When I was a kid, every St. Patrick's Day we put out our little green flag with the harp and Eirinn go Bragh on it. I never knew what that meant. I thought it was a little weird and kind of foreign when a kid in my class did her step dancing for the class. I never understood why a family around the corner started spelling and saying their name differently from his brother's family next door (he went back to the original Irish). I didin't know why a friend's family kept travelling to Ireland. I loved movies and things about ancient civilizations, and I thought the Celts were cool. When I was in high school, I heard a little of Cór Chúil Aodha, on a record, and my comment was, "That doesn't sound like English at all!" I thought Gaelic was English with a brogue. When I started college, my first semester I took a class called "Medieval Celtic Literature." Everything was in translation, but I learned that Irish was a language. I was unfortunately also taught that no one really spoke it any more. I was 18. It took another 18 years for me to find out that that wasn't true.
This page is a general outline of my 'progress in Irish.' It's kind of a case study of addiction!
I started learning Irish after my friend Will McConnell (from Ireland), when I asked him if he had ever heard Gaelic, told me about Míle Fáilte (a radio show on WFUV, and Macallaí, a column that Barra Ó Donnabháin used to write in The Irish Echo. It was like discovering the Coelacanth - what I thought was extinct was alive and well! From Séamus Blake (host of the show), I learned about the Irish Book Shop in NYC (no longer around). I went there, and heard live people speaking Irish for the first time (Angela Carter). I bought the book Teach Yourself Irish, but waited until Fathers' Day to get it. My wife Irene and I started learning together for about a year. She dropped off, and I picked up steam from there. When we moved to West Babylon, I joined the AOH, and started attending classes at the Gerry Tobin Irish Language School (Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín). The rest is history! (I have a little more on why I love Irish here).
Here's a kind of a time-line of what's happend since then.
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May 1996 |
Start learning Irish, listening to Míle Fáilte. Become active on the internet ( Gaelic-L, eventually Gaeilge-B, then Gaeilge-A) |
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Fall of 1997 (?) |
Start attending the Gerry Tobin Irish Language School. Rita Bowden is my teacher. Later, Raymond Clark and Pat Cifford and Gerry Kelly. |
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Fall of 1998 |
Won a couple of good Irish books at the Nassau Feis (from Joe Halligan). I won the essay contest. I was the only contestant. And my friend was the judge... But this got me really reading. Rita and Pat had already had me read some easier stuff. But now I was getting into Munster dialect and more difficult vocabulary. I have notebooks full of vocabulary notes! |
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1999-2000? |
Start teaching at the school. Eventually teach all levels. |
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March 2000 |
'Finished' website (in Irish) Comhad na Fírinne. Had help from a couple of secret internet friends in correcting the Irish. Wanted to get it onto An Fáinne Órga, but never was accepted (maybe not just for weak Irish…). Created An Fáinne Sróine instead, so I do have something on that site! |
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Dec. 2000 |
After a few minor efforts before this, write a poem in Irish that is actually pretty good (on Gaelic-L, I think) for the millennium (Don Athbhliain). Prompted for this and several other poems (probably to her chagrin) by Marion Gunn. |
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March 2001 |
Publish the first website for Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín (the school). |
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May 2001 |
Beo! website opens. Immediately active on the message board. Prior to this, was active (in a small group) on the Cumasc message board (now defunct). |
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9/11/2001 |
Political argument after this event leads to a couple of poems on Gaelic-L (not appreciated by many). |
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Late 2001 |
Record New York's Damn Bravest with Brian De Vale. |
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Jan. 2002 |
I win a limerick contest in Beo! (Get 2 books - Ulster Irish, more notebooks!). Start thinking about poetry again. |
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Jan. 2002 |
