Just over three years ago my son woke up to find his parents speaking gibberish. Or at least that’s how it must have seemed to him. He was about to turn three, and we had decided to start speaking Irish at home. There are lots of households doing this across Ireland, and many are on it from birth. We knew some of them. The difference in our house, though, was that neither myself nor himself was fluent. There would be no beautiful Connemara Gaeilge instilled from birth, because we didn’t have it. We’d done well enough at school and I picked up a fáinne airgid at the Gaeltacht. The fáinne óir remained elusive, however. We were a long way from líofa.
We made the decision for multiple reasons. Our son was starting at a Montessori that did some learning through Irish and we were thinking of sending him to a Gaelscoil. If we were to do that, we wanted it to be wholehearted; to give him a grounding, and also for us to be invested. I didn’t want Irish to be a language associated only with school and other people; I wanted it to be a language of fun and expression and family. I wanted it to exist in our home. That reasoning grew as we went on. We believed in the language. We didn’t want it to die, so we though we’d what we could to keep its heart ticking.
We started by carrying out our morning routine as Gaeilge – the hour or two from when we got up until the kids were dropped to childcare. It is a lot of effort when it doesn’t come naturally, but this felt like a manageable commitment, just about. The night before, we told our son what we would be doing, and then, when he was in bed, set about looking up the Irish for porridge (leite/brachán), underpants (fobhríste) and other necessary morning vocabulary.
The fact that you have to repeat yourself ad nauseam with children bore fruit. Say “Bain díot do phitseámaí”(take off your pyjamas) or “Cuir do chóta ort” (put on your coat) enough times, and they’ll soon cotton on. There were a few tantrums initially, which is fair enough when you cannot understand what you could the week previous. But, within two weeks, it was remarkable how much he understood. With my daughter, who was one at the time, we didn’t even have to try.
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Our commitment has ebbed and flowed in the intervening years, but I doubt we go a day without speaking some Irish. We play games through Irish – a version of Simon Says was particularly good in the early days – and watch Irish-language TV. Cúla4 is an incredible station and there are plenty of cartúin on the TG4 app and RTÉ Player. Mo Shaol Do Shaol and Dennis agus Gnasher are particularly popular in our house. I learn a lot from them, too. Peppa Muc is still more my speed than Irish-language current affairs.
Through it all, leabhair Ghaeilge have been a constant. At night we read a book as Gaeilge to the kids – now six and four – and then one as Béarla. It has been part of the bedtime routine from the get go and even now, as my son moves further into reading by himself, the ritual remains.
The increased interest generally in the Irish language is well documented, from An Cailín Ciúin and Kneecap to Catherine Connolly’s election as Uachtarán na hÉireann. More people are signing up for evening classes, bilingual podcasts are going mainstream, and the Irish-language sections in bookshops and libraries are expanding.
If you’re a parent who’s interested in speaking more Irish at home, for your own benefit as well as your children’s, I can’t recommend a better starting point than reading a book a night with kids. It’s a relatively small commitment, but one that will likely spill out into other parts of the day. Crucially, it associates the language with a fun, recreational activity. The standard of Irish-language children’s books, particularly at the early stage, is incredible. A sign of both this and the renewed zest for the language is that, at this year’s An Post Irish Book Awards, a leabhar Gaeilge has been nominated outside of the Irish-language categories for the first time. An Fia sa Choill, written by Sadhbh Devlin and illustrated by Anastasia Melnykova, is up against seven great English-language titles for Children’s Book of the Year (Junior).
[ The best Irish-language books of 2024, another bumper year for all agesOpens in new window ]
You can start at any age, and this isn’t just for children attending Gaelscoileanna. They are all learning Irish at school. Because my children’s Irish is not as strong as their English, they will engage with books for younger readers; even if the story is basic, their brain is being challenged in another way. At six, my son will happily go back to lift-the-flap books, which are great for prepositions and the kind of “joining words” – over, under, behind – that adult readers can struggle to remember. This also means we get years out of the books.
