Motherfoclóir - PodcastSaver

Motherfoclóir

Description

Dispatches from a not so dead language. Hosted by Darach O'Séaghdha and The Irish For… @theirishfor (https://twitter.com/Motherfocloir) Follow the show on twitter @motherfocloir or email us at motherfocloir@headstuff.org

Episodes

2026 / 1 / 21

Introducing | Gaylinn

Gaylinn dives into the weird, wonderful, and messy sides of life from sports to dating in Dublin all with humor, hot takes, and plenty of Irish language thrown in. It’s perfect for learners and fluent...

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2024 / 12 / 20

Introducing | The Greatest Matter

An audiodrama for fans of Motherfoclóir! The Greatest Matter is a new gothic crime tale set in Victorian Dublin, about a criminologist who arrives in the city and gets caught up in a murder investigation with...

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2024 / 9 / 24

Mother Tongues and Other Tongues: Behan, Doyle and Rooney in Translation

We're back! Well, sort of. In March 2024 Darach, Gearóidín and Peadar were reunited for a live Seachtain na Gaeilge event in Clondalkin Library (a home advantage for Peadar!) On the occasion of the...

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2023 / 10 / 27

Back From The Dead: Translating Transylvania

With thanks to the Bram Stoker Festival, the Motherfoclóir Podcast was resurrected for one afternoon in October 2022 to discuss the translation of Dracula into Irish by Seán Ó Cuirreáin. In this recording of...

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2022 / 3 / 14

Introducing | Words To That Effect

Motherfocloir is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network and there are lots of other shows on the network we think you might like. Words To That Effect is a show that tells stories of the fiction behind popular...

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2021 / 9 / 2

186: #186 | Last Orders - The Residents' Bar

Thank you for your support over the last four years. Thank you for inviting us into your headphones and into your head. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Thank you to Brian and Kirsten for...

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2021 / 8 / 28

BONUS | Amy Louise O'Callaghan and the Irish Arts Center NYC

If you follow Darach's Word of the Week project with the Irish Arts Center in New York, you'll have seen the artwork of Amy Louise O'Callaghan - @amylouioc on Twitter, Instagram and Etsy - who reimagines...

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2021 / 8 / 26

185: #185 | Last Orders - The Grass Beard: Finn Longman and Queer Readings of An Táin

Join us for the final episode of Motherfoclóir, live on Zoom tonight: https://www.patreon.com/posts/55377967 --- Every artistic/visual representation of Cúchulainn presents him as a hulking, ultra-masculine...

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2021 / 8 / 19

184: #184 | Last Orders - Motherfoclóir Meets Blindboy

The re-release of Professor Terence Dolan's Dictionary of Hiberno-English didn't happen by accident, but was nudged into existence by a writer who also happens to be one of the most seminal and relevant...

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2021 / 8 / 12

183: #183 | Last Orders - 32 Shades of Salach: Romance Novels with Róisín McNally

In terms of literary prestige, romance novels don't get no respect, ranking lower than sports biographies and screenplay novelisations on the scale of respectability - according to people who don't read them,...

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2021 / 8 / 5

182: #182 | Last Orders - Seven Deadly Letters - J, K, Q, W, X, Y, Z

Four years ago we started this podcast off with a discussion of the letter V. There’s been much water under the bridge since then and while we always meant to give the other seven “forbidden” letters their...

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2021 / 7 / 29

181: #181 | Last Orders - Parenting Is An Irregular Verb - Séamas Ó Reilly

Everybody is talking about Twitter sensation Séamas Ó Reilly and his hilarious yet moving memoir "Did You Hear Mammy Died?" And rightly so - it's a sensational telling of a remarkable story of a boy with...

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2021 / 7 / 22

180: #180 | Last Orders - Diabhal Scéal

When we say that a child is full of divilment, are we saying that they are possessed by Satan? No, we are not. In today's episode, Darach, Gearóidín and Peadar consider the concept of the devil in the...

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2021 / 7 / 15

179: #179 | Last Orders - Créatúrs, Sliabhíns & Digressions

Well, it couldn't last forever; Motherfoclóir will be ending forever before this autumn. Before we go on our separate ways, we'd like to bring you some topics and guests that we always meant to, but put on...

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2021 / 6 / 4

Teaser | Darach Meets ... The Europeans!

Darach chats to Katy and Dominic, the hosts of popular podcast "The Europeans". To hear the full episode and much more visit https://www.patreon.com/darach The Europeans podcast can be found at...

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2021 / 5 / 13

178: #178 | Fatal Deviation

Darach is joined by Mira Adama (@LostWolfling), along with a cast of other contributors, to discuss a cult classic of Irish cinema. Watch Fatal Deviation here:...

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2021 / 5 / 6

177: #177 | Let’s Start With Komets-Alef: Learning About Yiddish With Meena & Arun Viswanath

Recently, Yiddish became the fortieth language to join Duolingo, an achievement that followed hot on the heels of Harry Potter being translated into Yiddish. And would you believe that a brother and sister...

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2021 / 5 / 5

176: #176 | BONUS: Irish Sign Language with Caroline McGrotty

Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsORJSesv48 In 2017, Irish Sign Language (ISL) was officially given legal recognition in Ireland. Of course, it has a long history prior to this and in...

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2021 / 4 / 29

175: #175 | Up The Lagan In A Bubble: Line of Duty and the Irish Cop Trope

Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the Wee Donkey. Everyone is hooked on “Line of Duty” at the moment, the latest reinvention of the cop show genre - and, fittingly, a reinvention of the “Irish cop” trope which is...

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2021 / 4 / 22

174: #174: Ceci N'est Pas Une Gickna - Louise Selkies Ní Chuilinn

When he’s not beavering away at this very podcast, Darach does a bit of work with the Irish Arts Center in New York as part of their word of the week project. This allows him to collaborate with some exciting...

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2021 / 4 / 16

173: #173 | The Bramble: Oein De Bhairduin

There’s a song in the Mincéir tradition (made famous among settled audiences by Luke Kelly) called the 40 Foot Trailer which ends with the line “There's a bylaw to say you maun be on your way And another to...

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2021 / 4 / 8

172: #172 | By The Banks of My Own Orinoco: The Wonderful World of @EnyaComments

One of the finest new accounts to join Twitter during the pandemic has been @EnyaComments, a deceptively simple twitter handle that shares comments written under Enya videos on the YouTube.These range from...

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2021 / 4 / 2

171: #171 | Please, Mr Postman - Colm McEvoy on An Post & Eircodes

Every few weeks, a story goes viral in Ireland: a letter, addressed to someone like "that lady with the yellow baseball cap who owns a cat the size of a dog and a dog the size of a cat" is posted and finds...

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2021 / 3 / 26

170: #170 | Well, Well, Well: Vampires, Evil Fish and Holy Wells

Are things holy because we need them or do we need them because they're holy? This is something that we consider on this week's episode when holy wells are discussed. Are the legends and myths about holy...

