Motherfoclóir
Episodes
95: #95 | Highway To Helsinki: Finland, Swedish and Ireland
09 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Swedish language represents a kind of "what might have been" for Irish speakers - although there were less Swedish speakers than Irish in the worl...
94: #94 | Follow This User: Myra Zepf and “Nóinín”
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the most powerful books for and about teenagers take the form of a diary: Adrian Mole, I Capture The Castle, Go Ask Alice and even The Color P...
93: #93 | Insta-grammar: The Wonderful World of @muinteoirmeg
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We’re nearly at the end of this strange and dark decade and it’s hard to know what to make of it at this stage. So much has happened since New Yea...
92: #92 | An Astral Week: Seven Days That Shook The North (with Claire Mitchell)
18 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"For me, the Irish language was like a ghost limb". The days leading up to the 12th of July are often tense and dramatic ones in the North of Irelan...
91: #91 | Go Rabbi Maith Agat: Cecelia Beyer’s Irish Journey
12 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some people out there wouldn’t see a rabbinical calling and a love of Irish dancing and sean-nós singing as a likely pairing. Those people have not...
90: #90 | Wingardium LeviÓSéaghdha - Translating Harry Potter into Irish
04 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gearóidín is a Gryffindor. Peadar is a Hufflepuff. Darach, however, is a muggle who has not read the books, only seen a few of the films and has not...
89: #89 | The Sadbh Mind: Children’s Stories and Parental Guilt with Sadhbh Devlin
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to food, television or books, there are no tougher critics than small children. They won’t spare your feelings the way adults have bee...
88: #88 | Mailbag 4: Crouching Poet, Hidden Focphoc
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s mailbag time again! Here at Motherfoclóir we love to receive your correspondence, suggestions, corrections and observations. Since we last ope...
87: #87 | You Give Leanbh A Bad Name: Baby Names with Colm O'Regan
13 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What's in a name? For most of the world's population, Irish names are the only contact they have with Gaeilge, and this is where its reputation for ...
86: #86 | Under The Spanish Arch - Español and Irlandes
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Like an old friend you don't really want to see right now, summer has arrived in Ireland, and with it a smartly-turned out stampede of Spanish student...
85: #85 | The Dublin Mid West Wing: a Motherfoclóir Election Fairytale
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh, the Johnny Giles of the Motherfoclóir High Table, put his money where his mouth was this year, deciding to stand for election...
84: #84 | Copper Face Paperbacks 2: An Siopa Leabhar revisited
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gráinne Ní Mhuilneoir is the new bainisteoir of An Siopa Leabhar on Harcourt Street, taking over from our good friend and occasional contributor Cai...
83: #83 | Unroyal Flush - Could Brexit Unite Ireland?
17 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to series 2 of Motherfoclóir! We've missed you something terrible so we have. An awful lot has been happening lately so to kick things off we...
Motherfoclóir Season 2 Trailer
15 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! SEASON 2 MOTHERFOCLÓIR! THIS MOTHERFOCLÓIRIN' FRIDAY! Like, rate, review and subscribe L...
82: #82 | My Dad Google Translated a Porno: Motherfoclóir Beo In Maynooth Pt. 2
15 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're really sorry, but sure look, it was bound to happen at some stage. Darach is still on leave and the gang has finally gone off the rails. They st...
81: #81 | A Woman's Place: Motherfoclóir Beo In Maynooth
08 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Motherfoclóir Beo was recorded in front of a live audience in the Maynooth Students' Union Venue as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2019\. Gearóidín a...
80: #80 | What Happens Next Will Laoighseach You!
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha is a researcher, educator and activist. It was in this latter capacity that she became the driving force behind An Focló...
79: #79 | Ireland's Next Top Coddle: Máirtín's Magic Meals
22 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is a lecturer in TU Dublin and a well-travelled chef and TV presenter. He's the world's leading expert in Irish food history...