Certain titles – such as Is Breá le Lúlú an Leabharlann by Áine Nic Cuinn, and Óiche Mhaith, a Ghrá by Sadhbh Devlin and Brian Fitzgerald – come with recordings of the story. This can be useful if you’re concerned about pronunciation. With every book we read, there are words I have to look up. Focloir.ie is a great resource, not only because it’s a dictionary but also because it provides audio pronunciation of each word, which is a big help when you’re trying not to pass on your own mistakes.
The least successful in our house have tended to be hugely popular English-language books translated into Irish. The language is often more complicated, because the story already exists and there isn’t much leeway with what words can be used. There has been one big exception, though: Dog Man.
The trickiest stage has been my son wanting to read by himself. His English is stronger than his Irish, so it can be hard to persuade him to read as Gaeilge. There are books where the storyline appeals but he’s not yet able for the vocabulary. Enter Dog Man as Gaeilge. The first three titles in Dav Pilkey’s phenomenally popular series have been translated into Irish by Futa Fata. As he had already read these in English, he’s more able – and eager – to read them in Irish, even if he doesn’t understand every word. They are also, in the world of six-year-olds, “cool”.
Last week, for the first time, he chose to take an Irish-language book to bed for his own reading over an English one, and it was Dog Man a dó. Other hits have been Drochlá Gruaige by Catherine Doolan, and Gruaig Áine by Eoin Colfer, translated by Sadhbh Devlin, both of which we read and laughed at together.
[ I want children to know that reading as Gaeilge isn’t just obair bhaileOpens in new window ]
Speaking Irish in public is scary. So many of us are filled with a shame-driven fear of getting it wrong. But, as I exchange a few words in the park or the supermarket with my kids, I’ve noticed more and more people interjecting with their own few words of Gaeilge. Last month we passed a bus shelter while speaking Irish and a woman stopped us and engaged in a full-blown conversation with my son. Chuir sé gliondar ar mo chroí. There are the media reports about the rising popularity of Irish, yes, but you can also feel it on the ground. And, as with many things in life, books are a good place to start.
Family favourites
These are the books our whole family have enjoyed, that get requested again and again. But honestly, we’ve rarely encountered a dud.
Cá Bhfuil Bran?
Eric Hill
This lift-the-flap story is a great starting point. The repetition of “An bhfuil sé ...” allows kids to understand it without the need for direct translation, and the pictures make the responses equally clear.
Beag Bídeach
Sadhbh Devlin agus Róisín Hahessy
This was our first leabhar Gaeilge and one we still read frequently. A little girl, wanting to get away from her annoying younger brother, wishes herself teeny tiny so she can go live in her dolls’ house. There must be half a dozen phrases from this book that have entered our daily lexicon.
Amuigh Faoin Spéir
Sadhbh Devlin agus Brian Fitzgerald
A young fox wants to stay at home and watch cartoons but his mother insists he come out for a walk. The kid has attitude, which my children enjoy, and, again, we quote lines on the regular. “Níl tada níos fearr ná luí siar ar an tolg le breathnú ar chartúín!”
Óstán na bhFeithidí
Áine Ní Ghlinn agus Mr Ando
A picture book about insects that take up rooms in a bug hotel. This is great fun to read, has plenty to talk about in the pictures and provides ample vocabulary that can be used in the park or even the garden.
Ná Gabh ar Scoil!
Máire Zepf agus Tarsila Krüse
A very funny, very clever role-reversal story in which the mother is the one nervous about her son starting big school and desperately wants him to stay home with her. It also allows you to melodramatically shout “Ná gabh ar scoil!” (Don’t go to school!) at your children in the mornings.
Míp agus Blípín
Máire Zepf agus Paddy Donnelly
The story of a lonely robot living in space who finally gets some company. My son is particularly fond of this one. He loves the concepts and the drawings. It feels slightly more mature but not too tricky.
Drochlá Gruaige
Catherine Doolan, translated by Daire MacPháidín
This is a good one for kids who’ve gained confidence to read by themselves. The vocabulary is manageable, with key words used repeatedly throughout. My six-year-old properly bellyached at parts, and I enjoyed it too.
Eachtraí Tintin: An tOileán Dubh
Translated by Gabriel Rosenstock
Several of the Tintin adventures have been translated into Irish. These are for slightly older kids but aren’t too intimidating. An tÓileán Dubh is a good starting point. This is also one an adult could read by themselves – as I have done.