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2021 / 3 / 19

169: #169 | The Subh Milis Not Taken - What Is The Best Loved Poem In Irish?

Back in 2015, the Paris Review ran an article on Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” and concluded that it is - by some distance - the best known and most widely referenced poem of the twentieth...

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2021 / 3 / 12

168: #168 | Last Train To Eel Town: Thoughts On Baile In Irish Placenames

Whether it's Flann O'Brien, the Book of Kells, Dindsenchas or An tOileánach, the Irish literary and literary historical traditions respect the idea of the digression - the idea that knowledge information,...

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2021 / 3 / 5

167: #167 | A Fiadh By Any Other Name: The 2020 Baby Names

At the end of February, the CSO released the 2020 baby name statistics and after a long run, Emily is no longer the top girl name in Ireland. How should we interpret this? What does it mean for existing...

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2021 / 2 / 26

166: #166 | Turscar-red For Life: Spam In Irish

Greetings agus Salutations, I am Motherfoclóir, prince of words, Irish, Irish words and words from Ireland. I have a very special request to make of you. If you listen to this podchraoladh about spam as...

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2021 / 2 / 19

165: #165 | To Claim The Emerald

In Thin Lizzy's tune Emerald, Phil Lynott tells a tale of marching men who wish to overthrow overlords, fighting a fight they believe to be right. But they bring horrible destruction in their pursuit of this...

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2021 / 2 / 12

164: #164 | May The Forts Be With You - Sinéad Mercier on Ringforts & Fairy Forts

We've spoken about fairy forts before. However, in the context of our recent discussion of placenames and bearing in mind the widespread incidences of Ráth and Lios in towns across Ireland, we decided to...

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2021 / 2 / 5

163: #163 | An Ace Up Your Sliabh: Recurring Styles in Placenames Pt. 3

Could the word slíbhín - a sly, sneaky so-and-so - possibly come from the word sliabh, meaning a mountain? Are mountain folk really that cunning, or do the people from counties with many a sliabh (counties...

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2021 / 1 / 29

162: #162 | Inis or Oileán? Recurring Styles in Placenames Pt. 2

When is an island an Inis and when is it an Oileán? In the second of our look at recurring words in Irish placenames, Darach, Gearóidín and Peadar consider islands. Why do some inland locations have...

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2021 / 1 / 22

161: #161 | Cill or Coill? Recurring Styles in Placenames Pt. 1

A lot of placenames in Ireland begin with Kil-. Sometimes this is a reference to a church, sometimes it refers to a woodland. Sometimes both. What's going on? Did the early Christians steal holy sites from...

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2021 / 1 / 15

160: #160 | Cliquebait: Gaeilge & Internet Subcultures

2021 has gotten off to a fairly spicy start and yet again the spotlight has been shone on online communities in light of events in America But what makes one community a supportive safe space but another a...

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2021 / 1 / 8

159: #159 | Swear It All Over Again: Megan Figueroa & the Politics of Expletives

You may have see promos for Nicholas Cage's new show on Netflix all about swear words. Well, we had the idea first. While Darach was slaving over Christmas dinner, Peadar and Gearóidín sat down with Dr. Megan...

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2021 / 1 / 1

The Angels' Share (Teaser)

As we take a break for Christmas and New Year, please enjoy this bonus clip from our recent Patreon discussion on all things Irish whiskey. For the full video and more visit...

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2020 / 12 / 23

158: #158 | 2020 Hindsight: MoFo Seasonal End Of Year Review

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Not much if you've been in lockdown, lad! Go easy on yourself and remember that getting this far has been an achievement in itself. This week Darach,...

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2020 / 12 / 18

157: #157 | Focal Point : Ireland's Word of the Year 2020

As December staggers towards the manhole of time and we all wait for it to fall in, a lot of linguistically minded people around the world consider what the word of the year is. All the big dictionaries do....

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2020 / 12 / 11

156: #156 | Passing Irish: Performed Identity Through Language

Multinational companies like to appear somewhat local in each of the countries they are present in. This can take many forms, especially in the advertising that the business uses to communicate with the wider...

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2020 / 12 / 4

155: #155 | Ochtó Bliain Ag Fás: Tomás Kenny & Kenny's Bookshop

Bookshops and their proprietors thrive on browsers, on customers asking for recommendations,on book launches and on all the little interactions which the pandemic has robbed us of. So what's it like to...

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2020 / 11 / 27

154: #154 | A Great Bunch Of Lads? Info-tainment and the Great Man Theory of History

The Irish for chess is ficheall (wood wisdom). A gambit is fiontar…. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, or so they say. But what do we learn when we learn history? How do we...

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2020 / 11 / 20

153: #153 | Ghosts and Dark Flames: Doireann Ní Ghríofa

She's the woman of the moment: after a sequence of acclaimed and award-winning poetry collections in both Irish and English, Clare poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa has delivered a sensational non-fiction book, "A...

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2020 / 11 / 13

152: #152 | Meet-Cutes and Cute Hoors - Ireland and the Hollywood Rom-Com

The romantic comedy, as we understand it, is a Hollywood form as specifically American as the Western, especially in how it shapes and exports America’s image of itself. Although romantic comedies were the...

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2020 / 11 / 6

151: #151 | After The Silent Letters: Louise O’Neill

Louise O’Neill, Clonakilty’s literary superstar, has never been content to limit her phenomenal writing skills to a single genre. Her latest work, “After The Silence”, sees her apply her gift for...

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2020 / 10 / 30

150: #150 | Hallowe’en Special 2020 - Is Maith Sin, Pumpkin

It’s that time of the year again when Darach, Gearóidín and Peadar turn out the lights, hold torches under their chins and tell spooky stories from around Ireland. Horror is, of course, often more about...

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2020 / 10 / 22

149: #149 | Dolphin De Siècle

Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all...

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2020 / 10 / 15

148: #148 | Inglorious Blaskets: Peig vs The Peig Myth

Peig Sayers (1873 - 1958) is one of the most remarkable figures in twentieth century Ireland. Her journey to publication is a story of beating the odds. An outsider from the Dublin literary scene by...

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2020 / 10 / 8

147: #147 | (Almost) Nothing Rhymes with Month

Ever notice how Halloween is a month long nowadays? Darach and Peadar discuss the Irish names for months of the year and days of the week, as well as Halloween songs, whether we should rename January, working...

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2020 / 10 / 1

146: #146 | A Fine Bed-Mate: The Story of “Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire”

It’s not often that an eighteenth century poem finds itself in the news, but thanks to the rave reviews and public demand for Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s “A Ghost In The Throat”, this is the situation we are now...

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2020 / 9 / 24

145: #145 | OMG is Dia Dhuit Religious?

Every human society has a tradition of bereavement and a tradition of language which, while technically bespoke to its particular needs, changes at a different speed to that society. So it goes with mourning...

