So you see, children, the moral of the story is that it pays to chew your food properly - otherwise you may have to "go fishing".

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WARNING: Intermediate speaker - await further opinions, corrections and adjustments before acting on my advice.
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

LOL, you must have some Irish in you Breandán, BTW how did you achieve such a level of fluency in Irish down under ?

Oh, apart from five trips to Ireland, including one to Oideas Gael and another to Bun Beg in the Donegal gaeltacht, I learnt most of my Irish while I was living in Japan.

Initially, I studied Learning Irish and Buntús Cainte on my own, listening to the cassette tapes with a Walkman on the train on the way to work in Tokyo. Whenever I got stuck there was a monthly study group at Waseda University under the late Prof. James MacElwain (who kindly lugged a copy of Dinneen back to Japan from Ireland for me and was always very encouraging) and later another led by Festus Jennings from Carna (a cousin of Jackie MacDonncha).

At one stage I was teaching Irish to beginners through the Tokyo branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, and later a group of Irish and American expats and myself set up a weekly conversation group in what was then Bewley's Cafe in Harajuku, Tokyo.

Then I got a job at a private language school in Tokyo, and before moving back to Oz I had three classes and a number of individual students at that school at beginner and intermediate level. (Teaching is one of the best ways to learn. )

Now I live in the sticks and teach my wife and daughters to speak Irish and strike up the occasional conversation in Irish with people who hear our band at folk festivals and markets.

A family trip to Ireland is slowly being planned ...

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WARNING: Intermediate speaker - await further opinions, corrections and adjustments before acting on my advice.
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Well if you get as far as Belfast and need a guide then look me up. It'll probably take about 2 hours to see everything there is But only come in June or July, that's our summer, the rest of it is winter, freezin, wet, windy and the sky and the sea are the colour of lead
Peter

Fortunately, our winter (your summer) is about the only time we could leave our farm for any extended period.

I once took a Japanese tour group up around your way. We only had time to see Carrickfergus before moving on to the Giant's Causeway, then to Doire and down through Donegal. (Japanese tours are like whirlwinds. ) 'Twould be nice to go back and spend more time there.

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WARNING: Intermediate speaker - await further opinions, corrections and adjustments before acting on my advice.
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

You really are a 'glass hald full' person. Truthfully, it only rains in Ireland about twice a year; once for about four months and the second time for about eight months. Two month summer indeed - i do bhrionglóidí b'fhéidir!

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I think I read somewhere on the MET Éireann site something along the lines of "Many people think that it never stops raining in Ireland but there are periods of two or three hours when no rain falls at all.†"

†I am sure they must be referring to rain falling anywhere at all in the whole of Ireland and not to the amount of rain that falls in any given spot - but they had me going at first.

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WARNING: Intermediate speaker - await further opinions, corrections and adjustments before acting on my advice.
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Granted I was there in July, but my memory of the weather in Ireland was "If you don't like it, wait 10 minutes." I've never been anywhere else where the weather can go from gale-force winds to soaking rain to so sparklingly beautiful it breaks your heart in about an hour!

Redwolf

An aisling fliuch b'fhéidir!
Ducking, about, --------NOW

Owww!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l1GvDWtccI