Irish

The modern Gaelic word for a tattoo was borrowed from the modern English word, first used in 1769. But what if the medieval Gaels had practiced tattooing 1000 years earlier? What would it have been called then? I interview Gaelic scholar Dr. Sharon Arbuthot to find out.

I interview linguist Dr. Conor Quinn about the Ogham alphabet, how it relates to Irish & Gaelic, and what to be aware of if you’re using it in a tattoo.

If you’re learning Gaelic, it’s helpful to keep track of what other folks are doing out there so you don’t develop tunnel vision about the language community. One interesting learning resource under development is the eDIL, the electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language. I interviewed Dr. Sharon Arbuthnot about the dictionary project. What does an Irish dictionary have to do with Scottish Gaelic? Read on!

What is Gaelic? My regular blog readers already know, but it doesn’t hurt to keep putting the basic facts out there. Increasing positive awareness of Gaelic is an important part of language revitalization. This post provides four different basic answers to the question, “What is Gaelic?”