Introduction to Irish for harpists and singers

An introduction to the vowels, consonants, accents, lenition and eclipses in Irish, with in-class activities to help you read and hear the language and then have a go yourself. [Richard Maher]

Introducing different types of words in Irish — pronouns, prepositions, adjectives, nouns, prepositional pronouns and verbs. Identifying the commonalities between Irish and all other languages in this regard, followed by an activity to spot and identify all these words in sentences together. [Richard Maher]

Sentence structure and word order, an tuiseal ginideach [the genitive case], prepositional phrases and other things that make the language quite unique. We will also look at harp-related terminology including terms used by Edward Bunting in his 1840 publication: The Ancient Music of Ireland. [Richard Maher]

This session will introduce the subject of song-metres in the Irish-Language tradition, and how an understanding of the metrical structure of songs can encourage confidence, and inform and improve your performance. This will be directed primarily at beginners with no previous familiarity with the subject or knowledge of the Irish language. However, it is intended that performers who have more experience of singing in Irish should find his presentation interesting and instructive. [Éamonn Ó Bróithe]

This session will introduce you to reading Irish script (particularly for those who did not attend school in Ireland) and the major conventions of Irish orthography and grammar. This will include a brief guide to reading dictionary entries and utilizing open access dictionaries and grammar guides. The field of Irish paleography is broad, covering many centuries and genres. In this class, we will specifically look at examples of James Cody’s and Patrick Lynch's transcriptions of Irish song texts collected in the field for Edward Bunting, particularly Cody's scribal abbreviations. At the end of the class, attendees will be given an example, and links to additional guides to abbreviations. [Conn Mac Aogáin]

Eibhlís Ní Ríordáin will guide you through song lyrics for the first melody traditionally taught to harp students in the old Irish harp tradition pre 1800. Drawing on what you have learned in the previous sessions, and with Eibhlis's guidance in this session, you will now more confidently pronounce, understand, and finally sing the lyrics of this iconic Irish harp song. [Eibhlís Ní Ríordáin]