Gaelic Irish Bible

 

Bible In Irish Language ✝️: In this blog, we will talk about the Gaelic Irish Bible. More specifically, we will talk about its history and provide some example resources and verses you can access should you wish to see the bible in the Irish language.

 

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 

Romans 10:17

 

Why or why do you not read the Bible? Of course, we all have our reasons for doing so. I, for example, have recently just started to read the Bible on a more regular basis to know more about God and deepen my faith more after stating that I do not practice my religion that often a while back. The bible. after all, is essential in know more about God personally. Others do so because they want to discover God’s will for us. You can also find out about God’s word whilst reading the Scripture (aka the Bible).

 

With that said, there can be one more reason why should read the Bible – and by reading, I mean reading it in a specific way – and, that is reading it in Irish. Not only do you enrich yourself with more knowledge about God, but you also get to hone your Irish language skills. Learn about the Bible in Irish language’s history and find some example resources you can read below.

 

 


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History of the Bible in Irish language

 

The largest religion sector in Ireland to this day is Roman Catholicism. Around 73 per cent for the island and 78 per cent of the Republic of Ireland have expressed their faith through Roman Catholicism. And, we all know that Roman Catholicism is also one of the religions that closely follow the Bible and its readings.

 

How did Catholicism make its way in Ireland, And, how did the Bible get translated to the Irish language in the process?

 

History of the Irish Bible, like pretty much any other things, have had a long and rich history.

 

Saint Patrick preached to the people of Ireland a long time ago from the Vetus Latina (i.e., Old Latin) Version of the Holy Bible. As early as the 7th century, Ancient Irish Gaelic has been found on portions of the Psalms, a Gospel written by St. Matthew, along with other sacred writings. Much of the literature of that time was filled with Scripture quotations.

 

In addition, some sermons written down as early as the 8th to 11th centuries contained portions of the Scripture in the Irish language. A fourteenth-century Irish manuscript, the “Leabhar Braec” (the Speckled Book), published at Dublin (1872-5), contains a history of Israel and an extensive history of the New Testament.

 

You can read more of it as we take a look at the history of the Bible in Irish language below, as mentioned by this website:

 

History

 

The Irish New Testament of 1602/3 is known as William O’Donnell’s Irish New Testament. His Irish name was O’Domhnuill.The original work began when Queen Elizabeth commissioned in 1571, at her ownexpense, the development of an Irish type font, and the purchaseof a press and all necessities for printing an Irish Bible for the Irish speaking people of Ireland. It is still known as the ‘QueenElizabeth’ Irish font type. She put two men in charge of the project: Nicholas Walsh, Chancellor of St. Patrick’s, Dublin, who then afterwards became Bishop of Ossory in 1577, and also John Kearney (or O’Cearnagh), the Treasurer of St. Patrick’s.

 

The work of translating from the authoritative Greek texts of the New Testament was begun in 1573. Along with these two men were William O’Donnell, from Kilkenny, who was Fellow of Trinity College, and Nehemiah (or Ferganainm) O’Donellan, a native of Galway (afterwards Archbishop of Tuam, 1595). Another helper in the work of translation was Máoilin óg Mac Brody, a man skilled in the Gaelic tongue in the new College by Dublin.

Their work took nearly 25 years to complete, and then five more years to set the type and put to print by John Francton the printer.

 

As for the Old Testament, it was undertaken by William Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore. He finished the translation under the reign of Charles I, which would be later published in Irish in 1685, taking a bit of a long time before being published.

 

Bible in Irish language: examples

 

Here, you can access the Old Testament and the New Testament:

 

 

For other Bible in Irish language resources, click here to get access to other Irish language editions.

Below, we share one side-by-side English and Irish verses from the Bible taken from Genesis.

 

English

1 In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and
there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was
good: and God divided the light from the
darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first
day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament
in the midst of the waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and
divided the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were
above the firmament: and it was so.

 

Irish

 

1 Ar ttús do chruthaidh Día neamh agus
talamh.
2 Agus do bhí an talamh gan fhoirm, agus
folamh; agus do bhí dorchadus ar
aghaidh an aigéin. Agus do chorruigh
spiorad Dé ar aghaidh na nuisgeadh.
3 Agus a dubhairt Dia, Bíodh solus ann:
agus do bhí an solus ann.
4 Agus do chonnairc Día an solus: gur
mhaith é, agus do roinn Día idir an solus
agus an dorchadus.
5 Agus do ghoir Día don tsolus lá, agus
don dorchadus do ghoir sé oidhche. Agus
do budh í an nóin agus an mhaidean an
chéud lá.
6 Agus a dubhairt Día, Biodh
fiormament a meadhón na nuisgeadh,
agus roinneadh na huisgeadha ó na
huisgeadhuibh.
7 Agus do rinne Día an fhiormament,
agus do roinn na huisgeadha faói an
bhfiormament ó na huisgeadhuibh ós
cionn na fiormamente: agus do bhí mar
sin

 

Learn Irish through Fluentirish

 

Now that I have shared with you readers the history  and examples of the Bible in Irish language, we want to discuss how we can help you in everything Irish-related.

 

ba mhaith linn plé leat freisin conas is féidir linn cabhrú leat i ngach rud a bhaineann leis an nGaeilge.

 

If you can understand simple Irish, you will want to improve. Fluentirish is here for you. Listen every day to get on with Irish.

Má tá tú ábalta Gaeilge shimplí a thuiscint – beidh tú ag iarraidh biseach a dhéanamh. Tá Fluentirish anseo faoi do choinne. Bí ag éisteacht gach aon lá chun a bheith ag gabháil ar aghaidh i nGaeilge.

We provide informative blogs and helpful podcasts that can help in your quest to learn the Irish language.

 


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