List of Irish-language media explained

The following is a list of media available in the Irish language.

Television

See main article: article and List of programmes broadcast by TG4.

Current channels

TG4

TG4, originally known as Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG), broadcasts on terrestrial television in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has an annual budget of €34.5 million. The station has an audience of an average of 650,000 people each day in the Republic, a fifty per cent increase on what it was in the 1990s. The station's anchor shows are the long-running soap opera Ros na Rún (160,000 weekly viewership), popular teen drama Aifric, nightly news programme Nuacht TG4 (viewership circa. 8,000), current affairs programme 7 Lá and dubbed documentaries Fíorscéal. Other popular programs include or have included a dating show, Eochair an ghrá, a documentary about the Irish language abroad, Thar Sáile, travel shows such as Amú Amigos (viewership 50,000), Seacht / Seven – a university drama set in Belfast (viewership 40,000), the dating game Paisean Faisean, South Park in Irish, chat show Ardán, talent show Nollaig No. 1, and children's shows Cúla 4 and Síle.

Cúla 4

Cúla 4 is a digital channel and carries TG4's strand of children's programmes. Programmes are broadcast MondaysSundays from 7am to 9am, then from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. At the Tourism and Sports post-Budget briefing, Minister Catherine Martin announced Cúla 4 will have its own TV channel launched by TG4. It's scheduled for 2023.

RTÉ One

Irish public broadcaster RTÉ has one channel, RTÉ One, which broadcasts Irish-language programmes such as news bulletin Nuacht RTÉ le TG4 and new programmes every year such as documentaries of various scandals that rocked Ireland Scannal and community programme Pobal. It was reported on Tuairisc.ie in 2018 that circa. 70,000 viewers watch Nuacht RTÉ every evening on RTÉ One.[1]

RTÉ News

RTÉ News is a digital 24-hour news service available featuring national and international news. It broadcasts news mostly in the English language but also Nuacht TG4 le RTÉ, the daily Irish language news bulletin on RTÉ ONE television and repeats Nuacht TG4 at 11:30 each night.

Houses of the Oireachtas Channel

Houses of the Oireachtas Channel or Oireachtas TV is a digital television channel in the Republic of Ireland which broadcasts live from both the Irish houses of parliament Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann in Dublin and also broadcasts some Oireachtas committee meetings. It covers parliamentary debates in both official national languages English and Irish although it should be known that the vast bulk of Oireachtas debates take place through English.

BBC Two Northern Ireland

The Northern Irish variant of BBC Two has its own Irish-language department producing some well-known programmes such as:music programme for young people Imeall Geall, music programme Blas Ceoil, youth drama Teenage Cics, documentary Isteach Chun An Oileáin, cartoon Na Dódaí, interior-decor show Gaisce Gnó and community programme Féile an Phobail. It is funded by the Irish Language Broadcast Fund which has been given £12 million over a five-year period.

Radio

Radio stations entirely in Irish

There are four radio stations that broadcast entirely in Irish:

National

Youth

Greater Dublin

Greater Belfast

Online radio stations

Stations with daily/weekly Irish-language programming

Almost all other national, regional and local stations also have at least one (usually weekly) Irish-language programme such as the following radio stations:

Outside Ireland:

Melbourne Community Radio, Australia: Saturday and Sunday
New York City Public Radio Station; Sunday morning

National:

Regional / Community / Third Level:

Top 40 Oifigiúil na hÉireann and Giotaí

See main article: article and List of artists who have released Irish-language songs.