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2020 / 9 / 17

144: #144 | Three Whales and the Universe: Motherfoclóir Meets Manchán Magan

In this week’s episode, Peadar and Darach are visited by Manchán Magan, the creator of the Gaeilge Tamagotchi project, Gaeilge Amháin and author of “Thirty Two Words For Field”, his new book about the Irish...

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2020 / 9 / 10

143: #143 | Emma De Souza and the Good Friday Agreement

Once upon a time there was a young woman from Derry called Emma who loved dogs, baking and movies. She didn’t think about politics very often. Then she met a Californian called Jake and fell in love. She had...

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2020 / 9 / 3

142: #142 | [untitled game episode] with Úna-Minh Kavanagh & Sarah Griffin

Earlier this year when AOC guest starred in a Donkey Kong Twitch stream in which she declared trans rights to be human rights (while batting off criticism from greying 90s pop culture warhorses like Aaron...

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2020 / 8 / 27

141: #141 | I Know What You Did Last Hot Gael Summer

It's summer again. You know what that means. In this episode, Darach, Peadar and Gearóidín look at this year's hot takes about the Irish language --- Support Motherfocloir on Patreon:...

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2020 / 8 / 20

140: #140 | Forty Shades of Green Beer: Evolving Perceptions of Irish America with Thom Dunn

Darach chats with musician and writer Thom Dunn about how perceptions of Irish America have evolved rapidly in his and his father’s lifetimes, and what he hopes Irish America will be like when his newborn is...

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2020 / 8 / 13

139: #139 | Westmoreland Who? Reappraising Dublin Street Names

If you stood on Henry Street with a big smile and asked a hundred Dubliners who it was named after, it’s unlikely you’d get a single correct answer. If you walked into a history tutorial in one of the city’s...

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2020 / 8 / 6

138: #138 | UK OK Hun? With Medb Mac Daibhead

On the week that saw the world said goodbye to civil rights hero John Hume, today’s guest and topic feel especially apt. Maev McDaid is a Derry woman in London, completing a PhD on retired Irish people in...

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2020 / 7 / 30

137: #137 | Fadúda Fadilah - Proper and Improper Multilingualism with Fadilah Salawu

Eid al-Adha shona daoibh! Why are some bilingual teenagers seen as a triumph of aspirational middle-class parenting, but others are treated as a problem to be solved? This is a matter that strikes to the...

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2020 / 7 / 24

136: #136 | The Taylor & Clancy: yarn yarns

Taylor Swift broke the Irish Internet today when she wore a geansaí. It launched a thousand versions of the same joke - she looked a bit like one of the Clancy Brothers. In today's BONUS episode we look at...

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2020 / 7 / 23

135: #135 | Secrets of the Dandelion: the Scots-Gaelic Poetry of Niall O’Gallagher

Back in episode #74, Darach and Clodagh discussed Scots Gaelic in general and a book of transgressive verse called “An Leabhar Liath” in particular. One poem they shared - Bhruadair mi leat a-raoir - got a...

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2020 / 7 / 16

134: #134 | Quarantine Sessions 12: Sin É An Tae (with Laura Gaynor)

Tea. It’s a national obsession - just ask Irish emigrants to America about the first time they tred to get their hands on a kettle. While the infusion of tea leaves in hot water might unite the city dweller...

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2020 / 7 / 9

133: #133 | Quarantine Sessions 11: It’s ALIIIVE! Creating Vicipéid (with Gabriel Beecham)

Back in 2003, a schoolboy sitting at his home computer was messing around on the internet and, without fully realising it, opened a window for the Irish language. That window was Vicipéid, and seventeen years...

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2020 / 7 / 2

132: #132 | Quarantine Sessions 10: Dustin’s Fifth Decade

It’s been another normal and sane week on the internet. It feels like only yesterday that we were chuckling about the Kardashians asking what the Debs was and Gucci were producing rip-off GAA shorts. Well,...

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2020 / 6 / 25

131: #131 | Quarantine Sessions 9: Bród 2020 with Eve Belle

One of the participants in “Women in Harmony”, a charity single for Safe Ireland (which tackles domestic abuse) is Eve Belle, a singer songwriter from Donegal. While still in college, she signed with the...

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2020 / 6 / 18

130: #130 | Quarantine Sessions 8: Plastic Fantastic! 2nd+ Generation Irish Identities in the UK with Niamh Lear

Most of us have a very clear idea of what an Irish American is and have an overview of the community's journey from the Famine to the White House. The Irish community in Britain is a different and far more...

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2020 / 6 / 11

129: #129 | Quarantine Sessions 7: Úna vs. The Kingdom of Belgium

Meet John Hyland, an Irish NGO worker whose career took him to Brussels where he fell in love with a French woman. A perfect European love story which led, as these things do, to a perfect European family....

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2020 / 6 / 4

128: #128 | Quarantine Sessions 6: Ollscoil nó Ól-scoil? The Irish Campus Novel

This week saw the final episode of Normal People, the hit TV show based on Sally Rooney’s novel set in Trinity College. Rooney’s book is just the latest in Ireland’s long tradition of novels set primarily on...

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2020 / 5 / 28

127: #127 | Quarantine Sessions 5: Manic Culchie Meme Girl

Friend of the pod Póilín Ní Géidigh (@poilination) is back on the show! Since she last joined us (in one of 2019’s most popular episodes of the show) she has taken up quill with the wonderful Irish language...

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2020 / 5 / 21

126: #126 | Quarantine Sessions 4: At Swim Two Tongues

The Irish for bilingual is dátheangach, which literally means two tongued. When Clodagh McGinley isn’t contributing to this podcast, sneaking off to be a guest on other podcasts (hello, “I Love This Band”) or...

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2020 / 5 / 14

125: #125 | Quarantine Sessions 3: Amhrán na Fíon (with Shamim De Brún)

Ireland’s relationship with wine is unusual - we drink a lot of it but we do not produce it ourselves, and historically we fall between the stools of Europe and the post-colonial “New World” which divide the...

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2020 / 5 / 7

124: #124 | Quarantine Sessions 2: London Calling (with Ciara McShane)

In the past decade, certain subcultures have been identified in social media. Fiat 500 Twitter, FBPE and Scottish Twitter have all been documented to some degree as having their own implied sets of rules,...

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2020 / 5 / 6

123: #123 | Quarantine Sessions 1: Tír na nÓg

We had some very fine plans for Season 3, but, like the best laid schemes of mice and men, they have “gang aft agley” (been ruined) by external events. We have been fortunate that the team is all doing well...

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2020 / 3 / 27

BONUS | Behind The Bestseller - Sam Blake Talks To Darach Ó Séaghdha

To keep you all going during these strange times, here is Motherfoclóir's own Darach Ó Séaghdha in conversation with Sam Blake on another HeadStuff Podcast, Behind the Bestseller. Stay safe and...

