Meet the Irish creators posting as Gaeilge

We’ve always been an extremely patriotic people, us Irish, but in the last couple of years, there has been a real and tangible strengthening in our country’s influence on the global stage across film, music, fashion and beyond. As an island with a population of less than 5.5 million, the breadth and scope of our power to be seen and heard deserves pause for applause.

We may be small, but we are absolutely and abundantly mighty.

Last year, An Cailín Ciúin made history as the first Irish-language feature film to be nominated in the ‘International Feature Film’ category at the Oscars. This year, Kneecap’s part-fiction, part-biopic has been shortlisted in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category. Their song, ‘Sick in the Head’ has also been shortlisted for ‘Best Original Song’.

With the increased ubiquity of the Irish language on the sound and airwaves, it’s only natural that Irish society wants to firm up their grip on their mother tongue, flex their cúpla focal and become more confident in their abilities to chat as Gaeilge. Maybe even get around to learning the Modh Coinníollach? One step at a time.

This is being encouraged and fostered in a myriad of ways, from coffee shops offering discounts to those who order in Irish, to community groups carving out an hour or two in their local pub to sit and talk to one another as best they can, learning a few more words and phrases as they go. Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste, ná Béarla cliste.

This grá for the Irish language is also evident on our social media feeds thanks to a number of creators posting their regular content as Gaeilge. Talking us through their outfit of the day, chatting about their week, and captioning aesthetic monthly photo dumps in Irish — it all serves to make learning to use the language in small ways every day feel more accessible. Here, we meet four creators doing exactly that…

Megan’s recommendations

Firstly, watch the Kneecap movie, it’s now available on Prime. It explores language loss, and if you aren’t currently learning Irish — you will want to after watching this movie.

Podcasts I would recommend are na Gael Gals, How to Gael and Beo ar Éigean. My favourite podcast was the Motherfoclóir podcast, they are no longer releasing new episodes but there are 180 available to listen to. I would recommend the episode ‘The Orthographic Depths’ in which Gearóidín talks about her experience learning Irish with dyslexia. The Motherfoclóir podcast is about all things Irish but it’s in English so it’s super accessible for learners!

In relation to classes for learners, Gaelchultúr is fantastic. They have classes for every level both in person and online. They also have online classes running for different time zones, you can learn even if you are based in America.

Megan’s favourite phrase

Anyone who knows me will know my favourite phrase and will have heard this a million times! It was my first tattoo and I still love it. The word I have on my arm is ‘draíocht’, and if you search it in a dictionary you will see that it is a feminine noun and that it means magic. I got it is because of the phrase ‘táim faoi dhraíocht agat’, which is something you might say if you really fancy someone, if you’re mesmerised by them. It pretty much means ‘I am under your magic’. It’s such a beautiful phrase. There are so many lovely ways for me to express myself in Irish that English just doesn’t have.

Cúán’s recommendations

TG4 makes some fantastic shows and they always have English subtitles available.

Molscéal is a fun account to follow on Instagram, they do little slice of life stories from the Gaeltachtaí and the subs are all in Irish which is handy.

I think one of the most useful things to get your standard up if you already have some Irish is listening to Raidió na Gaeltachta as much as possible — even if you have it on in the background, you pick up a bit, and the standard of Irish is impeccable. Especially the news: it plays regularly through the day and you’ll already have a sense of what’s going on in the world (hopefully) so you can piece it together more easily.

If you have a fairly high standard of Irish but you want to top it off, there’s a book called Cruinneas by Antóin Mac Lochlainn that looks at common mistakes and helps you get your Irish really exact.

Aerach Aiteach Gaelach are a queer Irish language writers’ group that organise events all around the country, they’re well worth looking into, they’re so talented and welcoming.

Anna Nic Gafraidh and Iseult Nic Con Iomaire are some of the people on TikTok I enjoy watching.

Another way to bring some Irish into your life is through music. There’s an absolutely incredible circle of people making music through Irish at the moment. Kneecap are one group that have obviously broken through into the mainstream, but there’s a whole scene of musicians like Súil Amháin, Róis, Grooveline, Huartan, and IMLÉ putting out some seriously creative music.

Cúán’s favourite phrases

• I use ‘mar dhea’ a lot, great for inserting some subtle derision into your day.
• ‘Ná bac leis’ you can say instead of ‘never mind’. I read once that Big Jim Larkin was a fan of that particular phrase.
• ‘An rud a scríobhann an púca, léann sé féin é’ – ‘What the pooka writes, the pooka will read’; for that person in your life with awful handwriting.
• ‘Chonaic mé cheana thú, arsa an cat leis an mbainne te’ – ‘I’ve seen you before, says the cat to the hot milk’. Fool me once…
• Finally, a word that we don’t have any English for: ‘Foiseach’. The part of your lawn the mower can’t quite reach.

Kate’s recommendations

I love listening to the podcast How To Gael because they switch between English and Irish so it’s easier not to get confused! Gafa le Sinéad agus Rút is another great podcast that chats about pop culture, so I find it easier to follow and recognise words! Radio Na Gaeilge is always great too. There are so many people on TikTok posting as Gaeilge now, @aoifeceara is great!

Kate’s favourite phrase

One of my favourite phrases is ‘An rud is annamh is iontach’ which means, ‘what’s rare is beautiful’ and I couldn’t agree more.

Síomha’s recommendations

Beo Ar Éigean is a gas Irish language podcast. Raidió Rí-Rá is a chart music station where you hear all the same music as the other stations but the presenters do all the chat in Irish. Following as many creators who use Irish as possible is a great way to normalise Gaeilge and see it on your daily scroll(s).

Síomha’s favourite phrases

‘N’fheadar’ is a great one. It kinda means “I wonder/who knows”. ‘Gafa‘ – ‘obsessed’. I probably use that a bit too much. And then ‘céad faoin gcéad’ is the Irish for ‘100%’, which I also overuse when agreeing zealously with people – proof of this is on the podcast!

How to Gael: Ar an mBóthar kicks off in Limerick on February 2, with dates across the country, in New York, Vancouver and Boston, as well as Dublin’s Ambassador Theatre on March 14.