My guest for this edition of Bluiríní Béaloidis is writer and documentary maker Manchán Magan, whose recent book 'Thirty-Two Words For Field' is a meditation on old Irish words and the nuances of a way of life that is vanishing with them. The book considers the 'richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape' which 'offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world'. It considers the 'sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for over 2,000 years'. In this discussion, we consider how language and tradition binds us to the landscape, expolore the role of tradition in modernity and speculate on the ancient connections between Ireland and India. Manchán's book 'Thirty-Two Words For Field' has been nominated for numerous awards, and (as of December 2020) is already in its fourth printing. Copies can be purchased from directly from the author here: http://manchan.com/32-words-for-field Or at all good independent book shops: https://www.easons.com/thirty-two-words-for-field-manchan-magan-9780717187973 https://www.dubraybooks.ie/thirty-two-words-for-field_9780717187973

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related