Irish readers

Irish (sometimes also called Gaelic) is a Celtic language from Ireland. It is the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and is officially recognised in Northern Ireland.

Irish was the principal language of most Irish people until the late 18th century. Today it is still used as a primary language in rural and remote areas of western Ireland and it is taught in all public schools of the Republic. According to the Irish census of 2016 about 1.76 million people (39.8%) claim to be able to speak Irish and about 73,800 speak the language every day.

In Australia, 2.39 million people claim Irish ancestry, but only 1,946 indicate that they speak Irish at home (2016 census).

The readers come in Gaelic typeface (Bunchlo Arsa GC) and in Roman typeface (Arial Unicode MS). They were translated by Lonán Ó Lorgnáin who also recorded the sound files available from the table below.

Level 1

TitleLanguage Gaelic typeface Roman typeface Sound files
After school (I nDiaiḋ an Lae Scoile) Irish Gaelic (330kb pdf) Roman (320kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (330kb pdf) Roman (320kb pdf)  
All kinds of tails (An t-ilċineál eireabaill) Irish Gaelic (260kb pdf) Roman (260kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (260kb pdf) Roman (260kb pdf)  
Come and see (Ċugam Leat go ḃFeice Tú) Irish Gaelic (310kb pdf) Roman (330kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (310kb pdf) Roman (330kb pdf)  
Dog (Cú) Irish Gaelic (250kb pdf) Roman (240kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (250kb pdf) Roman (240kb pdf)  
Fruit and vegetables (Torṫaí agus glasraí) Irish Gaelic (260kb pdf) Roman (250kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (260kb pdf) Roman (250kb pdf)  
How many animals? (Cé ṁéad míolta atá ann?) Irish Gaelic (190kb pdf) Roman (200kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (200kb pdf) Roman (200kb pdf)  
I can (Is Féidir Liom) Irish Gaelic (230kb pdf) Roman (220kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (230kb pdf) Roman (220kb pdf)  
I like animals (Is maiṫ liom na míolta) Irish Gaelic (290kb pdf) Roman (280kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (290kb pdf) Roman (280kb pdf)  
Jobs (Slite Beaṫa) Irish Gaelic (330kb pdf) Roman (330kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (340kb pdf) Roman (330kb pdf)  
Look at me (Féaċ orm...) Irish Gaelic (310kb pdf) Roman (300kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (310kb pdf) Roman (300kb pdf)  
On the move (Ag Gluaiseaċt Linn) Irish Gaelic (290kb pdf) Roman (310kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (290kb pdf) Roman (310kb pdf)  
This is a house (Is teaċ é seo) Irish Gaelic (350kb pdf) Roman (340kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (380kb pdf) Roman (340kb pdf)  
Very big! (An-ṁór!) Irish Gaelic (220kb pdf) Roman (220kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (230kb pdf) Roman (220kb pdf)  
What is hiding? (Cad atá i ḃfolaċ?) Irish Gaelic (340kb pdf) Roman (360kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (340kb pdf) Roman (360kb pdf)  
What is Starfish doing? (Cad atá ar bun ag Méarán Mara?) Irish Gaelic (100kb pdf) Roman (110kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (120kb pdf) Roman (90kb pdf)  
Where do we go? (Cá a ḃíonnsmuid?) Irish Gaelic (370kb pdf) Roman (360kb pdf)
  Irish and English Gaelic (370kb pdf) Roman (320kb pdf)