Does anyone know if there's a rule to when airigh is used for 'hear' instead of clois? I learned about that usage of it over the summer, but have yet to really find any definitive rule, apart from "airigh sounds more natural here", etc.

Thanks.

This is next to useless, but Airigh is the basic verb for "hear" in Munster, Clois tended to be used for "hearing" news, information things like that. With influence from the other dialects, they've sort of become interchangeable.

I don't know what distinguished them in Classical Irish.

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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

I know that "airigh" can also mean something along the lines of "sense" or "feel."

Redwolf

Spot on Redwolf .
In Conamara we ask a person if s/he is feeling well with 'Bhfuil tú ag aireachtáil go maith"
For the idiom Are you feeling ok(Are you crazy/going mad) "Bhfuil tú ag aireachtáil ceart sa gcloigeann"/Bhfuil tú ceart sa gcloigeann"

Hmmm. Sounds like the distinction I was taught between abair and inis. I wonder if that distinction is in place with airigh and clois on the 'hearing' side of the spectrum. I'll have to ask and see.

"Airigh" is more common in Connamara too.