so kindly suggested, here's the lady herself - thanks to Roibeard O Cathasaigh -
    http://soundcloud.com/roibeard/is-mise-bab-feirt-ar-bh-al-an
    http://soundcloud.com/roibeard/cailleacha-an-d-na-bh-al-an


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