I have the pleasure of teaching a class that I haven’t taught before this semester at our Irish language school. I have the réamhrang (Rave rong), the introductory class we have for adults. The focus of this class is to give everyone a solid foundation in Irish pronunciation.

We learn about broad and slender consonants. There are two sounds for each consonant in Irish, depending on the vowel it is next to. I and E cause the consonant to be slender (tight lips, front of the mouth), and the other vowels cause the consonants to be broad (loose, back of the mouth). This, and certain other combinations, explains why there seem to be lots of extra vowels in Irish.

Another important thing we learn is that H’s in Irish, except at the beginning of a word, NEVER do what they do in English. They do change the sound of the consonant they follow, sometimes making them silent. They actually replace the old dot over the letter. This convention made it possible to type and print Irish more easily.

These are just a couple of the things we introduce. We have some of this on our website at www.scoilgaeilge.org. And you can also get tapes, like those that come with Teach Yourself Irish, or an Foclóir Póca (pocket dictionary), which let you hear them. There are other pronunciation guides on the internet. But the best thing is to hear it and practice it with other people.

This beginners’ class is always our biggest class. We have around 30 people this semester, just in that class. When they are done, they will be able to pronounce any word they see in Irish. They will then proceed to learn grammar and vocabulary, building on the concepts we introduce in the réamhrang.

Not everyone continues on to become a fluent Irish speaker. But wouldn’t it be nice if everyone had at least this much knowledge? I think so – and I think it is possible. It just takes the will to do it.

We are very lucky in New York to have a radio program all about the Irish language. This is Míle Fáilte, with Séamus Blake, every Saturday morning on WFUV from 8:00 to 9:00. It used to be that you had to live close to the Bronx to hear the program. But for some time now, WFUV has been broadcasting live on the internet at www.wfuv.org. Even better, there is an archive of this program, which now goes back around 2 years! Anyone in the world can now listen to this show – and I highly recommend it.

Níl an colún seo faoin Nollaig. Bíonn Mí Shamhna agus Mí na Nollag san eagrán céanna, agus ní minic a bhímid ag smaoineamh ach ar an Nollaig.

Smaoiním féin ar Lá na Naomh (Samhain) ar an gcéad lá Samhna. Smaoiním freisin ar an lá a phós mé mo phéarla mhná, Irene, an 19ú Samhna. An lá céanna, in 1863, thug Lincoln a aitheasc Gettysburg dúinn. Cúpla bliain ó shin bhíomar in Gettysburg ar an lá sin, agus tugadh athléiriú de. Bhí duine gléasta suas mar Lincoln agus lucht éisteachta mór ann. Talamh beannaithe atá ann, cinnte.

Agus leis na rudaí sin, i dtosach Mhí na Nollag, smaoiním ar Fredericksburg.

Tharla an chéad chath Fredericksburg Mí na Nollag 1862. Bhí beirt sinsear agam ann, ag troid ar son na Stáit Aontaithe. Duine acu, William H. Keane, a ba as Contae an Chláir. Bhí sé timpeall fiche bliana d’aois ag an am. An duine eile, Albert S. Norton, bhí sé beagán níos aosta. Gabhadh eisean in aice le Salem Church idir an dara chath Fredericksburg (Bealtaine 1863) agus Chancellorsville, agus bhí sé ina bhacach mar gheall air ó shin go lá a bháis.

Chugamar cuairt ar na háiteanna seo cúpla bliain ó shin. Thaispeán duine deas a oibríon leis na Páirceanna Náisiúnta na háiteanna dom ina raibh mo shinsir i rith an chatha sin. Déanann na daoine seo sár-obair dúinn.

Fuair mé iarsmalann bheag bhreá (The White Oak Museum) atá ag D. P. Newton in Falmouth, Virginia. Tá gach eolas aigesean faoi stair na háite. Bhí sé in ann ionaid champála mo shinsear a thaispeáint dom ar mhapaí. Fuair sé, is a shinsir, iarsmaí go leor ó na campaí sin, a bhí ar a bhfeirmeacha. Níl aon rud chomh brónach mar chogadh cathrach, mar atá a lán fhios agaibh. Ach sa lá atá inniu ann, táimid go léir in ann caint faoi is machnamh air le chéile mar chairde, agus mar bhaill den Aontachas, an tír is fearr ar domhan.

Is maith dúinn go léir smaoineamh ar stair ár dtíre, ar a laochra, agus ar an bpraghas a d’íoc siad dár leas. Beannacht Dé ar a n-anamacha uile, agus orthu siúd atá ag íoc an phraghais sin fós thar lear.