Irish Alphabet
Today Irish is usually written with a version of the Latin alphabet similar to the one used for Scottish Gaelic, though a spelling reform in 1957 eliminated some of the silent letters which are still used in Scottish Gaelic.
A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i
á bé cé dé é eif gé héis í
L l M m N n O o P p R r S s T t U u
eil eim ein ó pé ear eas té ú
The letters j (jé), k (ká), q (cú), v (vé), w (wae), x (ex), y (yé) and z (zae) do not occur in native Irish words, but do appear in some English loanwords, for example jab (job) and veain (van).
You can hear the names of the letters at:
www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/gramadach/aibitir/
Notes
Lenition (séimhiú) is a change in sound that occurs to the beginning of words caused by a preceding word, such as a preposition. Lenition is indicated by adding an h after the initial consonant. For example, the Irish for shoe is bróg, [brok] but my shoe is mo bhróg [mɔ vrok].
Eclipsis (urú) happens after certain words, such as i, which means “in”. Eclipsis in indicated by adding a extra consonant before the initial consonant. For example, the Irish for “in Paris” is i bParis [ɪ bariʃ]. The important thing to remember about eclipsed consonants is that only the first consonant is pronounced.
Nualéargais – Resources for learners of Irish
http://www.nualeargais.ie
Daltaí na Gaeilge – Irish language information and resources
http://www.daltai.com