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2020 / 2 / 7

122: #122 | The Skellig List: Irish Storytelling from Mythology to TikTok with Róisín McNally

“Basic Structure of an Irish Fairytale: Don’t do the thing Does the thing Death” Do you understand what mythology is, and its role in the way all stories are told and heard? Do you understand what...

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2020 / 1 / 31

121: #121 | Book ‘em, Gráinne: 2020 at An Siopa Leabhar

It’s a new year and Gráinne Ní Mhuilneoir from An Siopa Leabhar is here to tell us all about the new and upcoming books as Gaeilge in 2020. ====Translations now available==== Asterix agus na Cluichí...

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2020 / 1 / 24

120: #120 | Raft of the Medusa: The Pogues and London Irish Identities

In a way, a band like the Pogues had to form in London rather than on the island of Ireland itself, where they would’ve been primarily associated with their town or county rather than the entire Irish...

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2020 / 1 / 17

119: #119 | Coinín Snámh: Síomha Ní Ruairc Is Keepin’ It Réalt

Talent. Does it actually exist, or is it just an invention that takes credit for the cruel mix of hard work and good luck (or good work and hard luck) which decides our fate? Maybe we can find out by watching...

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2020 / 1 / 10

118: #118 | Thirty-Two Carat Gaeilge - Costing and Valuing a Language

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it. That’s a quote attributed to the Roman senator Publius Syrus, who also said that a good reputation is more valuable than money. We hear a lot on the...

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2020 / 1 / 3

117: #117 | The Blue, Blue Grass of Home: Irish in Appalachia with Rebecca Wells

When we in Ireland think of Irish-America, our minds tend to rush towards rivers died green, New York cops and maybe even a Massachusetts political dynasty. But there’s a lot more to the story than that. In...

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2019 / 12 / 27

116: #116 | Don't F*** With Fairy Forts

Listen. Sure lookit. Na Daoine Uaisle. The fairy folk.. We wouldn't want to be bothering them. In this week's episode, Gearóidín, Peadar and Darach tiptoe around the delicate business of addressing the...

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2019 / 12 / 20

115: #115 | Nollag-atomi Tower: Motherfoclóir’s Third Christmas Episode

What a year. What a week. What a decade! It’s Christmastime again and Darach, Peadar and Gearóidín have met up to reflect on the passing of time. In this week’s episode they look at the 2010s as the decade...

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2019 / 12 / 13

114: #114 | The Jesuits Have It All Sewn Up: Dinneen’s Dictionary

If this episode of Motherfoclóir is exactly as long as your psychotherapy session, maybe that’s not a coincidence. Poor old Podcast Dad Darach is on the couch this week, whining like a man-baby about his...

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2019 / 12 / 6

113: #113 | Word Up: A History of Ireland in 100 Words with Dr. Sharon Arbuthnot

After five years of preparation and development, the RIA have released “A History of Ireland in 100 Words” in 2019. The book looks at the stories behind words found in the Academy’s Dictionary of the Irish...

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2019 / 11 / 29

112: #112 | All Eyez On Me-nooth: Dafe Orugbo from Tebi Rex

Maynooth holds a special place in the heart of this show. Two of the core crew - Éimear and Peadar - are Maynooth graduates, and our most popular episode to date is a sensational live show at the Maynooth...

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2019 / 11 / 22

111: #111 | Motherfoclóir Beo: Our Netmovies Elevator Pitches

It’s Dublin Podcast Festival time again! This year the Motherfoclóir gang appeared as part of a double bill with The Irish Passport at The Button Factory on November 17th. This episode is the live recording...

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2019 / 11 / 15

110: #110 | She Who Reads, Leads: Lisa Coen, Tramp Press & A Solar Decade in Irish Literature

The 2010s will go down as an extremely significant decade in Irish literature in both of our official languages. The bailout and its aftermath affected the country heterogeneously and the literary scream in...

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2019 / 11 / 8

109: #109 | No Faloorum: Merriman’s Cúirt An Mheán Oíche

One of the most talked about, well loved and critically acclaimed TV shows of the past year has been the second season of Fleabag, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s titular character finding an unlikely connection...

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2019 / 10 / 31

108: #108 | Samhain Special! Áras an Spook-taráin

Welcome to our annual spooky Samhain episode! Darach is joined by Peadar and Gearóidín to share their best Irish haunted house stories. Hear all about Mag from Laois, mischievous Gertrude Curran from...

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2019 / 10 / 29

107: #107 | Fomhar Bonus Episode: Clodagh Hates Autumn

It is a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible season. That's the view of Motherfoclóir's Clodagh McGinley, who is unimpressed by the golden leaves, soft sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes that...

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2019 / 10 / 24

106: #106 | Hector

This week Darach, Ola and Peadar are joined by bilingual broadcasting superstar Hector Ó hEochagáin. Since his breakout success with the Amú series in the early 2000s, Hector has become one-name-famous and...

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2019 / 10 / 17

105: #105 | Stepping On A Craic: Donald Clarke & The Word That Announced Modern Ireland

Every few months on the Irish side of the internet, a certain debate pops up about the spelling of a word. The word refers to convivial merriment, especially in an Irish context. But should it be spelled...

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2019 / 10 / 10

104: #104 | Banríon Ealaíne: Kirsten Shiel Speaks

The changes in Irish self-identity in the 2010s hinge on the rise of social media, especially how those networks completely altered the way two perennial features of Irish society - emigration and Gaeilge -...

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2019 / 10 / 3

103: #103 | Highway to Helvetica: Clare O’Dea and the Irish-Swiss Connection

Switzerland is one of those countries that doesn’t pop up in the news very often but appears to be ticking along nicely. In this regard it is not unlike Norway, another country that has chosen to keep an...

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2019 / 9 / 27

102: #102 | Whatever Happened to Bean Pháidín? - Irish Lyrics in Translation

It’s a tale as old as time - boy meets girl, boy is married, girl wants to break boy’s wife’s legs. Or maybe it’s the simple story of a girl in love with a cobbler, forbidden to go to the fair and waiting for...

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2019 / 9 / 19

101: #101 | Compulsory Elvish: the Irish Language, Fantasy and Roleplaying Games

“Only a game designed by nerds would have charisma as a fantasy power” Gravity Falls A few weeks ago, Orla Ní Dhúill wrote a blogpost that got tongues wagging across the internet. The issue she wanted to...

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2019 / 9 / 12

100: #100 | Mailbag 5: One Hundred Nights in Motherfoclóir

It is our hundredth episode! We are delighted to still be here and even more thrilled that you, are listeners, are still here. To mark this august occasion, Darach, Clodagh and Peadar have dipped into the...

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2019 / 9 / 5

99: #99 | Mom Genes: Hiberno-English vs. Global Pop Culture English

When German-Morroccan DJ Mousse T recorded the song “Horny” in 1998, he surely had no idea that he was creating a Pompeii-like cultural artefact, one that preserved evidence of what a world was like minutes...

