Spreading the Words

Dúlra (The Elements, Nature)

Spreading the Words

Hear how the natural word is perceived by Irish writers in the past and present.

Podcast Nature Poetry Gaeilge

Clábar (Mud)

Spreading the Words

Irish clábar lies behind Hiberno-English clabber and clauber, but for how long have we been saying ‘clabber to the knees’?

Podcast Gaeilge Language History

Gé (Goose)

Spreading the Words

The sure signs of winter included the sound of a barnacle goose.

Podcast Animals Gaeilge Language

Immram (Voyage)

Spreading the Words

The theme of immram, or voyage, is central to a number of poems by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.

Podcast Travel Gaeilge Poetry

Behind the Words

Spreading the Words

Máire Ní Mhaonaigh and Sharon Arbuthnot tell Professor Margaret Kelleher about the making of the Spreading the Words series.

Interview Gaeilge Writing Language

Gaoth (Wind)

Spreading the Words

From 'the Night of the Big Wind' to Flann O’Brien’s description of wind-watching – how the wind has shaped Irish life and literature.

Podcast Gaeilge Language History

Lus An Chromchinn (Daffodil)

Spreading the Words

Over the centuries, some beautiful and memorable names of flowers and plants have been recorded in Irish.

Podcast Gaeilge Language History

Grá (Love)

Spreading the Words

Read by Caroline Lennon. An insight into the eighteenth-century poem made famous again by Doireann ...

Podcast Gaeilge History Language

Leabharlann (Library)

Spreading the Words

Hear about how books were stored in medieval Irish libraries and about how we know of the existence of such places.

Podcast Gaeilge Language History

Amadán (Fool)

Spreading the Words

Unravelling the sinister history of amadán, the Modern Irish word for ‘fool’.

Podcast Gaeilge History Language

Craobh (Branch)

Spreading the Words

Find out why Douglas Hyde published verse under the pseudonym An Craoibhín Aoibhinn and why the All-Ireland Championship is referred to in Irish today as Craobh na hÉireann.

Podcast Gaeilge Language History

Crith Talún (Earthquake)

Spreading the Words

Medieval Irish chronicles and stories sometimes mention ‘the movement of the earth’, but was the north of Ireland actually struck twice by earthquakes in the early eighth century?

Podcast History Gaeilge Language

Nollaig (Christmas)

Spreading the Words

Thoughts about recent Christmas lights and the long, dark winters of Christmases past.

Reading Language History Gaeilge

Teaghlach (Household)

Spreading the Words

In medieval Ireland, the hearth was at the centre of the house, but what kinds of households feature in Irish literature of the period?

Reading History Language Gaeilge

Cró (Enclosure)

Spreading the Words

From cró madra ‘a dog kennel’ to cró snáthaide ‘the eye of a needle’, this episode takes us on a journey through the many uses of a truly versatile word.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Gorm (Blue)

Spreading the Words

Read by Deirdre Lewis. How colour is described is determined by cultural, as well as ...

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Cuing (Yoke)

Spreading the Words

The Irish are fond of referring to an ‘ould yoke’, but how were words for ‘yoke’ used in Old Irish?

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Gloss/Clós/Glas

Spreading the Words

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s poem Gloss/Clós/Glas explores the sound and meaning of three interconnected English and Irish words. Her wonderfully creative word-play is celebrated in this special episode of Spreading the Words.

Podcast Language Gaeilge History

Ulcha (Beard)

Spreading the Words

Beards are status symbols in the world of early Irish literature. Such is their importance that Ulster hero Cú Chulainn created an imitation beard for himself of berry-juice or enchanted grass.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Dinnsheanchas (A Literature of Place)

Spreading the Words

Real space without and imaginative space within: how the poetry of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, rooted in the landscape, echoes the interests of medieval Ireland.

Podcast Poetry Gaeilge History

Fás aon oíche (Mushroom)

Spreading the Words

Ireland has a great biodiversity of fungi but how have the Irish referred to puffballs, stinkhorns and the like over the centuries?

Podcast Gaeilge Nature History

Coll (Hazel tree)

Spreading the Words

Hazel trees have greatly benefited the people of Ireland since medieval times; hazel nuts have served as tasty, nutritional snacks and hazel rods have been used to construct houses and fences.

Podcast Nature History Gaeilge

Damhán alla (Spider)

Spreading the Words

The Irish term for a spider has long been a source of puzzlement.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Tarbh (Bull)

Spreading the Words

In early Ireland, many activities were not permitted on a Sunday; but you could still bring a bull to a cow.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Cleas (Trick or Feat)

Spreading the Words

The early Irish hero Cú Chulainn was accomplished in an array of feats including the all-encompassing ‘body-feat’.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Duileasg (Dulse)

Spreading the Words

In his poetry, Seamus Heaney referred often to ‘dulse’, but how does this edible seaweed feature in medieval Irish law, literature and medicine?

Podcast Gaeilge Language History

Bog (Soft)

Spreading the Words

Some shared insights into the relationship between the Irish adjective bog ‘soft’ and the English noun meaning ‘bogland’.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Snámh (Swimming)

Spreading the Words

Hear about traditions of wild swimming and the dangers of swimming on a full stomach.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Smugairle Róin (Jellyfish)

Spreading the Words

A look into the history of the Irish phrase smugairle róin, which is widely known and much-loved today as a name for a jellyfish.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Maighdean Mhara (Mermaid)

Spreading the Words

This episode explores the concept of fish-women and other sea-creatures mentioned in medieval Irish literature and historical records.

Podcast Language History Gaeilge

Dulra (Nature)

Spreading the Words

Learn about the word dulra or ‘nature’ and its etymology steeped in Irish history, poetry and mythic tale.

Podcast Gaeilge Language Nature