Irish Language Activist and a Gaelic Wit - Darach Ó Séaghdha Proves that "Irish is Far From a Dead Language"

Darach Ó Séaghdha is an Irish writer, podcaster and Irish language activist. Interestingly his parents spoke to him English whilst they conversed in Gaelic. A sadly familiar root cause of Gaelic's demise. He is the author of " Motherfoclóir: Dispatches from a Not So Dead Language"which won the Ireland AM Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the 2017 Irish Book Awards.

" By telling the stories from his own life, Darach shows that Irish too has a life of its own. It’s far from a dead language, he says. From the Gaeltacht to Gaelscoileanna and the interactions I have with people on Twitter; I see and hear the language in so much of life.” 

His growing poularity took off thanks to Donald Trump whose mother, Màiri Anna NicLeòid, was a Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Lewis and whose ancestors suffered in the Highland Clearances. “On St Patrick’s Day, Donald Trump quoted an Irish proverb that wasn’t Irish at all so I tweeted to tell him so,” says Darach. “That off-the-cuff remark was featured in the Washington Post, Buzzfeed and The Guardian.” 

Other popular tweets have included a series on 1990s album titles translated into Irish, such as Ná Bac Leis for Nevermind by Nirvana. “People responded with titles of their own,” says Darach. “They seemed to enjoy having the opportunity to play with the Irish that they do have.” - Irish Examiner

There is much more where this came from, just Google him.

Below is an exerpt from a review in the Irish Times of Darach Ó Séaghdha's "Craic Baby - Dispatches From a Rising Language".

Gaelscoil Success:

Darach Ó Séaghdha’s observations and reflections are intelligent and interesting. His chapter on ‘”The Power of Gaelscoil”, in which he discusses the strange phenomenon of the success of Gaelscoils, by contrast with the traditional hostility to Gaeilge as a compulsory subject in all schools, is excellent. He dispels the myth now in circulation that they are “racist” because children of non-Irish have difficulty getting access to them (you don’t have to be Irish to learn Irish – another myth.You don’t even have to be a child, actually.)

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/craic-baby-dispatches-from-a-rising-language-1.3632110

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/darach-o-seaghdhas-complicated-history-with-gaeilge-457809.html