I have to read a book right through in Irish soon, is oth liom a rá go bhfuil mo chuid Gaeilge ag dul i laige caithfear sár iarracht a dhéanamh na laethanta seo í a choinneáil, go speisialta nuair nach bhfuil tú i nGaeltacht

Cá bhfuil tú i do chónaí, a Gumbi? Seans go bhfuil Gaeilgeoirí eile thart agus go mbeadh siad lán-sásta teacht le chéile le Gaeilgeoir eile ó am go h-am.

Tá cara agam i mo cheantar agus cosúil leatsa ní raibh deis aici a cuid Gaeilge a úsáid timpeall na háite seo. Ansin, chuala sí go raibh ranganna Gaeilge ar siúl agus chuaigh sí ann. Cainteoir dúchais atá i gceist - ní raibh na ranganna de dhíth uirthi ar chor ar bith! Tar éis cúpla seachtain, tharla rud éigin don mhúinteoir agus chuir siad ceist uirthi an rang a mhúineadh! Ón am sin, tháinig sí ar a lán Gaeilgeoirí agus anois bíonn deiseanna aici gach lá an Ghaeilge a labhairt.

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I'm here to learn Irish ,too.

I read An tOileánach - but with the English translation handy as a study aid.

I think Pádraic Ó Conaire's stories are more accessible. (Technically, he wasn't a native-speaker - he was adopted into his uncle's family at the age of about ten, but young enough for his brain to still be pretty pliable and he gained .)

If you can, try to get hold of the unabridged version of Scothscéalta (Sáirséal-Ó Marcaigh, Baile Átha Cliath, 1982 (first published 1956)), as the newer editions of his works tend to be abridged to CO (or try to get both to compare them).

The stories from Ó Conaire's "An Chéad Chloch" deal ficticiously with the lives of Biblical characters after Jesus resurrection. There's some interesting twists on old themes and stories in them.

Ó Conaire's stories are also available in translation, though you would need the translation a lot less than for an Criomhthanach.

"Deoraíocht" ("Exile") was another Ó Conaire work available in translation but I couldn't relate to the main character. Depressingly tragically stupid.

Séamas Ó Grianna's "Cith is Dealán" was a fairly easy read after finishing LI. I didn't need a dictionary with that one (although the glossary of Ulster Irish words in the back of the Cló Mercier edition was useful.)

Again, it is said that Ó Grianna wasn't really a native. So perhaps it is the calquing of English that makes the works of Ó Conaire and Ó Grianna accessible, I don't know. (Interestingly, one of the most famous Japanese authors, NATSUME Souseki, spent time in London before returning to Japan to write his most famous works - I think what made his work refreshing and new for his Japanese audience (and accessible to the rest of the world) was his injection of direct Japanese translations of English expressions, i.e., calques, into his prose.)

I've tried reading Ó Cadhain and find it too difficult even WITH a translation. But that is probably precisely because it IS real native Irish, full of beautiful adjectives and idioms.

My own aim is to use the other works as a bridge to build my vocabulary and comprehension to the level that I can one day tackle Ó Cadhain.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

I've wondered about that before -if you remove 95% of anything spread over space, then leave the remainder to itself, what is the chance it reflects what would have been the norm? After all, current Gaeltachtaí are pretty much off the beaten track

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___