Ulster ???

I believe Michelle said the lessons in the "Daily Irish" are Ulster.
Just checking to make sure before I download them?  grma

I have just noticed that this has never been answered. Sorry! Yes, they are basically Ulster, but not very! In other words, they use things like "ar an fhéar" instead of "ar an bhféar" and they use words like madadh rather than madra. But the really non-Standard dialect forms like ceannochaidh instead of ceannóidh are avoided. 

But isn't Ulster Irish generally (no offence) more gramatically incorrect than standard Irish from other areas. Also, are the moderator people on this forum all from Ulster?

Sorry MoonStar but I am offended! No, Ulster Irish is not grammatically incorrect. In fact, none of the dialects as currently spoken corresponds exactly to the standard. All of them contain forms which are not accepted in the standard language.  For example, when a Munster speaker says "Do scríobhas an litir" for I wrote the letter, they are breaking several rules of the standard (do before a past tense, -as instead of mé), while the Ulster speaker says "Scríobh mé an litir" which is exactly like the written Standard. There may still be some delusional Munster speakers who think their dialect is superior to the others but the truth is that Munster is just another dialect, neither any better nor any worse than Connaught or Ulster. Some of the best and most accurate speakers are found in the North but there are plenty of good, accurate and eloquent speakers in Galway or in Cork. What you are saying here is like someone claiming that they speak crap English in the States but English English is wonderful! It's a prejudice, not a statement of linguistic fact! 

Sorry, I've calmed down now so I hope I haven't been too harsh there ...

Not at all, Seano. Your perspective is essential is truly learning Irish. The challenge of dialects is dynamic and fun Thank you for all your help.

''Your perspective is essential is truly learning Irish. The challenge of dialects is dynamic and fun Thank you for all your help"

i agree

I was just asking a question!

Anyway, I'm not from Munster or Connaught

I wasn't stating it as a linguisitc fact! I was simply asking if what I have heard is true.

Yes, sorry for getting irritated, but Ulster Irish speakers get that kind of comment a lot. I basically stick to the Standard in written work and when I speak I sometimes use Ulsterisms like "fá dtaobh de" instead of "faoi". I respect all of the dialects - they all have things to be proud of, and learning them is fun, as several people have said above. So if anyone tells you that Ulster Irish is inferior, just tell them that it isn't. I realise that you didn't mean to be offensive, but having said that you could have picked a less Sheldon Cooperish way of phrasing the question, like "Someone told me that the Ulster dialect contains more grammatical errors than the other dialects. Is this true?"

So, no harm done -

You say you're not Munster or Connaught. Are you in Leinster then? 

Yes I am

Dublin, of course, has one of the strongest Irish-language cultural scenes in Ireland. There are bookshops, shows, Irish schools, and a host of other activities and resources as well as a fairly large population of people who use Irish in their everyday lives and their work. Unfortunately, Leinster Irish as an entity doesn't really exist because the Gaeltacht areas in Leinster died out quite early. There were vestigial areas of Irish-speaking at the beginning of the 20th century but generally, Irish speakers in Leinster speak Ulster, Connaught or Munster Irish. They go to courses in the other provinces to learn the language. However, one of the most important and best books ever written in Irish was written in Leinster Irish in the Leinster county of Kilkenny. It was a diary kept by Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin, a small shopkeeper and teacher, in the 1820s. It is a fascinating book from the point of view of social history and I would recommend anyone to get a copy and read it!

Yes I agree that Leinster people do speak a sort of mixture of the 3 main dialects, but also Leinster Irish is different sort of. For example I find it difficult to understand things like Ros na Rún and various other shows on TG4, even though I am fluent, because of their speed, and their accent.

With me and Ros na Rún, it's a generational thing. I find most of the young people clear as a bell, but the old man with the cap might as well be speaking Arabic most of the time ...