Auraicept na n-Éces, or The Scholars' Primer, is one of the most important and fascinating surviving texts from medieval Ireland. It stands as the earliest known native Irish treatise on grammar, poetics, and the philosophy of language.
Osborn Joseph Bergin (1873–1950) was a towering figure in Celtic studies. Read on to learn more about this veritable master of the Irish language, in all its historical forms, a brilliant philologist, an exacting editor of manuscripts, and a dedicated teacher who helped shape the next generation of scholars, including Myles Dillon.
A poem composed in 1580 served as a prophetic warning, a cry of despair and for Irish unity upon seeing the desecration of the Irish woodland even in the early times of the 'New English'.
We find references to Ogham in the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology, which recounts the exploits of the famous boy-hero, Setanta, or to give him his heroic name, Cuchullain. In…
Ogham (pronounced “ohm”, or with a soft g "oh-gham") is an ancient Irish method of writing. It was a special language known only to the initiated and higher classes. A champion…