78: #78 | Turning Over a New Líofa: Fluency is a Whatchamacallit
15 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gearóidín and Peadar discuss the idea of fluency. Can you really be fluent? Even if you know literally all the words? Gearóidín and Peadar can com...
77: #77 | A Rose By Any Other F**king Name
08 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Darach is on leave, so Gearóidín takes the hot seat as the gang are joined by a special guest. Brianna Parkins was the Sydney Rose in 2016 and when ...
76: #76 | Irish Blood, Gaelic Heart: Nazis, Britpop and Jamie Oliver
01 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Darach is back in studio this week, as he and Peadar begin the podcast by discussing the rising trend of Alt-Right Twitter trolls attempting to weapon...
75: #75 | Class Clown: #WhyIrish and Motherfoclóir Duolingo Clubs
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Where's Darach? He's not in the studio today, so Éimear and Gearóidín are running riot, throwing paper aeroplanes across the Headstuff classroom an...
74: #74 | Tossing the Caber: "An Leabhar Liath", a pre-introduction to Scots Gaelic
18 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ireland and Scotland have a lot in common, and this is especially true of Irish and Scots Gaelic. Students of Irish could make a decent stab at the me...
73: #73 | Losing the Plot - Cré na Cille
11 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It is fitting that a book set in a cemetery has come to be known as the graveyard of translators. Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s masterpiece Cré na Cille w...
72: #72 | Falling For A Gaeilgeoir
04 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Irish speakers are referred to in Ireland as a community, a lobby group or even a kind of secret society: a bloc of people with specific and predictab...
71: #71 | A Very Motherfoclóir Nollaig
21 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It has been quite a year for the Motherfoclóir project - there's been online and offline mayhem of many categories in multiple languages. In this wee...
70: #70 | "Introduction", a Reading from Craic Baby
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Darach Ó Séaghdha's first book, "Motherfoclóir: Dispatches From A Not So Dead Language" was the winner of the Popular Non-Fiction award at the 2017...
69: #69 | Seo Ciara, Seo Ciara
14 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As "Bliain na Gaeilge" draws to a close and we look back, one of the moments of Irish language activism that casts a long shadow is **#NílSéCGL - it...
68: #68 | Decades of the Rosary: Ní Ghráda's "An Triail"
07 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The golden age of Irish censorship ended in 1967 when Brian Lenihan Sr introduced a time limit on certain banning orders, leading to thousands of forb...
67: #67 | Another World Altogether: Donegal Irish
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The partition of Ireland in 1922 only included six of Ulster's nine counties in Northern Ireland. This led to the beautiful county of Donegal being cu...
66: #66 | Twelve Angry Gaeilgeoirí - Juries & Irish
23 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Somewhere in the Gaeltacht, a local man (whose first language is Irish) is accused of assaulting another Irish speaker with a broken bottle. What lang...
65: #65 | Manannach (dú dú dí dú dú)
16 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As any Caoimhe, Siobhán or Medb living abroad will tell you, Gaeilge uses different spelling conventions to Béarla. Students who struggle with this ...
64: #64 | It's Always Sunny In Leavingcertia: Motherfoclóir Ardteist Special
09 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Every summer, the Irish people sacrifice thousands of teenagers to Lú, the sun god, so that he will offer them good weather. This sacrifice is called...
63: #63 | All The President's Dogs
02 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
**Gadhrach (adj): dog-living, full of dogs.** Despite her massive popularity over here, Saoirse Ronan's hosting slot on Saturday Night Live earned ...
62: #62 | The Vampirish For
31 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
**"Is doiligh drochrud a mharú" - it's hard to kill a bad thing. (Irish proverb)** It's Hallowe'en again and the time is right for a Motherfoclói...
61: #61 | The Light In The Window: Irish Presidents and the World
26 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
**Diaspora: from the Greek word diaspeirein "to scatter about, disperse," from dia "about, across" + speirein "to scatter".** The word "diaspora" w...