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2019 / 8 / 29

98: #98 | Craictivism: Motherfoclóir Meets Lisa Nic An Bhreithimh

As the 2010s draw to a close, we’ll be looking back at one of the most significant decades in the Irish history since the Civil War. It is a decade that began and ended with wēijī (crisis-opportunity) moments...

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2019 / 8 / 23

97: #97 | Sin é, Achebe: Translating the Great Nigerian Novel into Irish

The Irish for a Prime Minister is Príomh-Aire; Taoiseach is specifically the title of the Prime Minister of Ireland and it comes from the old word for a tribal chief. This word is still used on the Nuacht on...

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2019 / 8 / 15

96: #96 | Hot Gael Summer: Clichés in Opinion Pieces About Irish

The concept of the “silly season” is arguably a dated one in the era of 24 hour news and social media; it dates back to a time when daily newspapers had to fill gaps created by the closure of houses of...

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2019 / 8 / 9

95: #95 | Highway To Helsinki: Finland, Swedish and Ireland

The Swedish language represents a kind of "what might have been" for Irish speakers - although there were less Swedish speakers than Irish in the world at the beginning of the 19th century, Swedish is the...

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2019 / 8 / 1

94: #94 | Follow This User: Myra Zepf and “Nóinín”

Some of the most powerful books for and about teenagers take the form of a diary: Adrian Mole, I Capture The Castle, Go Ask Alice and even The Color Purple (although that spreads beyond the teenage years). So...

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2019 / 7 / 25

93: #93 | Insta-grammar: The Wonderful World of @muinteoirmeg

We’re nearly at the end of this strange and dark decade and it’s hard to know what to make of it at this stage. So much has happened since New Year’s Eve 2009 that could not have been predicted, much of it...

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2019 / 7 / 18

92: #92 | An Astral Week: Seven Days That Shook The North (with Claire Mitchell)

"For me, the Irish language was like a ghost limb". The days leading up to the 12th of July are often tense and dramatic ones in the North of Ireland, but never more so than in 2019. After months and months...

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2019 / 7 / 12

91: #91 | Go Rabbi Maith Agat: Cecelia Beyer’s Irish Journey

Some people out there wouldn’t see a rabbinical calling and a love of Irish dancing and sean-nós singing as a likely pairing. Those people have not met Darach’s guest this week. Saoirse Cecelia Beyer is a New...

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2019 / 7 / 4

90: #90 | Wingardium LeviÓSéaghdha - Translating Harry Potter into Irish

Gearóidín is a Gryffindor. Peadar is a Hufflepuff. Darach, however, is a muggle who has not read the books, only seen a few of the films and has not yet tuned into the audiobook (famously read by Ros na Rún...

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2019 / 6 / 27

89: #89 | The Sadbh Mind: Children’s Stories and Parental Guilt with Sadhbh Devlin

When it comes to food, television or books, there are no tougher critics than small children. They won’t spare your feelings the way adults have been trained to, but they are loyal to what they love. However,...

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2019 / 6 / 20

88: #88 | Mailbag 4: Crouching Poet, Hidden Focphoc

It’s mailbag time again! Here at Motherfoclóir we love to receive your correspondence, suggestions, corrections and observations. Since we last opened the mailbag we’ve received a wheelbarrow-full of such...

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2019 / 6 / 13

87: #87 | You Give Leanbh A Bad Name: Baby Names with Colm O'Regan

What's in a name? For most of the world's population, Irish names are the only contact they have with Gaeilge, and this is where its reputation for beauty and difficulty is perpetuated. Prospective parents...

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2019 / 6 / 6

86: #86 | Under The Spanish Arch - Español and Irlandes

Like an old friend you don't really want to see right now, summer has arrived in Ireland, and with it a smartly-turned out stampede of Spanish students. For decades, these stylish loudmouths have been...

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2019 / 5 / 30

85: #85 | The Dublin Mid West Wing: a Motherfoclóir Election Fairytale

Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh, the Johnny Giles of the Motherfoclóir High Table, put his money where his mouth was this year, deciding to stand for election. After a gruelling PR-STV count, our boy won his seat and...

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2019 / 5 / 23

84: #84 | Copper Face Paperbacks 2: An Siopa Leabhar revisited

Gráinne Ní Mhuilneoir is the new bainisteoir of An Siopa Leabhar on Harcourt Street, taking over from our good friend and occasional contributor Caitlín Nic Íomhar (who has since been published in the...

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2019 / 5 / 17

83: #83 | Unroyal Flush - Could Brexit Unite Ireland?

Welcome to series 2 of Motherfoclóir! We've missed you something terrible so we have. An awful lot has been happening lately so to kick things off we're having a quick look at a topic that's likely to be...

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2019 / 5 / 15

Motherfoclóir Season 2 Trailer

SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! THIS MOTHERFOCLÓIRIN' FRIDAY! Like, rate, review and subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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2019 / 3 / 15

82: #82 | My Dad Google Translated a Porno: Motherfoclóir Beo In Maynooth Pt. 2

We're really sorry, but sure look, it was bound to happen at some stage. Darach is still on leave and the gang has finally gone off the rails. They start out innocent enough, sure. Peadar and Gearóidín and...

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2019 / 3 / 8

81: #81 | A Woman's Place: Motherfoclóir Beo In Maynooth

Motherfoclóir Beo was recorded in front of a live audience in the Maynooth Students' Union Venue as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2019\. Gearóidín and Eimear explore the 1937 Constitution and in particular the...

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2019 / 3 / 1

80: #80 | What Happens Next Will Laoighseach You!

Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha is a researcher, educator and activist. It was in this latter capacity that she became the driving force behind An Foclóir Aiteach/The Queer Dictionary, a glossary of LGBTQI+...

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2019 / 2 / 22

79: #79 | Ireland's Next Top Coddle: Máirtín's Magic Meals

Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is a lecturer in TU Dublin and a well-travelled chef and TV presenter. He's the world's leading expert in Irish food history, so why he agreed to appear on our podcast, we'll never...

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2019 / 2 / 15

78: #78 | Turning Over a New Líofa: Fluency is a Whatchamacallit

Gearóidín and Peadar discuss the idea of fluency. Can you really be fluent? Even if you know literally all the words? Gearóidín and Peadar can communicate in Finnish and French respectively by shrugging and...

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2019 / 2 / 8

77: #77 | A Rose By Any Other F**king Name

Darach is on leave, so Gearóidín takes the hot seat as the gang are joined by a special guest. Brianna Parkins was the Sydney Rose in 2016 and when she took the stage in Tralee she used her platform to call...

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2019 / 2 / 1

76: #76 | Irish Blood, Gaelic Heart: Nazis, Britpop and Jamie Oliver

Darach is back in studio this week, as he and Peadar begin the podcast by discussing the rising trend of Alt-Right Twitter trolls attempting to weaponise the Irish language. The irony of two white men...