A poem in Beo! about the war in Afghanistan inspires the rebuttal poem 'Nua-Eabhrac.' Beo! never published anything of mine (except the limerick!), although I offered them a number of things. |
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May/June 2002 |
I become a regular columnist for the National Hibernian Digest, with my column Tomhas na Teanga. How? I offered! |
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Sept. 2002 |
Write Cothrom an Lae. Start writing poetry in Irish regularly. |
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Nov. 9 2002 |
First article in series for Gan Fiacail Ann These were originally offered to Beo! (the first few). Later others were published in Lá and Comhar (see below). |
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Nov. 12 2002 |
Write article Foras Feasa ar Iosrael, which later attracts the attention of Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí, and is why I wound up on Raidió na Gaeltachta. This article, like all my political articles, and Comhad na Fírinne , was the product of many debates on the internet. |
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Nov. 2002 |
Finish recording Brian De Vale's album Raise Your Glass , which includes a reading of my poem Cothrom an Lae (since revised). |
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Dec. 2002 |
Saol publishes my poem Mo Chairde Teibí in their letters section. First time in print in Ireland! |
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March 28, 2003 |
First article in Lá. They gave it the title Gael ar son an Chogaidh. Somewhat controversial… |
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April 11, 2003 |
Article in Lá. They gave it the title Ionradh ar an Iaráic. |
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April 12, 2003 |
On Raidió na Gaeltachta on the live show Seó Beo an tSathairn. Lively debate on Iraq. I was on another time, either 2 weeks before or two weeks after this. The second time I was on the air longer. I got invited back because I complained that the intervening show was very anti-American. |
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May 19, 2003 |
Article in Lá. They published it in Ardán an Luain. |
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May 29, 2003 |
Article in Lá. They published it as a letter. I was complaining about the anti-American bias. Fair play to them for publishing it. I think I might have had one other short article, but I'm not sure. |
There was a nasty letter about me in Lá, to which Gerry Kelly replied (and which was published). This carried over onto the Beo! message board…which all got very nasty (a lot of Irish speakers hate America, sorry to say). When I decided finally to quit that message board, it made the news in Lá! I had quit the listserve lists a while before this, except for Gaeilge-A, which I eventually also left (October or so 2004), because of anti-Americanism (call me paranoid, if you want, but it's real). I also began participating on the Daltaí na Gaeilge board and on The People's Republic of Cork board. I had tried Craiceáilte.com, but they got crazy anti-American pretty quick, and still are. I've only been doing Irish only boards for quite a while. For a summary of the anti-Americanism, see my article which they neglected to publish that issue, for the National Hibernian Digest, May 2003.
I also particpate in the discussion list from acmhainn.ie, which is only about translation and the language.
Busy writing poetry (at least one poem a month), and working on publishing An File ar Buile during this time.
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Nov. 1 2003 |
I co-host Míle Fáilte for the fundraiser. |
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January 17 2004 |
Séamus De Bláca (Seamus Blake) does a show on Míle Fáilte about our school. I am interviewed and he plays stuff from Raise Your Glass (also getting airplay on WFUV and elsewhere). |
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April 24 2004 |
I co-host Míle Fáilte for the fundraiser again. |
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April 2004 |
Quit Beo! message board, start our own at http://www.scoilgaeilge.org/liosta/ |
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May 2004 |
Comhar publishes 8 of my poems (new ones, not in the book)! They put the name Seán Ó Neachtain as the author! |
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June 2004 |
Mentioned in Comhar , that they put the wrong name on me last month! |
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June 24, 2004 |
The book launching for An File ar Buile. I worked for about a year to get this book into print. The school really pulled for me and we had a fantastic launch. |
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July (?) 2004 |
On the radio (live) again with Rónán, Raidió na Gaeltachta, but on the show Seal Aduaidh. I read my poem Tá an Ghaeilge Beo Bacach I Meiriceá. |