60: #60 | Map of Ballybeg: Friel's "Translations"
19 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Few writers ever managed to achieve the triple crown of critical acclaim, popular success and sustained relevance that Brian Friel managed in his five...
59: #59 | Motherfoclóir Live: All The Presidents Meáin
12 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On Wednesday 10th of October, Darach, Gearóidín, Peadar and Éimear swooped upon the Sugar Club on Lesson Street to discuss the importance of the Ir...
58: #58 | The Tribe of Dé Danann
05 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Hamlet has been performed in Klingon" Aisling Carolan. For a poet, the fact that the Irish word tír (country) and the English word tear (a sad dr...
57: #57 | Mailbag 3: Tiocfaidh Ár Drift
27 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's Mailbag time again, when the Motherfoclóir team review correspondence that has been submitted to the show by email to [email protected]...
56: #56 | Áras Report 1: The Top Job
21 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Irish presidential elections are rare and brutal, but voters have chosen some truly remarkable and inspiring people for the role. Perhaps more than th...
55: #55 | Yeah, Gnó, Maybe
14 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly two centuries, we have been told that English is the language of commerce and industry and that the Irish language sits outside this world,...
54: #54 | Midlands Mayhem: Motherfoclóir at Electric Picnic
07 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Irish for Stradbally is an tSráidbhaile, which means village (or street-town if you want to be very literal about it). For a weekend at the end o...
53: #53 | Polar Béarla
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The breakthrough star of Irish twitter in 2018 must surely be @ruthiefizz – while other tweeters have hurled poorly-cogitated stock arguments at eac...
52: #52 | Passing The Collection Plate: Papal Taxes in Medieval Ireland
24 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Irish for tax is cáin… not to be confused with caoin, which is crying. In life the two great certainties are death and taxes, which is fitting ...
51: #51 | Pumpaí/Dancing at the Crossroads
17 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Flatley has been in the news again with his new film “Blackbird” (possibly named for an Irish set dance) and his questionable choice of fo...
50: #50 | Unconditional Love: The Modh Coinníollach
10 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
**"If I were a boy /Even just for a day /I’d roll outta bed in the morning /And throw on what I wanted and go"** **Beyoncé Knowles, If I Were A ...
49: #49 | And Off With She - Tara Flynn & Peig Sayers
03 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Peig passes the Bechdel Test". Sparklingly witty, unfailingly honest, sometimes misunderstood and with a grá for the Gaeilge, Tara Flynn and Peig...
48: #48 | Mèredictionnaire
27 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
_The Irish word for a rat, francach, can also mean a French person (when capitalised)._ In their most recent media campaign, Vodafone have paid tri...
47: #47 | Ceo, Craiceann agus Cumhracht: An Introduction to Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
20 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Famously, much is lost in translation. However, writing is a lonely calling, and the act of literary translation by one's peers presents an opportunit...
46: #46 | The Waka and the Curach: Te Reo and Irish
13 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
2018 has been a landmark year for women’s rights in both Ireland and New Zealand. At home, we have voted to repeal the 8th Amendment. Our Antipodean...
45: #45 | 2 Mailbag 2 Furious
06 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the second Motherfoclóir Mailbag show! Listener feedback allows us to see how we’re doing, bring any clarifications to light and gives u...
44: #44 | Duolingo – New Rules
29 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Your ex – the one who doesn’t like you as much as you like them and knows it – sends a “you up?” text at 11.32pm. Should you not pick up the...
43: #43 | Pride/Bród
22 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week's episode is about Bród - no, not Miggledy Higgins's best dog (sorry Shadow!) but LGBTQ+ Pride, which is celebrated in Dublin from the 21st...
42: #42 | No spoilers - Rick O'Shea and ROSBC
15 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the second episode from our live show at the International Literature Festival Dublin, Darach and Éimear are joined by the King of (Book) Clubs hi...
41: #41 | Druid Fluid: Medieval Mythbusting with @VoxHib
08 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode - recorded live at Smock Alley Theatre as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin - Darach and Éimear are joined ...
