Introducing | The Greatest Matter

Gaylinn dives into the weird, wonderful, and messy sides of life from sports to dating in Dublin all with humor, hot takes, and plenty of Irish language thrown in. It’s perfect for learners and fluent speakers alike. If you’re craving your weekly dose of Gaeilge, Gaylinn could be just what you’re looking for. Episode one of their new season is out now! Listen on HeadStuffPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

An audiodrama for fans of Motherfoclóir! The Greatest Matter is a new gothic crime tale set in Victorian Dublin, about a criminologist who arrives in the city and gets caught up in a murder investigation with occult connections. It's a full-cast audiodrama, with a cast of great Irish actors, immersive sound design and original music. Have a listen to Ep 1 here, and all 12 episodes are available to listen to in full right now - just type The Greatest Matter into whatever player you're using now, or go to HeadStuffPodcasts.com. Enjoy!

We're back! Well, sort of. In March 2024 Darach, Gearóidín and Peadar were reunited for a live Seachtain na Gaeilge event in Clondalkin Library (a home advantage for Peadar!)  On the occasion of the anniversary of Brendan Behan's death, the gang discussed the controversy surrounding the English translation of his Irish language play An Giall: did Behan approve of this version, and the significant differences in the text?  This leads to a discussion of translating Hiberno English and Irish locals contexts in general. Is a Trinity Marxist in a Rooney novel comparable to the understanding of a Marxist that Chinese readers would approach her work with? How about the use of swearing in Roddy Doyle - do Germans swear the same way?

With thanks to the Bram Stoker Festival, the Motherfoclóir Podcast was resurrected for one afternoon in October 2022 to discuss the translation of Dracula into Irish by Seán Ó Cuirreáin. In this recording of last year's live show Darach is joined by Peadar and Siún as they consider the different motives of the politicians who commissioned the translation and the writer asked to carry out the work.

Motherfocloir is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network and there are lots of other shows on the network we think you might like. Words To That Effect is a show that tells stories of the fiction behind popular culture and if you're a fan of Motherfocloir we think there's a very good chance you'll like this show too. Here's a full episode, all about the history of dragons in fiction and popular culture. Enjoy! For more, and all the eps of Words To That Effect, go to HeadStuffPodcasts.com

Thank you for your support over the last four years.  Thank you for inviting us into your headphones and into your head. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  Thank you to Brian and Kirsten for making each episode look and sound amazing. Thank you to Éimear, Clodagh, Caitlín, Siún and Ola, and all the members of the extended Motherfoclóir family.  Thank you to our guests for teaching us so much. Much love to anyone who sent us messages of encouragement.  Go raibh míle maith agaibh.  --- Get Kirsten Shiel art prints here: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/kirstenshiel/  --- Contact the show: Darach - @theirishfor Gearóidín - @GaRoDean Peadar - @TheKavOfficial Kirsten - @KirstenShielART --- Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/jZSJZKN2 --- Want to record your own podcast?  Check out our studios at https://thepodcaststudios.ie Or do it online at https://remotely.fm/?coddle

If you follow Darach's Word of the Week project with the Irish Arts Center in New York, you'll have seen the artwork of Amy Louise O'Callaghan - @amylouioc on Twitter, Instagram and Etsy - who reimagines Irish mythology in the style of Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. More recently she has reimagined the iconography of tarot cards using well-known tales and characters from Irish mythology. She chats to Darach about her influences, her work process, her interest in Japan and her favourite Irish and Japanese words. https://irishartscenter.org/event/irish-word-of-the-week-chapter-3

Join us for the final episode of Motherfoclóir, live on Zoom tonight: https://www.patreon.com/posts/55377967 --- Every artistic/visual representation of Cúchulainn presents him as a hulking, ultra-masculine figure. But is this interpretation justified by the text? In the Táin, Cúchulainn is frequently described as a small lad, girly in some ways, a person who has to change his appearance to present as a "normal man" but does not wear this disguise when he does not have to.  In today's episode of Motherfoclóir, Darach talks to Masters student Finn Longman about queer readings of the Táin. Once we suspend assumptions about binary genders when considering a work of literature that predates this construction, we are free to engage with the deeper meanings of the Táin. Why is the "pillow talk*chapter only in one version of the Táin? What is the significance of Cúchulainn's relationships with Ferdiad and Laeg? And why does this Irish legend talk about bodies and feelings so much?  --- Get Kirsten Shiel art prints here: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/kirstenshiel/  --- Contact the show: whatsapp - +353894784713 twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] --- Want to record your own podcast?  Check out our studios at https://thepodcaststudios.ie Or do it online at https://remotely.fm/?coddle

The re-release of Professor Terence Dolan's Dictionary of Hiberno-English didn't happen by accident, but was nudged into existence by a writer who also happens to be one of the most seminal and relevant voices in Irish podcasting. And he's our guest this week!  Before we folded the podcast forever, we are delighted to bring you this conversation between Darach and Blindboy Boatclub, one half of the Rubber bandits and author of two collections of short stories. Blindboy talks to Darach about the Dictionary of Hiberno-English, the idea of resistance in language through dialect and satire, the origin of his love of Flann O'Brien and the future of Irish podcasting.  Check out his books and his podcast! --- Get Kirsten Shiel art prints here: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/kirstenshiel/  --- Contact the show: whatsapp - +353894784713 twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] --- Want to record your own podcast?  Check out our studios at https://thepodcaststudios.ie Or do it online at https://remotely.fm/?coddle

In terms of literary prestige, romance novels don't get no respect, ranking lower than sports biographies and screenplay novelisations on the scale of respectability - according to people who don't read them, anyway. But what about people who do?  Since Covid, sales of romance novels have shot through the roof, largely on account of the #BookTok hashtag on Tiktok. And one of #BookTok's stars joins us on today's episode. You might remember Róisín McNally from episode #122 - she's back to tell Darach all about romance novels, how Ireland and Irishness are represented in the genre and even the bits where Gaeilge turns up.  We also have a very special appearance from Peadar and a chat with Gearóidín about Bridgerton. --- Get Kirsten Shiel art prints here: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/kirstenshiel/  --- Contact the show: whatsapp - +353894784713 twitter - @motherfocloir and @theirishfor email - [email protected] --- Want to record your own podcast?  Check out our studios at https://thepodcaststudios.ie Or do it online at https://remotely.fm/?coddle