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2019 / 1 / 25

75: #75 | Class Clown: #WhyIrish and Motherfoclóir Duolingo Clubs

Where's Darach? He's not in the studio today, so Éimear and Gearóidín are running riot, throwing paper aeroplanes across the Headstuff classroom and talking loudly. During her curation of the @motherfocloir...

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2019 / 1 / 18

74: #74 | Tossing the Caber: "An Leabhar Liath", a pre-introduction to Scots Gaelic

Ireland and Scotland have a lot in common, and this is especially true of Irish and Scots Gaelic. Students of Irish could make a decent stab at the meanings of thousands of Scots Gaelic words and not be far...

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2019 / 1 / 11

73: #73 | Losing the Plot - Cré na Cille

It is fitting that a book set in a cemetery has come to be known as the graveyard of translators. Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s masterpiece Cré na Cille was described in the New Yorker as “too good to translate”...

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2019 / 1 / 4

72: #72 | Falling For A Gaeilgeoir

Irish speakers are referred to in Ireland as a community, a lobby group or even a kind of secret society: a bloc of people with specific and predictable values and objectives, distinct from the mórchultúr of...

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2018 / 12 / 21

71: #71 | A Very Motherfoclóir Nollaig

It has been quite a year for the Motherfoclóir project - there's been online and offline mayhem of many categories in multiple languages. In this week's episode, Darach, Peadar and Gearóidín take a look back...

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2018 / 12 / 20

70: #70 | "Introduction", a Reading from Craic Baby

Darach Ó Séaghdha's first book, "Motherfoclóir: Dispatches From A Not So Dead Language" was the winner of the Popular Non-Fiction award at the 2017 Irish Book Awards. Today's bonus episode is an extract from...

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2018 / 12 / 14

69: #69 | Seo Ciara, Seo Ciara

As "Bliain na Gaeilge" draws to a close and we look back, one of the moments of Irish language activism that casts a long shadow is **#NílSéCGL - it's not okay**. The hashtag struck a chord with Irish...

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2018 / 12 / 7

68: #68 | Decades of the Rosary: Ní Ghráda's "An Triail"

The golden age of Irish censorship ended in 1967 when Brian Lenihan Sr introduced a time limit on certain banning orders, leading to thousands of forbidden texts becoming available. Since 1929, a wealth of...

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2018 / 11 / 30

67: #67 | Another World Altogether: Donegal Irish

The partition of Ireland in 1922 only included six of Ulster's nine counties in Northern Ireland. This led to the beautiful county of Donegal being cut off- politically and economically distant from its near...

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2018 / 11 / 23

66: #66 | Twelve Angry Gaeilgeoirí - Juries & Irish

Somewhere in the Gaeltacht, a local man (whose first language is Irish) is accused of assaulting another Irish speaker with a broken bottle. What language should the trial be held in? If it is to be in Irish,...

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2018 / 11 / 16

65: #65 | Manannach (dú dú dí dú dú)

As any Caoimhe, Siobhán or Medb living abroad will tell you, Gaeilge uses different spelling conventions to Béarla. Students who struggle with this might be interested to hear more about Manx, the Gaelic...

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2018 / 11 / 9

64: #64 | It's Always Sunny In Leavingcertia: Motherfoclóir Ardteist Special

Every summer, the Irish people sacrifice thousands of teenagers to Lú, the sun god, so that he will offer them good weather. This sacrifice is called "The Leaving". There's more to Irish than the Leaving...

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2018 / 11 / 2

63: #63 | All The President's Dogs

**Gadhrach (adj): dog-living, full of dogs.** Despite her massive popularity over here, Saoirse Ronan's hosting slot on Saturday Night Live earned her a slew of criticism. The very idea that Irish people...

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2018 / 10 / 31

62: #62 | The Vampirish For

**"Is doiligh drochrud a mharú" - it's hard to kill a bad thing. (Irish proverb)** It's Hallowe'en again and the time is right for a Motherfoclóir Samhain Special! Is Annual Sweetgiving Day a capitalist...

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2018 / 10 / 26

61: #61 | The Light In The Window: Irish Presidents and the World

**Diaspora: from the Greek word diaspeirein "to scatter about, disperse," from dia "about, across" + speirein "to scatter".** The word "diaspora" was not used in the Irish context until Mary Robinson did so,...

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2018 / 10 / 19

60: #60 | Map of Ballybeg: Friel's "Translations"

Few writers ever managed to achieve the triple crown of critical acclaim, popular success and sustained relevance that Brian Friel managed in his five-decade long career. In this week's episode, Darach,...

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2018 / 10 / 12

59: #59 | Motherfoclóir Live: All The Presidents Meáin

On Wednesday 10th of October, Darach, Gearóidín, Peadar and Éimear swooped upon the Sugar Club on Lesson Street to discuss the importance of the Irish language to the role of president. Three presidents in...

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2018 / 10 / 5

58: #58 | The Tribe of Dé Danann

"Hamlet has been performed in Klingon" Aisling Carolan. For a poet, the fact that the Irish word tír (country) and the English word tear (a sad drop of water) sound the same is profoundly significant. For a...

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2018 / 9 / 27

57: #57 | Mailbag 3: Tiocfaidh Ár Drift

It's Mailbag time again, when the Motherfoclóir team review correspondence that has been submitted to the show by email to motherfocloir@headstuff.org. In this week's visit to the postroom, Darach, Ola and...

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2018 / 9 / 21

56: #56 | Áras Report 1: The Top Job

Irish presidential elections are rare and brutal, but voters have chosen some truly remarkable and inspiring people for the role. Perhaps more than the role of Taoiseach, the presidency has reflected the...

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2018 / 9 / 14

55: #55 | Yeah, Gnó, Maybe

For nearly two centuries, we have been told that English is the language of commerce and industry and that the Irish language sits outside this world, peeping in. Could a company from Ireland ever use Gaeilge...

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2018 / 9 / 7

54: #54 | Midlands Mayhem: Motherfoclóir at Electric Picnic

The Irish for Stradbally is an tSráidbhaile, which means village (or street-town if you want to be very literal about it). For a weekend at the end of summer every year, Stradbally hosts the Electric Picnic...

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2018 / 8 / 30

53: #53 | Polar Béarla

The breakthrough star of Irish twitter in 2018 must surely be @ruthiefizz – while other tweeters have hurled poorly-cogitated stock arguments at each other, her “Other Ireland” account has used the...

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2018 / 8 / 24

52: #52 | Passing The Collection Plate: Papal Taxes in Medieval Ireland

The Irish for tax is cáin… not to be confused with caoin, which is crying. In life the two great certainties are death and taxes, which is fitting given that many forms of taxation were first introduced to...

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2018 / 8 / 17

51: #51 | Pumpaí/Dancing at the Crossroads

Michael Flatley has been in the news again with his new film “Blackbird” (possibly named for an Irish set dance) and his questionable choice of followed Twitter accounts. No matter how successful his foray...