40: #40 | Lá na hAfraice- Africa Day
01 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Irish for Wakanda Forever is "an Uácaind Abú!" The Irish language has enough problems to deal with without being co-opted by bigots. Earlier ...
39: #39 | Count Darach-ula
25 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's Referendum Day, and given the massive task of counting votes that is ahead of us, what better time to chat about the way counting works in Irish?...
38: #38 | Happily Emher After - Women of the Táin
18 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There's been a lot of talk about obstreperous women lately, so what better time to consider the fierce female characters of the Táin? In this week's ...
37: #37 | At Swim Two Flann-oraks
04 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Host Darach and Motherfoclóir regular Siún share many obsessions, but the one they discuss on today's show is the writer Flann O'Brien… also known...
36: #36 | A Right Article: Article 8 of Bunreacht na hÉireann
27 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The number 8 is full of mystery in the Irish language. There's the "hateful eight" letters that were added in the 20th century. There's a Eighth Amend...
35: #35 | Citation Needed - Updating Vicipéid
20 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week Darach is in London on Motherfoclóir business and is broadcasting from the British Library at Kings Cross rather than the HeadStuff studios...
34: #34 | Mots, Spanners and the Round System
13 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Are we all just characters in a Roddy Doyle Facebook status?" Dublin City's official motto is Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas - obedient citizen...
33: #33 | Langers, Gowls and our Oral Tradition
06 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode is a game of two halves. In part one Darach chats to Jody Coogan about certain articles of Hiberno-English slang (specifically, Munste...
32: #32 | Once Upon An Island: Old Ireland, Old Irish
30 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Languages are like ogres; they have layers". Éimear Duffy knows a thing or two about Ireland and Irish in the rare aul' times (specifically the 7...
31: #31 | See Ya Later, Machine Translator
23 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Teresa Lynn is a computational linguist who specialises in technology and Irish language. She visits Darach, Gearóidín and Ola on today's episode to...
30: #30 | Copper Face Paperbacks - An Siopa Leabhar
16 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It has been said that bookshops are the afterlife for good trees and the sound of turning pages is a kind of prayer to them. Belfast bookworm Caitl...
29: #29 | Catch 40.3.3
09 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There's going to be a lot of talk about Bunreacht na hÉireann in the coming weeks, a document where the subtle differences between wording in English...
28: #28 | Leabhar Power: Dave Rudden
02 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ireland has been producing some remarkable YA fiction in recent years, much of which has addressed received notions of Irishness implicitly and explic...
27: #27 | Just Say No
23 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As languages don't match each other exactly, linguists and psychologists have debated if specific grammatical features shape the thought patterns of s...
26: #26 | Getting A Word In
15 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Buddha teaches that "when words are true and kind, they can change our world". Today's special guest, Sineád Burke, exemplified this spirit when ...
25: #25 | Searc Week
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"An sgéal fada ní hé is fearr" - the longest tale is not the best. As Valentine's Day approaches, the Motherfoclóir gang turn their thoughts to...
#24 | Mailbag (or should we say "Male Bag"?)
02 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The beating heart of this podcast is its wonderful lucht leanúna - the loyal listeners. We're always keen to know how you think we're getting on, and...
23: #23 | Lenition Impossible - Séimhiú Nation
26 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Éist means listen, péist is a worm, éistphéist is an earworm". Just like Alan Rickman's character in Die Hard, Darach rhapsodises over the ben...
22: #22 | Hey Girl, Are You An Irish Dictionary?
19 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Irish for a chat-up line is 'briathra meala'. An innocent bystander might be forgiven for thinking that there are two Carl Kinsellas: one, the ...
#21 | All About Ailbhe
12 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“By fifth and sixth year, you’re dreaming in Irish”. It’s a little Coláiste Íosagáin reunion on Motherfoclóir this week as Darach is ou...
#20 | Gettin’ Schooled
05 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Although it is regularly cited as the reason some people dislike Irish, Peig has been off the school curriculum for so long that we have adult Irish s...
