Posts

CODECS: The perfect resource for Celtic students

Image
Imagine that you’re writing a paper on a medieval Celtic text, and you want to know what has already been published on that text. Or, you are doing a course on medieval Irish palaeography, and you get confused by the insular script (been there). Fear not, because CODECS ( Collaborative Online Database and e-Resources for Celtic Studies), is here! CODECS is a great resource for everyone engaged with Celtic studies, and it can make your time as a student a whole lot easier. Therefore, you find a useful guide of using CODECS below, so you can see all the great things it has to offer! What is CODECS? CODECS, an acronym for Collaborative Online Database and e-Resources for Celtic Studies, is an online platform published by the  A. G. van Hamel Foundation for Celtic Studies . The A.G. van Hamel Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands. Named after the Dutch celticist who established the Chair of Celtic Studies at Utrecht University in 1923, the organisation p...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Happens to ‘Potential’ New Welsh Speakers?

Image
  I want you to imagine something. You're sixteen years old and you've just finished your compulsory education having spent all of your school life learning Welsh. You have practised the past participle, sung songs, prayed in Welsh, and even sat your Welsh exams. And now, you've left school with, let's say, an intermediate level of proficiency in the language. So is the experience of many school leavers in Wales. But slowly, you find that your opportunities to use Welsh have shrunk markedly. You've gone from using the language – even in little ways – on a daily basis to not at all. You forget which words to use and when, so your confidence drops. And you're now even less likely to use Welsh when the opportunity arises. Then, you leave Wales to attend university or look for work. People point out how 'Welsh' you sound and ask you if you can speak the language, but of course – like many young people – you just want to fit in. Over the years, your relations...
1 comment
Read more
Image
     On a cold day in early September, 2024, I sat down in an Introduction to Old Irish class, and my life changed forever. I realised, while poring over initial mutations and noun stems, that I wanted to continue my language studies for many years to come. But, saying that, it wasn’t easy. Old Irish can be beautiful and fascinating, but it can also be a pain to wrap your head around. In this post I want to steer you towards the resources that helped me during my Old Irish studies, in the hopes that they will help you too.   ● Old Irish Workbook by E. G. Quin      ○ It goes without saying that this was the most educational of the resources I used. It was the class textbook, and breaks down Old Irish into simple and short chapters. Each chapter builds on the previous one, and you will find that you understand more than you realise the further you read. At the end of every chapter there are exercises you can complete, in order to strengthen your languag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Doing a PhD through the medium of Gaelic – a learner’s perspective

Image
Beurla gu h-ìosal / English below Is mise Rebecca agus tha mi san dàrna bhliadhna den PhD agam aig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, colaiste na Gàidhlig san Eilean Sgitheanach, le taic-airgid bho Sgoil Ceumnachaidh na h-Alba airson Ealain agus Daonnachdan. Ged gu bheil mi a’ dèanamh am PhD agam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig, chan i a’ Ghàidhlig a’ chiad chànan agam. Rugadh is thogadh mi san Ostair agus thàinig mi a dh’Alba ann an 2022 airson na Gàidhlig ionnsachadh. Chòrd e rium cho mòr ’s gu bheil mi fhathast an seo is fiù ’s a’ dèanamh am PhD agam sa Ghàidhlig. ’S e obair chruaidh a th’ ann a bhith a’ dèanamh sgrùdadh tro mheadhan cànan cèin is tu fhathast ga ionnsachadh. Ach, chanainn-sa gur  e obair chruaidh a th’ ann a bhith a’ dèanamh PhD ann an cànan sam bith. B ha e duilich dhomh an toiseach faighinn cleachdte ri bhith ag obair an dà chuid air an rannsachadh agam agus air mo chuid Ghàidhlig is mi a’ faireachdainn mar nach robh mi a’ cur ùine gu leòr seachad air an rannsachadh fhèin. Ged ...
1 comment
Read more

“Faoi chomhair na Féile Pádraic”: St Patrick’s Day in ‘Culaith le Cois’ by Máirtín Ó Cadhain

Image
  Fianna Éireann scouts 1914 © fiannaeireann.com Traditionally seen as a well-earned break and a chance to revel and make merry in the middle of the Lenten period, St Patrick’s Day has been marked in many different ways in Ireland. Famously, it is seen at home and abroad as a time to celebrate all things Irish, real or imagined. Millions will wear green, don a shamrock and drink – perhaps excessively – to mark the festival and, of course, many will parade through towns and cities great and small to celebrate the holiday (see van der Heide 2022). As a student of modern Irish literature focusing on gender, I don’t often have an excuse to discuss Naomh Pádraig or his festival. But one text which features in my research takes place during a St Patrick’s Day parade. This short story, titled ‘Culaith le Cois’ [‘A Spare Uniform’], was written by renowned Irish-language author and activist, Máirtín Ó Cadhain (see   here ), and was published in his first collection of short stories Idi...
1 comment
Read more