by Mattie Lennon
The fact that you are reading this probably means that you are Irish, have Irish ancestry, or have a deep interest in the Emerald Isle. Perhaps you are fluent in our first national language or you are like me and have the Cupla Focal. On the other hand you may want to learn Gaeilge. One way or the other Abair Arís É, by Kathleen Geraghty , is for you. Abair Arís É aims to help children and adults learn Irish in a step-by-step way. The book is accompanied by a CD and is a very user friendly introduction to the Irish language.
Kathleen Geraghty lives and works in the Erris region of Co. Mayo. She is originally from Develane, a small village near Eachléim, located in the Mayo Gaeltacht, where Irish is spoken every day.
She was born and raised with the Irish language, and from a very young age developed a great love of it. Throughout her working life she worked on Summer camps which were all carried out through the medium of Irish. She also taut Irish classes to adults throughout the Winter months and gave one-to-one grinds for Leaving Cert pupils in preparation for their oral Irish exam. On completion of level 6 Early Childcare Course a couple of years ago She told me, “A few years ago whilst doing the adult Irish classes I decided to produce the book and CD as I found it would help people learn our lovely native tongue at their own pace and hopefully in a relaxed manner as they could listen to the lovely background music which I wanted to be relaxing for the learner. The book to date, I have been told, is very easy to follow and a great help for both adults and children. During Covid 19 I have started to write poetry also in Irish as I find it comes easier to me and I really enjoy it.”
Abair Arís É is available from, Kathleen Geraghty, Ballina Road, Belmullet, Co. Mayo.
Price (including Postage); €15.
Photos courtesy of https://www.ucc.ie/en/magazine/independentthinking2018/gaeltacht-adventures.html and http://www.ballinaartscentre.com/events/2019/jun/21/abair-aris-e-book-launch