Best of The HeadStuff Podcast Network 2017
29 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
So here we are, at the end of another year, the 2017th year… can you believe there have already be 2017 years on this planet? Amazing really. Anyway...
#19 | Nollaig/Yule/Christmas Special
22 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Nollaig shona to all our listeners! In today’s very special yuletide special, Gearóidín tells the gang about Christmas in Finland, Peadar gets exc...
#18 | An Irish Pronunciation Special: B, M, W
15 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
“Chomh ramhar le rón – as chubby as a seal” In Germany, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) is pronounced BMV. In Latin, Vs are pronounced as Ws....
#17 | The Secret Diary of a Cinnire, Age 16 1/2
08 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As the author of five YA novels and the presenter of HeadStuff’s Sweet Valley High podcast “Double Love”, Anna Carey knows a thing or two about ...
#16 | Irish Language Music Collective IMLÉ
01 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Language and music are strange bedfellows. A huge factor in our continental cousins’ proficiency in English comes from their consumption of English-...
#15 | The Irish for Viral: Clisare
24 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Mayo mirthmaker Clare Cullen, better known as Clisare, is the Queen of Irish YouTube. With a staying power not typical in the viral age, she has been ...
#14 | Ó Mo Dhia, Nach Aisling Ceart í?
17 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most recent Irish words to enter common parlance is Aisling – a sensible girl from outside Dublin with an aversion to notions. While the ...
#13 | She’s A Shoo-In
10 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After a ten episode absence, Louth Legend Siún Ní Dhuinn is back at her Motherfoclóir desk in HeadStuff studios. She tells Darach and Clodagh all a...
#12 | Is Éireannach Mé
03 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As former British colonies with lots of green on their flags, where St. Patrick is the patron saint and where Guinness is hugely popular, Nigeria and ...
#11 | The Motherfoclóir Spooky Halloween Special
27 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the spookiest night of the year, so what better time to share some eerie Irish words? Darach, Ola, Gearóidín and Peadar discuss the ancient r...
#10 | A Song For Ireland: Amhrán na bhFiann
20 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
National anthems – and the manner in which people observe them – are controversial (linguistically and politically) most of the time, but especial...
#9 | The Orthographic Depths
13 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Regular listeners will be acquainted with team Motherfoclóir member Gearóidín McEvoy by now – ex-translator, constitution buff, Lawyers for Choic...
#8 | The Gaeilgeoir’s Code: Aireamhan
06 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Neal Ó Riain is the boy across the road who your Mam compares you to. He literally has a PhD in Astrophysics, a fine job in London and – of course ...
#7 | Pop-Up Gaeltacht
29 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Pop-Up Gaeltacht is PUG for short. The Irish for a pug is smutmhadra. The Irish for smut is salachar, which is an anagram of “ah rascal”. Darac...
#6 | The Letter A
22 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The letter A (and her saucy sister, Á) are the subject of today’s episode, a pronunciation masterclass with Darach, Peadar, Éimear and Ola . We’...
#5 | The Irish for Passport
15 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Irish for Passport is pas, which can also mean an episode in time or a fit (of rage or madness, for example). This week Darach is joined by jou...
#4 | Brehon vs Bunreacht: Family Law
08 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The power of words touches all our lives, never more urgently than when those words form laws. In the first of an ongoing series, Darach talks to Eime...
#3 | Surname/HerName
01 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Surnames, a relatively recent invention, are done differently from language to language. In Irish, conventions exist to include gender and marital sta...
#2 | Google Translate
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The computers are coming after our jobs – are translators next? It’s a piece of technology straight out of science fiction – a website tool t...
#1 | The Letter V
18 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The People Vs. The Letter V The traditional Irish alphabet had 18 letters, but in the 20th century, there was a gradual thawing of attitudes to the...
Motherfoclóir | Trailer
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Behind the wall of grammar homework lies the amazing world of the Irish language, and Darach (that @theirishfor guy) wants to take you there. With ...