Kinvara woman Patricia Nic Eoin has developed a way of teaching Irish that allows people to engage with it in a different way. With a background in law and translation, the aim of her online courses is to give people the tools and confidence to speak it. And most of us know more Irish than we think we do, she tells JUDY MURPHY.

Most people who come through this country’s education system study Irish all the way through from infant class to Leaving Cert. Yet, as we know too well, the majority of us still don’t feel comfortable using the language.

It’s nothing to be proud of, but it’s a fact. So, when Patricia Nic Eoin observes that there’s a sense of ‘”unfinished business” for many of us, she’s spot on.

Patricia, who has a background in law and translation, is now providing a different way of teaching Irish to those who “have a little niggle there that just won’t go away until they finally do something about it”.

Most people with Leaving Cert Irish have good “passive Irish”, she says, meaning that we understand it pretty well. The next step is to bridge the gap so we feel comfortable speaking it.

Patricia is doing that via her website All About Irish, an online learning facility for adults, which caters for levels from beginner to advanced. She set it up in September 2020 and since then it’s been attracting attention from people in the US and UK as well as Ireland.

Her approach is a “back to basics” one, where she teaches people about the structure of the language, especially on the eight-week beginners’ programme.

It’s not grammar in the narrow sense, she says, rather, it’s about giving people a grasp of the fundamentals.

“Irish is a Celtic language, so things happen that don’t happen in English. It’s important for people to understand that,” she explains. “So, the ear needs to start tuning into different sounds and that’s something that’s not always given sufficient attention in school.”

Those sounds could be something as simple as the phrase Dia Duit, she explains. It’s pronounced with a ‘dh’ sound that doesn’t exist in English. There’s also a different way of using verbs to denote tenses.  And Irish sentences are structured differently to those in English. While ‘is maith liom tae’ means ‘I like tea’, the structure of that simple phrase isn’t the same in Irish as it is in English. Knowing these basic building blocks will help with learning Irish, says Patricia.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara

If you have happened to walk through a Penneys recently you may have noticed giant billboards of an attractive brunette promoting a new skincare line. The latest prestigious Expert Edit comes courtesy of Moycullen girl Simone Gannon. It is the retailing giant’s fourth such line which they bring out annually and the first with an Irish expert.

Her collaboration with Penneys/Primark means that her name will be up in lights in 300 stores in 15 countries across Ireland, UK and Europe.

A phenomenal achievement for the self-confessed beauty addict.

“It’s been an amazing experience. To see how well it’s gone is unbelievable. The team have reported an uplift in general skincare – people who may never have gone to Primary to buy skincare are doing so.

“They’re an amazing company to work for – their attention to detail. They’re very flexible, patient. I got a picture from a guy yesterday of a Primark in Amsterdam with me in it. It’s been crazy. I still haven’t fully grasped the extent of it – it’s so wild to think my face is on stands in so many Primark stores.”

Now a beauty columnist for The Examiner, her blog Simon Scribes has thousands following her every tidbit of advice on Instagram and TikTok.

Her interest in all things beauty was sparked by her mother’s best friend and her godmother, a makeup artist for Yves Saint Laurent in Todd’s in Limerick.

“She was always bringing me samples. I remember her buying me the Clinique 3 Step kit. She opened my eyes to this whole new world. My mother and grandmother were old school, Ponds Cold Cream morning and night.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Country Living with Francis Farragher

The wheel of time continues to spin at a frantic pace with St. Patrick’s Day coming hot on the heels of our Christmas festival as we prepare to celebrate the life and times of our patron saint.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig is of course celebrated in many countries across the globe reflecting the grimmer economic times of Ireland through the 1800s and early part of the 20th century when thousands had to take the emigrant boat or plane to better themselves.

The story of St. Patrick is of course well documented both in history and legend – like most things of Irish hue, the life and times of our patron saint weren’t simple.

Patrick wasn’t Irish, being born into a wealthy enough English family, and as well as that, he’s not even a ‘proper saint’ of the Catholic Church, the latter ‘anomaly’ arising, due to the times he lived in, when there wasn’t a proper canonisation process in place.

Those little matters aside, Patrick continues to hold a special place in our hearts, even if the timing of his feast day can often coincide with spells of dodgy early spring weather while it also occurs before the clocks change into their summertime hours.

For all that, it was still a very welcome break for those of us, who back the years, didn’t have the same grá for school as the pupils of 2023.

We all received the usual history lesson about the life and times of Patrick in the run-up to March 17, as we were reminded of how he transformed our pagan ways into more Christian rituals. And it would be nice to think that we never looked back after that!

There were too the customary searches for shamrock whether it be in fields at the back of the school or on the family farm while the more affluent (everything being relative) pupils tended to wear green badges with harps attached on the big day.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.