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July 2004 |
Comhar publishes my article on Abu Ghraib. |
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July 4 and July 7 2004 |
Lá has 2 articles about my book and the book launching, including pictures! Still waiting for a review, though… |
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August 2004 |
The new school website is finished, with the help of Mike MacNamarra. www.scoilgaeilge.org |
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Sept. 2004 |
An File ar Buile is mentioned in the section Foilsiúcháin Úra in Comhar |
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October 2004 |
Finish recording Cleas Amhrán. Did this in about 4 months, I think. |
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Nov. 3, 2004 |
I do a poetry reading at Bloomfield College in New Jersey. |
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November 2004 |
Recording all the poems from An File ar Buile for several months. In progress. Re-record Cothrom an Lae and make other improvements for remaster of Raise Your Glass. |
| December 1st 2004 | I return to the Beo! message board. |
| December 2004 | My article about the Bush re-election is published in Comhar. |
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2005 |
I was published once (this poem) in the University of Cork Irish language newsletter. This was supposed to be a regular thing, but fizzled. |
| January 2005 | Cleas Amhrán released. Used as the fundraiser gift on Míle Fáilte, in April 2005. I am the co-pitcher on the show on April 2nd. |
| March 11, 2005 | Review of Cleas Amhrán in Lá by Ana Ní Shúilleabháin. She likes it. |
| Spring 2005 | Re-release of enhanced version of Brian De Vale's Raise Your Glass, which I engineered and produced. |
| April 20th, 2005 | Try my hand at blogging with An Caomhach |
| April 2005 | Recorded and produce Raymond Clarke's poetry CD. |
| July 2005 | My poetry and music, along with Raymond Clarke's poetry, are featured on Míle Fáilte! |
| August 2005 | This poem was published in Comhar. |
| Summer 2005 | Editted and remasterd all the recordings made by Raymond Clarke for Progress in Irish, covering lessons 1 through 52, and put them on CDs. |
| August 2005 | My poem Tá Rosenstock ina Bhandia i mBliana is published in Comhar. |
| October 2005 | My article An Buama Adamhach is published in Comhar. |
| Fall 2005 | Under attack for my grammar slips and typos on Beo - which message board is under attack by a crazy person. A story appears in Foinse about this, October. |
| October 2005 | Included as a participant at An tImeall, in my first podcast. I've been on the 'show' a bunch of times since then. |
| November 2005 | Elected chairman of the Philo-Celtic Society |
| November 29, 2005 | First podcast for Philo-Celtic. |
| November 2005 | On Míle Fáilte radio program with Séamus Blake |
| Jan. 2006 | Article Caithréim an Chaipitleachais in Comhar |
| Feb. 24, 2006 | Conn Ó Muíneacháin talks about me in his column An Blagadóir in Lá Nua |
| April 2006 | Guest teacher at Lá na Gaeilge in Iona. On Míle Fáilte again, the same day. |
| May 2006 | 5 poems in Comhar |
| May 2006 | Article Iarsmaí in Feasta |
| June 2006 | Article Soiscéal Iúdáis, Cód Da Vinci agus Naomh Irenaeus in Feasta |
| August 2006 | Start writing Cogadh Dearg |
| March 2007 | Quoted by Gerry Kelly in his article in Beo! |
| Sept. 3, 2007 | My review of Duanta Aneas le Pádraig Ó Miléadh in Lá Nua |
| Sept. 13, 2007 | Conn mentions my podcast again in Imeall.com in Lá Nua |
| September 26, 2007 | Short story Ord Dé in Lá Nua |
| Sept. 2007 | The Oireachtas didn't like my novel (Cogadh Dearg) enough (still needed a lot of work) |
| Nov. 2007 | My letter complaining about an awful anti-american article is published in Comhar. Wrote about it in my blog. |
| Jan. 30, 2008 | My review of Gunrunners by Sean boyne is in Lá Nua |
| Feb-Mar 2008 | I translate Brian DeVale's Pub Crawl, and a lot of the story is published (3 parts) in Lá Nua |
| April 2008 | Coiscéim agrees to publish Cogadh Dearg! |
| 16-18 May, 2008 | I speak at the convention, as chairman of the Philo-Celtic Society. Fís Ghaeilge Mheiriceá Thuaidh, which we helped organize. |
| May 23 2008 | I have an article about the convention in Lá Nua |
| May 1, 2008 | My article Marbh le Cogadh agus Marbh Gan É is published in the first edition of Nós* |
| September 2008 | Cogadh Dearg is in print! |
| Nov. 16, 2008 | Fear an Tí ag Lón Nollag Uí Ghadhra |
| December 2008 | Cogadh Dearg is featured in An Léitheoir, sent with Comhar. |
I've probably left a few things out. There are always more irons in the fire... I'll try and keep this up to date. Took me 3 years to update it this time! Thanks for reading it!