A company called Digital Audio Productions specialising in all aspects of radio programming has created two very successful Top 40 Oifigiúil na hÉireann and Giotaí brands of Irish-language radio programmes. Top 40 Oifigiúil na hÉireann (Ireland's Official Top 40) is a new phenomenon, and it has become increasingly popular to hear the Irish Top 40 hits being presented entirely in Irish on what are regarded as English-language radio stations such as:

Print

Newspapers

Weekly

Newspapers with Irish-language columns

In addition to these, other newspapers which have Irish-language columns include:

Magazines

Irish-language publishers

Irish language online book shops

Multilingual Irish publishers

Autobiographies

E-Newspapers

E-Magazines

Online news channels

Social networking

Online forums

Dictionaries

Place name translator

Encyclopedia

Print to voice

Software

LunguashopCom/irishSeveral computer software products have the option of an Irish-language interface. Prominent examples include KDE,[3] Mozilla Firefox,[4] Mozilla Thunderbird,[4] OpenOffice.org,[5] LibreOfficeand various language packs for Microsoft products including Microsoft Office.[6] VBulletin the most popular software for hosting online chat forums has an Irish-language option. The option of using it is available on PeoplesRepublicofCork.com.

Video games

In 2012 Derry City-based independent developer Black Market Games released Dead Hungry Diner, a fast-paced action-puzzler video game.[7] An Irish-language version of Dead Hungry Diner, in conjunction with Foras na Gaeilge, was subsequently made available for free from Black Market Games' website, with the intent of promoting learning through Irish. This is credited as being the first commercial video game to be released in Irish.[8]

Minecraft has an Irish language option in a game released in 2012 in version 1.3.1.[9]

In 2015 the video game developer John Romero released a remake of the 1980s PC platformer, Dangerous Dave, featuring Irish as one of its languages.[10] Romero currently resides and works in Galway. Another game on which Romero was a key developer – Commander Keen – was used in 2005 by a fan called Benvolio to make a mod entirely in the Irish language: Bunny Basher 2.

In July 2021 Among Us launched the official Irish language translation of the game.[11]

Mobile technology

In 2008 the mobile phone maker Samsung said that it would create a mobile phone specifically for the Irish-language market, which would include Irish-language predictive text. Later that year Samsung announced that all of its new phones launched from 2009 onwards would have "Gael Fón" – a feature allowing Irish as a language option, including predictive text, which was developed by the company – as standard.[12]

Since 2012, Adaptxt, a predictive texting app for Android, also includes Irish as an available language.

Interactive iBooks

Slí Draíochta an Gha Ghreine

Irish language apps

TeachMe! Irish

Gradaim Chumarsáide an Oireachtais

Once every year Oireachtas na Gaeilge hold Gradaim Chumarsáide an Oireachtais which are the annual Irish language awards for the Irish language media.

See also

References

  1. Web site: Mioneolas ar fáil den chéad uair faoi lucht féachana Nuacht TG4/RTÉ. 2022-03-09. Tuairisc.ie. ga-IE.
  2. Web site: Cumann Gaeilge na hAstráile.
  3. Web site: KDE Irish Gaelic translation . kde.ie . 2007-07-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070704075851/http://www.kde.ie/ga.php . 2007-07-04 . dead .
  4. Web site: Firefox in Irish. mozdev.org. 2007-06-19. 2007-06-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20070608184056/http://gaeilge.mozdev.org/. dead.
  5. Web site: Bogearra den scoth, chomh maith agus a bhí sé ariamh, anois as Gaeilge. Irish. openoffice.org. 2007-06-19.
  6. Web site: Windows XP Pacáiste Comhéadan Gaeilge . Irish . Microsoft . 2007-06-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070609073014/http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=ga&FamilyID=0db2e8f9-79c4-4625-a07a-0cc1b341be7c . 2007-06-09 . .
  7. Web site: 2013-04-12. Ghosts and Ghouls game as Gaeilge rises for Halloween | TechCentral.ie. 2022-03-09. archive.ph. 12 April 2013. https://archive.today/20130412225327/http://www.techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=20158. dead.
  8. http://www.worldirish.com/story/14371-the-first-computer-game-in-irish-has-been-released?popular World Irish - The first computer game in Irish has been released
  9. Web site: Language . Minecraft Wiki . 24 September 2023 . en.
  10. Web site: Game design legend John Romero launches Irish language game. 2022-03-09. independent. en.
  11. https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0721/1233708-among-us-launches-official-irish-language-translation/ Among Us launches official Irish language translation
  12. Web site: 2008-11-06. Gaeilge on your phone. . en.

External links