I am Irish and was raised through English. I want to be able to communicate effectively in the country's 'first' language and to give it to my children. Why have other people here decided to learn Irish as an additional language? I am particularly interested in people who are not Irish as to why they think Irish is worthy of your time/enthusiasm/energy given that clearly it will never dominate the world. What is it about the language of such a small nation that drew you to it?

All views, as always, are welcome.

(I do not wish to exclude native speaking members of the forum, but you did not have to select it - it selected you - lucky you! Feel free to comment at any stage.)

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I'm Irish.

1. My family spoke it until the 1950s, I think I'd be a shame to let something like that go.
2. It's really cool.
3. Lovely songs.
4. I love the novels that have been written in Irish.
5. Gateway to Classical and Old Irish. I've been really enjoying trying to write some Dán Díreach.

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

To me it's quite simple: it's the most beautiful language of the world
And it's spoken in one of the nicest countries
(I'm not Irish)

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I was born and raised in England as most of you will know, for me it was mostly about identity, i suppose I went searching for who I was in my late teens and my Irish background led me to the language. My grandma planted the seed in my head I think, she had good Irish and although I don't remember her using it when I was growing up she started using more and more in later life (or I took more and more notice) and used to tell me "theres non more ignorant than the English with their one language" and although thats ironic given most Irish only speak one language I took the point and a year later I found a free online Irish course and began learning. For me it was definately about heritage, Im a history nut and my family spoke Irish up until the 1950's (although English became their main language at the turn of the 1900's) and learning Irish to me was connecting with the past and my family history. It wasn't about music or any of that stuff for me. I became very idealistic very quickly towards Irish and when I moved to Ireland I was dismayed by the lack of interest by most people in the language. Now I've been in Ireland a few years I'm not very idealistic any more, my hopes and dreams of some Gaelic utopia are gone! I don't know whether this is because Ive been influenced by the Irish psych or whether I've just grown up. But one thing is for sure, had I been born and raised in Ireland I doubt I would ever of had the interest I have, there was definitely something about being from abroad and connecting with my heritage that intensified my interest.

So that brings me to today, I'm learning Irish now because I'm a good bit down the road and it'd be a shame and waste to stop now!! I don't have any practical use for Irish in my life, but I have met some nice people through Irish which I would have never met had I had no interest. I think the pobal na Gaeilge in Dublin is great and I hope when I am fluent I can join in more. But as for any notion of Gaelic culture, Celtic romance etc thats all gone for me and I think for the better because now I can just learn the language and speak it with speak who speak it without the frustrations and desires I used to have for the language as a whole. The pressure is off...

I fell in love with Irish traditional music when I was 13 (that was...er...a few years ago). When I love something, I immerse myself in it completely. You can't really separate traditional music from the culture that gave rise to it -- its history, its lore, its traditions, its literature, and yes...its language. Not and do it justice.

For me, it never was satisfactory to learn Irish song knowing only the translations (which, as we know, are often shaky anyway)...if I were to do it justice, I needed to feel and understand it at the cultural and linguistic level.

I actually tried to teach myself Irish from an old Conradh na Gaeilge pamphlet when I was 15 (which was little more than a bunch of sentences written in seanchló, with incomprehensible pronunciation notes). As you can imagine, that didn't work very well, though I do remember the first sentence I actually said aloud from that pamphlet: "Bhuail an fear an asal inné."

Redwolf

I am an American of Irish descent. I remember hearing my grandfather speak it now and again when I was quite small, and that was all it took; I was hooked. Such a beautiful language. He taught me the cúpla focal before he passed away, but I was very young when he died. My father had no Irish and no interest in it, so further learning more or less got shelved until I was grown and had an opportunity to pursue it on my own. It is a part of my heritage that I wish to pass on to my four sons. It is important to me that the language continues.

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Táim ag foghlaim Gaelainn na Mumhan

Tá fáilte roim nach aon cheartú!
I am a learner. Any translations offered are practice and should not be used unless confirmed.

I have learned to speak in this language because I wanted to know the words my ancestors used to express their emotions, thoughts, and observations for the thousands of years before they adopted English. I love to hear it coming from my lips and it connects me with something deeper than being a Texan born in America. It ties me with the beginning of time for my people, and that alone makes it worthwhile to speak. I think I will now listen to Irish and study Irish for the rest of my days. I will speak it to my grandchildren (le cúnamh Dé). I have succeeded in becoming conversational also because it was a life-time "cuspóir" of m'athair. He desired that so much for himself. We enjoyed speaking a cúpla focal together and it ties me with him as he has gone on before me to Tír na nÓg. My Irish is broken (as Bríd can tell you), but I speak it boldly and with great enjoyment. That is reason enough to speak it. I need no other "reason". Cuireann an teanga scíatháin ar mo chroi nuair a bhíonn mé í a chaint! Sin an fáth. Sin go leor.

I'm another American of Irish descent. My mother's parents were born and reared in Mayo and spoke Irish as their first language, so I learned some from my grandmother. I was always fascinated by the language, and studied on my own off and on for years, but never conscientiously until I had the good luck to take classes here in SF at a now-closed local college, and then attended Oideas Gael in Donegal. Since then, I've gone to two immersion weeks in Montana (U of M does them in Butte in the summer) and several of the Deireadh Seachtaine Gaeltachta gatherings here in SF.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.