The Irish language renaissance

Irish is among Europe's oldest languages. It's a near miracle that anyone speaks it today. Patrick talks with online Irish teacher Mollie Guidera whose students include a Kentucky farmer who speaks Irish to his horses; also with Irish scholar Jim McCloskey who developed a love of the language when he spent a summer living with Irish speakers. Irish is changing fast, with far more of its speakers learning it as a second language, while the native-speaker population declines.

Music by Elliot Holmes, Zorro,Hugo Paquette, Medité, and Fleurs Douces. Photo courtesy of Mollie Guidera.

Read a transcript of this episode, with more photos here. And sign up for Subtitle’s newsy, nerdy, fortnightly newsletter here.

Irish is among Europe's oldest languages. It's a near miracle that anyone speaks it today. Patrick talks with online Irish teacher Mollie Guidera whose students include a Kentucky farmer who speaks Irish to his horses; also with Irish scholar Jim McCloskey who developed a love of the language when he spent a summer living with Irish speakers. Irish is changing fast, with far more of its speakers learning it as a second language, while the native-speaker population declines.

Music by Elliot Holmes, Zorro,Hugo Paquette, Medité, and Fleurs Douces. Photo courtesy of Mollie Guidera.

Read a transcript of this episode, with more photos here. And sign up for Subtitle’s newsy, nerdy, fortnightly newsletter here.