Can hardly express how much we enjoyed the 'Writing the Script' workshop which we gave last Friday as part of the Dublin Book Festival. Room packed with well-informed, interested and generous people. Thanks so much to everyone who came along; we could have stayed all evening!
On the day that 'A History of Ireland in 100 Words' is officially launched, you can read about 10 (or so!) of the words which feature in it in thejournal.ie today. Letters, drunkenness and more - these extracts differ from those published in the Irish Times at the weekend. https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/extract-history-of-ireland-10-words-4887904-Nov2019/?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true
CAST YOUR VOTE! We have gained a lot of new followers in the last couple of weeks and some of you may not know that ‘A History of Ireland in 100 Words’ has been shortlisted for ‘Best Irish-Published Book’ in the An Post Irish Book Awards. Voting closes tomorrow at 6pm (Ireland-time!), so if you’ve enjoyed the book, please cast a vote for the wonderful (and sometimes weird) Irish words past and present. Link below. GRMMA https://irishbookawards.irish/vote2019/
'A History of Ireland in 100 Words', written by members of the eDIL team, features on the cover and inside today's Irish Times Magazine. We're thrilled and a little stunned! In case you are not in a position to pick up a copy of the magazine, the extracts are also available online: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/béarla-punt-fliuch-a-history-of-ireland-in-10-little-words-1.4069438?mode=amp
One of our favourite images from ‘A History of Ireland in 100 Words’ – a turkey in a travel-bag, to illustrate CEARC FHRANCACH ‘French hen’, a term which (in one form or another) has been used in Gaelic languages to refer to the turkey since that bird first made its way to these islands in the sixteenth century.
Huge thanks to everyone who came along to Thyme and Co. café in Ballycastle on Friday night to hear Greg Toner talk about ‘A History of Ireland in 100 Words’. Hope that those who bought and ordered copies of the book are enjoying (and will enjoy) the stories! And thanks also to Thyme and Co. for hosting.
Great piece in today's Irish Times, in which Prof. Máire Ní Mhaonaigh writes about printing, learning, hairstyles, shoes and much, much more: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tuarascáil/nasc-sanasa%C3%ADochta-le-stair-na-héireann-1.4069379?mode=amp
Originally, we released only a limited number of tickets for our workshop at the Dublin Book Festival, but those sold out really quickly, so we've increased capacity and released some more. The workshop is called 'Writing the Script: Letters and literacy in Medieval Ireland'. It's in collaboration with calligrapher Tim O'Neill. And it's at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin on 15 Nov. If you missed out last time, tickets are here: http://bit.ly/2q6Aznb
"The Morrígan demonstrates the ability to shape-shift into an astonishing array of forms: we see her as an eel, a wolf, a cow, and an old woman. It is as a black bird that she is most familiar, however. In this form, she hovers above the battlefield or gloats amongst corpses on the ground" The Royal Irish Academy's 'Halloween special: ominous birds and banshees': https://www.ria.ie/news/publications-focloir-stairiuil-na-gaeilge/halloween-special-ominous-birds-and-banshees
One of the words discussed in our ‘History of Ireland in 100 Words’ book is CREACH, which over the centuries has been variously used to talk about plundering, raiding, ruin, cauterizing and tattoos. Following up on that, here’s a short interview which manages to cover both the Gaelic exclamation ‘mo chreach ’s a thàinig’ and medieval references to tattooing! https://gaelic.co/medieval-gaelic-tattooing/
Friends, we need your help. As you might know, ‘A History of Ireland in 100 Words’ - the general-interest book written by members of the eDIL team - has been shortlisted for ‘Best Irish-published Book of 2019’ at the An Post Irish Book Awards. Now, we need votes! If you have a few moments to spare, please support the book and the work we do in bringing medieval Irish to a wider audience, by voting via the link below. IS BUIDI LEND (SCano 119) https://irishbookawards.irish/vote2019/
'Whiskey, dancing, insults: the history of Ireland in 100 words'. A glimpse inside the general-interest book, written by members of the eDIL team, which is out this month. Enjoy! https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/1021/1084677-whiskey-dancing-insults-the-history-of-ireland-in-100-words/
A long time in the making, but 'A History of Ireland in 100 Words', a general-interest book written as part of the impact work the eDIL project, will be in shops and on shelves very soon. In the meantime, you can pre-order from https://www.ria.ie/publications/new-publications
We still have some places left at our schools' event at the Dublin Book Festival. Dipping into medieval Irish in search of unusual and unforgettable evidence for contact between Ireland and the outside world! 'French Turkeys and Roof-Holes' Fri 15 Nov 11.00am The event is free but booking is essential. http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/whatwordsreveal/
Just 80 copies left of the special limited run of our 'History of Ireland in 100 Words'! Preorder now to secure a copy with this stunning comet on the cover ✨
As part of the Schools' Programme at the Dublin Book Festival, we'll be dipping into medieval Irish in search of unusual and unforgettable evidence for contact between Ireland and the outside world. The talk is called 'French Turkeys and Roof-Holes'. It's on Friday, 15 November, at 11am, and it is intended to entertain as well as inform adults and students aged 14+. Please spread the word and be sure to book in advance (the event is entirely free): http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/whatwordsreveal/
We'll be at the Dublin Book Festival on Friday, 15 November, for a workshop on 'Writing the Script: Letters and Literacy in Medieval Ireland'. This event will be in collaboration with calligrapher Timothy O'Neill and participants will have the opportunity to learn the early Irish terms for the practices and paraphernalia of writing, to view manuscripts and to try their hand at writing with the materials medieval scribes would have used. Book now. Limited places. http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/writing-the-script-letters-and-literacy-in-medieval-ireland/
Revisiting the past in many different ways, I’ve written a short blog on how the Dictionary of the Irish Language can be used to locate words that might not have been known in Ireland! https://gaelic.co/uniquely-gaelic-words/
The new, improved, corrected and expanded version of eDIL is now live at www.dil.ie. Use it, explore it, enjoy it at your leisure...
A little taster of what's to come in 'eDIL 2019'... https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/0822/1070283-10-medieval-irish-words-we-didnt-know-about-before-now/