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2018 / 8 / 10

50: #50 | Unconditional Love: The Modh Coinníollach

**"If I were a boy /Even just for a day /I’d roll outta bed in the morning /And throw on what I wanted and go"** **Beyoncé Knowles, If I Were A Boy, 2007** Welcome to our 50th episode! If you're a regular...

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2018 / 8 / 3

49: #49 | And Off With She - Tara Flynn & Peig Sayers

"Peig passes the Bechdel Test". Sparklingly witty, unfailingly honest, sometimes misunderstood and with a grá for the Gaeilge, Tara Flynn and Peig Sayers are two women who have been unfairly criticised a lot...

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2018 / 7 / 27

48: #48 | Mèredictionnaire

_The Irish word for a rat, francach, can also mean a French person (when capitalised)._ In their most recent media campaign, Vodafone have paid tribute to a long-standing tradition in Irish advertising; the...

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2018 / 7 / 20

47: #47 | Ceo, Craiceann agus Cumhracht: An Introduction to Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Famously, much is lost in translation. However, writing is a lonely calling, and the act of literary translation by one's peers presents an opportunity for literary intimacy. Two versions of a poem, presented...

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2018 / 7 / 13

46: #46 | The Waka and the Curach: Te Reo and Irish

2018 has been a landmark year for women’s rights in both Ireland and New Zealand. At home, we have voted to repeal the 8th Amendment. Our Antipodean mates have acknowledged a different aspect of reproductive...

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2018 / 7 / 6

45: #45 | 2 Mailbag 2 Furious

Welcome to the second Motherfoclóir Mailbag show! Listener feedback allows us to see how we’re doing, bring any clarifications to light and gives us ideas for new shows. You can email us at...

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2018 / 6 / 29

44: #44 | Duolingo – New Rules

Your ex – the one who doesn’t like you as much as you like them and knows it – sends a “you up?” text at 11.32pm. Should you not pick up the phone… or, instead of replying, why not practice your Irish on...

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2018 / 6 / 22

43: #43 | Pride/Bród

This week's episode is about Bród - no, not Miggledy Higgins's best dog (sorry Shadow!) but LGBTQ+ Pride, which is celebrated in Dublin from the 21st to the 30th of June. Ever since the 2015 marriage equality...

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2018 / 6 / 15

42: #42 | No spoilers - Rick O'Shea and ROSBC

In the second episode from our live show at the International Literature Festival Dublin, Darach and Éimear are joined by the King of (Book) Clubs himself, Mr. Rick O'Shea. The Rick O'Shea Book Club (ROSBC)...

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2018 / 6 / 8

41: #41 | Druid Fluid: Medieval Mythbusting with @VoxHib

In this week's episode - recorded live at Smock Alley Theatre as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin - Darach and Éimear are joined by Terry O'Hagan, the man behind the Vox Hiberionacum...

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2018 / 6 / 1

40: #40 | Lá na hAfraice- Africa Day

The Irish for Wakanda Forever is "an Uácaind Abú!" The Irish language has enough problems to deal with without being co-opted by bigots. Earlier this year, for example, a protester against the Black Lives...

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2018 / 5 / 25

39: #39 | Count Darach-ula

It's Referendum Day, and given the massive task of counting votes that is ahead of us, what better time to chat about the way counting works in Irish? It's all especially intriguing as the way we count people...

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2018 / 5 / 18

38: #38 | Happily Emher After - Women of the Táin

There's been a lot of talk about obstreperous women lately, so what better time to consider the fierce female characters of the Táin? In this week's episode, Éimear tells Darach about Cuchulainn's wife Emer...

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2018 / 5 / 4

37: #37 | At Swim Two Flann-oraks

Host Darach and Motherfoclóir regular Siún share many obsessions, but the one they discuss on today's show is the writer Flann O'Brien… also known as Myles na gCopeleen… also known as Brian O'Nolan. As a...

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2018 / 4 / 27

36: #36 | A Right Article: Article 8 of Bunreacht na hÉireann

The number 8 is full of mystery in the Irish language. There's the "hateful eight" letters that were added in the 20th century. There's a Eighth Amendment, which you may have heard of. And then there's...

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2018 / 4 / 20

35: #35 | Citation Needed - Updating Vicipéid

This week Darach is in London on Motherfoclóir business and is broadcasting from the British Library at Kings Cross rather than the HeadStuff studios. This setting is appropriate as this week's topic is An...

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2018 / 4 / 13

34: #34 | Mots, Spanners and the Round System

"Are we all just characters in a Roddy Doyle Facebook status?" Dublin City's official motto is Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas - obedient citizens, happy city. But do they obey because they're happy or are...

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2018 / 4 / 6

33: #33 | Langers, Gowls and our Oral Tradition

Today's episode is a game of two halves. In part one Darach chats to Jody Coogan about certain articles of Hiberno-English slang (specifically, Munster slang) and they discuss whether they have an Irish...

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2018 / 3 / 30

32: #32 | Once Upon An Island: Old Ireland, Old Irish

"Languages are like ogres; they have layers". Éimear Duffy knows a thing or two about Ireland and Irish in the rare aul' times (specifically the 7th to 9th century). In this week's episode, she tells Darach...

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2018 / 3 / 23

31: #31 | See Ya Later, Machine Translator

Teresa Lynn is a computational linguist who specialises in technology and Irish language. She visits Darach, Gearóidín and Ola on today's episode to defend machine translation from all the misguided criticism...

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2018 / 3 / 16

30: #30 | Copper Face Paperbacks - An Siopa Leabhar

It has been said that bookshops are the afterlife for good trees and the sound of turning pages is a kind of prayer to them. Belfast bookworm Caitlín Nic Íomhair is the manager of An Siopa Leabhar on...

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2018 / 3 / 9

29: #29 | Catch 40.3.3

There's going to be a lot of talk about Bunreacht na hÉireann in the coming weeks, a document where the subtle differences between wording in English and in Irish can make a big difference. In today's...

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2018 / 3 / 2

28: #28 | Leabhar Power: Dave Rudden

Ireland has been producing some remarkable YA fiction in recent years, much of which has addressed received notions of Irishness implicitly and explicitly. This is a valuable exercise in the context of...

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2018 / 2 / 23

27: #27 | Just Say No

As languages don't match each other exactly, linguists and psychologists have debated if specific grammatical features shape the thought patterns of separate language communities differently. Are Germans...

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2018 / 2 / 15

26: #26 | Getting A Word In

The Buddha teaches that "when words are true and kind, they can change our world". Today's special guest, Sineád Burke, exemplified this spirit when she decided to get an entry included for "little person" in...

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2018 / 2 / 9

25: #25 | Searc Week

"An sgéal fada ní hé is fearr" - the longest tale is not the best. As Valentine's Day approaches, the Motherfoclóir gang turn their thoughts to the wealth of love poetry written in the Irish language....

