Darach Ó Séaghdha 169 posts 0 comments

“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. Humans have been switching these sounds with each other for some time. While neither V nor W are…

“Going to the Gaeltacht is like Hogwarts, except instead of magic, you have the magic of Irish” 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…

Language and music are strange bedfellows. A huge factor in our continental cousins’ proficiency in English comes from their consumption of English-language pop culture, especially pop music. However, while English speakers frequently enjoy…

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 delighting her thousands of loyal followers since 2012 with videos such as Stuff Irish…

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 origin of other words based on names are lost in the mists of time, we can trace this one to…

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 about As An Nua (her bilingual feminist fashion blog) and Beo Ar Éigean - BAE for short - her…

Motherfoclóir #12 | Is Éireannach Mé 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 Ireland are countries with plenty in common. In this…

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 roots of Samhain, the mysteries of brack and monkey nuts... and discuss regional traditions on…

National anthems - and the manner in which people observe them - are controversial (linguistically and politically) most of the time, but especially so in 2017. Amhrán na bhFiann is the Irish National Anthem and the world's best-known Irish…

Regular listeners will be acquainted with team Motherfoclóir member Gearóidín McEvoy by now - ex-translator, constitution buff, Lawyers for Choice volunteer, minority language rights champion, Scandi-phile, Laois woman. What you may not…