A First Old Irish Grammar and Reader: Including an Introduction to Middle Irish (Maynooth Medieval Irish Texts)

The present work has been produced with the primary aim of supplying learners of Old Irish with a relatively slim but self-contained reference grammar interspersed as frequently as practicable with suitably graded readings drawn from original sources and accompanied by a comprehensive vocabulary at the end of the book. The readings have been selected with a view to illustrating a wide range of medieval Irish literary genres and are preceded, where deemed appropriate, by brief introductions providing some background information. The grammar and reader is not primarily intended as a self-tutor, although the linguistically experienced may prove capable of using it this way. Rather it has been designed with Old and/or Middle Irish courses taught by properly qualified lecturers in mind, either as the basic course book or as a supplement to, say, Quin's Workbook or Strachan's Paradigms and Glosses. In some chapters at least, the amount of reading material provided may well be more extensive than is practical within a given time frame but in that case the teacher should have no difficulty in selecting a particular piece or particular pieces for work in class.