Gaeilgeoir Maura Derrane shares her favourite Irish word, phrase and advice for beginners learning the language
Irish-speaker Maura Derrane graced the cover of the January|February issue of Irish Country Magazine. During her cover interview, she shares gorgeous tales of what life growing up on Inis Mór was like.
During her chat she also reinforced her advocation for keeping the Irish language alive. Here, she shares with us her favourite Irish word and phrase, along with her thoughts on Gaeilge’s recent rise in popularity.
A word you love in Irish
I have lots of favourites, but one I love is ‘solúbtha’ which means flexible. When I say it, I can imagine that bendy flexibility. It’s a lovely word.
Your favourite phrase as Gaeilge
‘Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí’, which means praise the youth and they will flourish. It’s really important and I really believe in it.
An Irish band, show or podcast you love
My favourite music as Gaeilge has to be Kila, I think they’re amazing and really broke the mould when it came to singing in Irish.
On Gaeilge’s rise in popularity
It’s totally changed. It’s cooled up! It’s great. When I went from Gaeilge at home to Irish in work on TG4, as a professional language, I felt hopeless at first. Because I was up against these people with Master’s in Irish, the most perfect use of the language. It was so impressive, but I was nervous. So it’s great to see it become cool and more relaxed.
Advice to those learning the language
Don’t be afraid. If you’re scared to put an English word in where you don’t have the Irish word, then you’ll never speak it. I try to explain to people, regular Irish speakers and older generations of speakers wouldn’t have new Irish words. They’d call a bicycle ‘mo bhicycle’, they’ll just put a séimhiú there! That’s how regular people speak Irish! I can’t stand anybody who is like the Irish police. The only way you’re going to speak it is if you’re not afraid to make mistakes.
