For some time now I have been trying to learn Scottish Gaelic (GÃ idhlig). I started to learn it initially in Bristol some twenty years ago, after buying a Runrig album and wondering why the Irish was so different in the lyrics (!) - until that point, being a Northern Irish born madman, I had never heard of Scottish Gaelic. Since then I've had all sorts of fun with it, including working for a short stint in the BBC's Gaelic department in Glasgow, but the reality is that living in Largs, there are not a lot of opportunities for me to try to use the language, with it's current heartland being more in the Western Isles. I'm at the point where I am seriously beginning to forget more than I can remember.
One of the most useful things I ever did when I started to learn Gaelic was to keep a diary for a couple of years as a very desperate learner, to try to improve my fluency. I've decided to try to revive that idea now in blog form, by writing about something I know a bit about in a language that I want to increase my proficiency in.
This is not a blog about genealogy in the Western Isles - I have absolutely no ancestral connections that I am aware of to the Hebrides, and Gaelic is a language that should know no boundaries, geographical or otherwise. Instead, it will be a blog about Scottish genealogy, maybe even a little Irish genealogy, based on my own experience with connections to Perthshire, Inverness and Glasgow, where I will try to share a few stories and tips.
I have absolutely no idea if it is a sustainable idea, but God loves a trier - that highest apple has yet to be reached...!
The first post on The Gaelic Genealogist is therefore now live at https://gaelicgenealogist.blogspot.com. If you have an interest in the language, please feel free to follow and comment. All I ask is if that if I have made a dog's dinner of something in the way I have written it, please do drop me a note, or make a comment, about how it should be phrased better. In return, I will try to share what I know about ancestor hunting!
And if you are learning Gaelic, and fancy sharing a story or two, you will find a welcome home on the blog also!
Chris
Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scottish Research Online course starts 2 September 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
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