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2018 / 2 / 2

#24 | Mailbag (or should we say "Male Bag"?)

The beating heart of this podcast is its wonderful lucht leanúna - the loyal listeners. We're always keen to know how you think we're getting on, and in today's episode Darach, Éimear, Peadar and Gearóidín...

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2018 / 1 / 26

23: #23 | Lenition Impossible - Séimhiú Nation

"Éist means listen, péist is a worm, éistphéist is an earworm". Just like Alan Rickman's character in Die Hard, Darach rhapsodises over the benefits of a classical education in today's episode. The genitive...

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2018 / 1 / 19

22: #22 | Hey Girl, Are You An Irish Dictionary?

The Irish for a chat-up line is 'briathra meala'. An innocent bystander might be forgiven for thinking that there are two Carl Kinsellas: one, the articulate and outspoken writer with joe.ie… and the other,...

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2018 / 1 / 12

#21 | All About Ailbhe

“By fifth and sixth year, you’re dreaming in Irish”. It’s a little Coláiste Íosagáin reunion on Motherfoclóir this week as Darach is outnumbered by two past pupils: regular contributor Ola Majekodunmi and...

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2018 / 1 / 5

#20 | Gettin’ Schooled

Although it is regularly cited as the reason some people dislike Irish, Peig has been off the school curriculum for so long that we have adult Irish speakers wandering the streets and hills who were born...

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2017 / 12 / 29

Best of The HeadStuff Podcast Network 2017

So here we are, at the end of another year, the 2017th year… can you believe there have already be 2017 years on this planet? Amazing really. Anyway, what we have compiled here is the best of The HeadStuff...

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2017 / 12 / 22

#19 | Nollaig/Yule/Christmas Special

Nollaig shona to all our listeners! In today’s very special yuletide special, Gearóidín tells the gang about Christmas in Finland, Peadar gets excited about wrens, Darach dwells on the practicalities of...

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2017 / 12 / 15

#18 | An Irish Pronunciation Special: B, M, W

“Chomh ramhar le rón – as chubby as a seal” In Germany, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) is pronounced BMV. In Latin, Vs are pronounced as Ws. Humans have been switching these sounds with each other for some...

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2017 / 12 / 8

#17 | The Secret Diary of a Cinnire, Age 16 1/2

As the author of five YA novels and the presenter of HeadStuff’s Sweet Valley High podcast “Double Love”, Anna Carey knows a thing or two about teen drama. In this week’s episode, she joins Darach and Éimear...

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2017 / 12 / 1

#16 | Irish Language Music Collective IMLÉ

Language and music are strange bedfellows. A huge factor in our continental cousins’ proficiency in English comes from their consumption of English-language pop culture, especially pop music. However, while...

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2017 / 11 / 24

#15 | The Irish for Viral: Clisare

Mayo mirthmaker Clare Cullen, better known as Clisare, is the Queen of Irish YouTube. With a staying power not typical in the viral age, she has been delighting her thousands of loyal followers since 2012...

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2017 / 11 / 17

#14 | Ó Mo Dhia, Nach Aisling Ceart í?

One of the most recent Irish words to enter common parlance is Aisling – a sensible girl from outside Dublin with an aversion to notions. While the origin of other words based on names are lost in the mists...

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2017 / 11 / 10

#13 | She’s A Shoo-In

After a ten episode absence, Louth Legend Siún Ní Dhuinn is back at her Motherfoclóir desk in HeadStuff studios. She tells Darach and Clodagh all about As An Nua (her bilingual feminist fashion blog) and Beo...

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2017 / 11 / 3

#12 | Is Éireannach Mé

As former British colonies with lots of green on their flags, where St. Patrick is the patron saint and where Guinness is hugely popular, Nigeria and Ireland are countries with plenty in common. In this...

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2017 / 10 / 27

#11 | The Motherfoclóir Spooky Halloween Special

It’s the spookiest night of the year, so what better time to share some eerie Irish words? Darach, Ola, Gearóidín and Peadar discuss the ancient roots of Samhain, the mysteries of brack and monkey nuts… and...

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2017 / 10 / 20

#10 | A Song For Ireland: Amhrán na bhFiann

National anthems – and the manner in which people observe them – are controversial (linguistically and politically) most of the time, but especially so in 2017\. Amhrán na bhFiann is the Irish National Anthem...

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2017 / 10 / 13

#9 | The Orthographic Depths

Regular listeners will be acquainted with team Motherfoclóir member Gearóidín McEvoy by now – ex-translator, constitution buff, Lawyers for Choice volunteer, minority language rights champion, Scandi-phile,...

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2017 / 10 / 6

#8 | The Gaeilgeoir’s Code: Aireamhan

Neal Ó Riain is the boy across the road who your Mam compares you to. He literally has a PhD in Astrophysics, a fine job in London and – of course – fluent Irish. However, Neal is sweeter than his native...

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2017 / 9 / 29

#7 | Pop-Up Gaeltacht

Pop-Up Gaeltacht is PUG for short. The Irish for a pug is smutmhadra. The Irish for smut is salachar, which is an anagram of “ah rascal”. Darach goes down a wormhole with Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh, one half of...

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2017 / 9 / 22

#6 | The Letter A

The letter A (and her saucy sister, Á) are the subject of today’s episode, a pronunciation masterclass with Darach, Peadar, Éimear and Ola . We’ll be meeting cats, boats, cakes, bad weather, terrible puns and...

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2017 / 9 / 15

#5 | The Irish for Passport

The Irish for Passport is pas, which can also mean an episode in time or a fit (of rage or madness, for example). This week Darach is joined by journalist Naomi O’Leary, who has written extensively about EU...

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2017 / 9 / 8

#4 | Brehon vs Bunreacht: Family Law

The power of words touches all our lives, never more urgently than when those words form laws. In the first of an ongoing series, Darach talks to Eimear (Brehon Badass) and Gearóidín (Constitution...

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2017 / 9 / 1

#3 | Surname/HerName

Surnames, a relatively recent invention, are done differently from language to language. In Irish, conventions exist to include gender and marital status identifiers in female surnames, but choices are still...

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2017 / 8 / 25

#2 | Google Translate

The computers are coming after our jobs – are translators next? It’s a piece of technology straight out of science fiction – a website tool that translates text between any two of a range of languages (many...

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2017 / 8 / 18

#1 | The Letter V

The People Vs. The Letter V The traditional Irish alphabet had 18 letters, but in the 20th century, there was a gradual thawing of attitudes to the other eight, such as V. However, a very vocal vanguard...

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2017 / 8 / 16

Motherfoclóir | Trailer

Behind the wall of grammar homework lies the amazing world of the Irish language, and Darach (that @theirishfor guy) wants to take you there. With a crack team of the internet’s soundest Irish speakers,...

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