TG4's Darragh Ó Caoimh shares the best reads for improving your Irish

I spent three weeks in Biarritz the summer before my Leaving Cert. I was there to learn French and was very lucky to be placed with Maria and Mathieu, a young couple who lived right in the centre of the town, a two-minute walk from the stunning Grande Plage. The food was unbelievable – they were both trained chefs – but more importantly they were wonderful company and couldn’t have looked after me better. They were very patient and encouraging as I stuttered my way through the first few days but weren’t afraid to push me either. One day, when Maria saw me reading The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo on the couch, she asked why I wasn’t reading in French. To be honest, it hadn’t occurred to me to do so, but of course Maria was right. If I wanted to improve my spoken French, I had to be reading at the same time.

I learned a lot of my Irish in the same way. Summers in the Gaeltacht as a teenager gave me the chance to speak as Gaeilge but, at home in Kanturk, reading, listening to Raidió na Gaeltachta and watching TG4 were my only contacts with the language outside of school. For people who haven’t spoken Irish in a while, or who struggle to find the opportunity, reading can be a great way to connect with the language again.

Picking up a book in Irish might seem daunting, but a good way to start is by reading a translation. If you have already read the book, or are familiar with the plot, you are less likely to be tripped up by unfamiliar words and phrases; and with translations of books as varied as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Hobbit, and Around the World in Eight Days, there is really something for everyone. So, if reading is your thing, try out a translation to Irish for this year’s Seachtain na Gaeilge. Here are some of my favourites:

An Prionsa Beag:
Maria loaned me her copy of this book while I was in Biarritz, and it was the first book I ever read in French. Antoine Saint-Exupéry’s eponymous Little Prince is a boy from another planet who the narrator encounters when he crashes his plane in the desert. Charming, gentle, and with a quirky sense of humour, it’s a timely reminder to try our best to see the world through a child’s eyes. Published in Irish twice, you can pick from Breandán Ó Doibhlin’s 1997 version (Lagan Press), or Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde’s new translation from 2019 (Éabhlóid).

An Leon, An Bandraoi, agus an Prios Éadaigh:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first book published in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and the first book I ever read in Irish. Antain Mac Lochlainn’s brilliant translation was published by An Gúm in 2014 and introduces us many familiar characters including Lucy, Susan, Edmund, and Peter, as well as Máistir Béabhar and Máistreás Béabhar! Mac Lochlainn has also translated another book in the Chronicles, An Capall agus a Ghiolla (The Horse and His Boy).

An tAilceimiceoir:

Paulo Coelho’s best-seller The Alchemist was translated by Séamus Ó Coileáin and published by Coiscéim in 2010. It’s one of the best books that I have read in translation. Ó Coileáin also runs the wonderful website aistriúlitríochta.com. A veritable Aladdin’s cave of all things Irish translation, it includes news on the latest publications as well as a very comprehensive database of books translated into and out of Irish.

Tír na Deo:
Probably best known for her harrowing 1964 play An Triail - long a feature of the Leaving Cert Irish syllabus - Máiréad Ní Ghráda was also a gifted translator and her brilliant retelling of J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan is testament to that. First brought out in 1938 by An Gúm, Ní Ghráda’s rendering appeared in a new and standardised edition in 2019.

Na Ríthe Beaga:
The new publishing imprint Barzaz launched in 2021 and its catalogue to date includes two top quality translations by Máirín Nic an Iomaire, including one of French author Delphine de Vignan’s Les Enfants Sont Rois. Mélanie’s two young children, stars of her YouTube channel, are kidnapped. As young police officer Clara investigates, the dark side of social media and of the obsession with views becomes apparent in this thrilling read.

Dracula:
A product of the historic translation scheme of An Gúm, Bram Stoker’s Gothic classic was brought to life as Gaeilge by Séan Ó Cuirrín, a native of An Rinn in the Waterford Gaeltacht. The fact that it has been brought out in two new editions since its original publication 1933 – the most recent edition is from 2015 - is testament to the quality and enduring appeal of a translation that has become a classic in its own right.

Ar Luch agus ar Dhuine:
A John Steinbeck classic and staple of many an English literature course, Colmcille Ó Monacháin was translator Of Mice and Men and won Gradam de Bhaldraithe for his effort, published by Leabhar Breac in 2019. Ó Monacháin cleverly employs colloquial Donegal Irish to convey the speech of the ranch workers in this highly sophisticated translation.

New Island Book’s Open Door Series:
Title’s by Marian Keyes, Maeve Binchy and Ciara Geraghty are among those to appear in this series of novellas for emerging readers. Irish translations were first published in 2007, with a new batch hitting bookshelves last August. The perfect books for any new readers of Irish.