Thank you all so much for your help!

Ah but we haven't finished yet -
Collins have brought out three books that might interest you -
Easy Learning Irish Grammar 978 0 00 739138 7
Easy Learning Irish Verbs 978 0 00 742077 3
Easy Learning Irish Dictionary 978 0 00 729844 0
and there's Teach Yourself Irish (Pack) by Diarmuid Ó Sé & Joseph Sheils 978 0 340 87075 4
and An Ráleabhar Gaeilge/The Irish Phrase-book by Diarmuid Ó Donnchadha 978 0 85342 752 0 (Mercier Press) and Irish for Beginners 978 0 7460 4643 2 (Usborne - though in the new edition on the CD they still talk in punt and pingin not in euro) or if it's Ulster Irish you want there's the Irish Dictionary & Phrasebook 978 0 87052 110 2 (Hippocrene Books)

Lughaidh wrote:
Quote:
I was always under the impression that it was Munster - for example when they pronounce inniu, they pronounce with a 'v' at the end.
Maybe it is Standard Irish pronounced as if it were Munster Irish, but it doesn't mean it is Munster Irish. It is more than simply a couple of pronunciation rules.
Quote:
If it were Munster, they would say "beg" instead of "bay" for beidh
not before subject pronouns, they say "be' sé" normally, not "beig sé" for instance.

My point was they don't use any of those Munster variants anywhere in Buntús Cainte.

As I said, it's "standard" (lárchanúint based on Connemara pronunciation) without anglicization.

CheerioTexas wrote:
Have you all seen the "Bitesize Irish Gaelic" site that offers lessons with audio on line? You need to sign up/there is a monthly charge, but I think the lessons are quite good and there are about 120 of them available once you sign up. You can check out the site, and a sample lesson. I think it's http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com (or just google
Bitesize Irish. One nice thing about it is the múinteoir/teacher (name is Eoin)is really good about answering email questions/comments; he is very helpful and timely with his responses. I think it's a good site for beginners especially.

And of course, I've always liked the "Giota Beag" lessons from BBC.

Hope this helps.
There are other materials I like, but need to go for now. Will be back on laterl
CheerioTexas
Bitesize is a really well-designed course. All it needs to complete it is some recordings by native speaker to bring the sound files and pronunciation examples up to standard. Eoin did the recordings himself but he is a second-language Irish speaker with an anglicized accent (aka "school Irish").

This is the case with so many otherwise excellent courses on the internet.

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This discussion about Irish Gaelic reminded me how important authentic sources are—many courses lack native speaker pronunciation, which feels off

No. Eoin claims to be a first-language Irish speaker, albeit with school Irish. Some pupils in the Gaelscoileanna do acquire this school Irish in a "neo-native" way.