One of the most common questions that people have is “What is the best way to learn Irish?”  Below you will find a list of things that should help you in your quest to learn Irish.  People often get hung up on the dialect taught by a course, but I would recommend that you don’t worry about it.  You need to be able to understand all three major dialects anyway.

The fastest/easiest way to learn Irish would be to attend a summer school.  I recommend Oideas Gael in Gleann Cholm Cille, Donegal but there are many others as well.  If you are not able to attend a course in person, I have made a list of ways you can acquire enough Irish to hold a conversation below:

Irish On Your Own

This is the best way to learn Irish from scratch that I have seen.  If you can find this, this is what I would use.  I would only buy this if you can get (and listen to) the cassettes that accompany it though can use the link to the audio files below.  It is in the Donegal dialect.

All of the audio files are here.

Enjoy Irish

While I have not used this course (it is fairly new), it has been well received and reviewed.  I have had the opportunity to have the author as an instructor twice though, and can say without reservation that she is a fantastic teacher.

Rosetta Stone

I have used this, and I liked it.  It is interactive (on your computer) and I found that I learned something everyday even though it was technically below my level of Irish (such as synonyms for words I only knew in one dialect).  I would not recommend starting here since it never addresses grammar, but if you have any background in Irish it is a good way to improve your Irish.

There is a new edition of Rosetta Stone that sounds like it might address the concerns I had with the program when I used it (2009).  The “Homeschool” edition includes worksheets and other supplements that sound like they might fill in the gaps that the “Personal Edition” is lacking.  It costs about $20 more than the other version for all three levels.

Gaelchultúr & Gaeilge gan Stró

If you are in Ireland, I would recommend taking a course with Gaelchultúr.  They have courses all over the island.  Since I am not in Ireland I have used the online courses and they are very good.  The online course is probably as close as you can get to attending an actual class that I have found.

The course is also available in a book edition if you would prefer to study on your own.

 

Progress In Irish

I really like this book.  It is intended for those who had Irish in school, but need a refresher.  It starts at the beginning, but doesn’t have any audio of the words.  So, if you are trying to learn how to make the Irish sounds it won’t help you.

The only thing that was missing was the answers.  Thankfully, they have published a book of answers now.

Learning Irish

This book is good, but very grammar heavy.  I find it a bit too dense for me to use if I’m honest.  It is a very good book, but more difficult to work through than the others mentioned here.  If you are determined to learn the Connemara dialect of Irish though, this is where you should begin.

Basic Irish: A grammar and Workbook

For those who need a grammar workbook, this is probably the best.  I would recommend using this in conjunction with one of the other items on this list.

Irish 101: An Introduction to Irish Language and Culture – DCU

Dublin City University has made this online course free.  I haven’t used it, but couldn’t leave it off the list either.