agus an ciúnas/a d’fhág an té a chuaigh
in airde fadó/ina dhiaidh
and the quietness left by the one who went up long ago Continue reading
Filed under Irish language …
What’s in the name ‘Sheila’? new research
According to Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, the name Sheila derives from Cecily, ‘the English form of the Latin name of the…virgin martyr St Cecilia…The Anglo-Normans brought the name to Ireland and in time it became in the Irish language Síle.. Continue reading
Finding Our Heart in Irish
The Statement from the Heart won this year’s Australian international peace prize, the Sydney Peace Prize, from 200 nominations. Continue reading
Poems by David Harris
Today, on our morning swim together.
I watch her dive, hair streaming,
at home among the waves…
You won’t find these in the bush.
Thistles, nettles, tumbleweed,
three-cornered jacks, horehound, Continue reading
A Brief History of the Irish in Australia
A summary of Irish role in history and literature of Australia, written prior to more recent research and publications in the area. Continue reading
Irish-speakers at Trafalgar
The battle of Trafalgar in 1805, in which Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet, was considered an astonishin Continue reading
Sounds Irish: One Hundred Years of Around the Boree Log
Around the Boree Log is more than a source of nostalgia for parlour poetry. It is also a source that provides an insight into the language of Irish Australia in the early twentieth century. Continue reading
Brigid: from Goddess to Saint to Poet
The poem begins with a recognition of the unbroken chain (slabhra) from the celtic Brigid to the abbess who built her own convent in Kildare, to a modern day Brigid taking care of her family, and through to the writer, the poet. Continue reading
Musical Musings by David Harris and Dymphna Lonergan
Recently he investigated a kind of mondegreen, but of a more sophisticated nature. Here are David’s musings on the macaronic song ‘Siúil a rúin’ and the ongoing puzzle of one of the line endings: Continue reading
From Rural Irish to the Queen’s English
During a discussion of the letter Q, Tocsvig said that the word quaff possibly originated in the Irish language Continue reading
