Leaving Cert Irish paper 2: A straightforward and accessible exam

The higher level Irish paper two has been mostly welcomed as straightforward and accessible by teachers and students alike.

Dr Michael Casey, Irish teacher at the Institute of Education, said the paper was fair and had “no curve balls and surprises”, despite some challenges.

Linda Dolan, Studyclix.ie subject expert and an Irish teacher at Mercy College in Sligo, said the paper was “received with open arms” by everyone.

“It presented very straightforward questions and nothing out of the blue,” said Ms Dolan. “Students had a choice of completing either léamhthuiscint/ comprehension A or B which took the pressure off. as previously both were mandatory. There was a sting at the end of both pieces with questions on the dreaded modh coinníollach and tuiseal ginideach.”

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But John Gavin, founder of LeavingCertIrish.com, said neither of the reading comprehensions on the paper were either topical or particularly appealing to most students.

“It is very disappointing that the SEC didn’t include at least one topical and appealing comprehension that is directly connected to the lives of young people today,” he said.

“There was an abundance of great stories printed in Irish language media during the past year, whether it was about the heroism of front line workers during the pandemic or successful young Irish sports people, particularly female sports stars. Something like that would have been much better received in any given year.

“On the plus side, candidates did have a choice as to which one of them they answered,” Mr Gavin added. “For many candidates the nature of questions 6a and 6b would have determined their selection. The first comprehension about Máire Mhac an tSaoi was the more appealing of the two from that perspective.”

Mr Gavin said the structure of the questions on the first reading comprehension, about the recently deceased poet Maire Mhac an tSaoi, was generally straightforward.

Ms Dolan said the poetry questions were “lovely” and one of them was predicted to appear.

Dr Casey disagreed and said that the comprehensions gave stronger students an opportunity to show their ability, while he also liked the prose and poetry questions.

He said that the majority of students would have chosen to do An Triail in the additional literature section.

“The question that came up would have been a slight challenge for students,” he said.

“It was a two-part question, in which we look at Pádraig’s control of the mind and emotions of the young girl, and how she paid dearly for his love. It was definitely not  straightforward, but if students had taken their time here, and looked at the main character and his influence, then they should have found it more manageable.”

On the ordinary level paper, Ms Dolan said that it provided ample choice.

“It gave students the opportunity to display their knowledge of the material they had engaged in for the last two years. Students who have put in the time and effort would find this paper hard to fault,” Ms Dolan said.

Try this one at home:

Leaving Cert Irish paper two, higher level

Freagair an cheist thíos ar an scannán Cáca Milis nó ar an dráma An Lasair Choille.

Cáca Milis

‘Tugtar léiriú dúinn sa scannán Cáca Milis ar an gcaidreamh idir Catherine agus Paul agus ar an toradh a bhí ar an gcaidreamh sin.’   Déan plé ar an ráiteas sin.                                                                                                                

nó

An Lasair Choille

‘Tá léiriú sa dráma An Lasair Choille ar an gcineál saoil atá ag Séamas, an fear óg, agus ar an athrú  a thagann ar a thuiscint ar an saol sin de bharr chuairt Mhíoda.’  Déan plé ar an ráiteas sin.