Irish Language & Culture

Are you interested in Irish music, literature, and folklore? Do you have Irish ancestry? The Irish language is a priceless repository of all that is truly Irish. Our beginning course offers the discovery of Irish language and culture in a relaxed and fun environment.

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Irish language and culture classes in Madison
Instructor for Irish classes
Student comments

Conversational Irish classes in Madison

Browse upcoming Irish classes in the Continuing Education Catalog online.

Beginning 1: In this course you develop basic conversational and reading skills in the Irish language. Experience the richness of Irish culture in its literature, history, and music, by exploring short texts written in Irish. Instructor: Dineen Grow.

Irish language and culture: beginning: In this course you develop basic conversational and reading skills in the Irish language. Experience the richness of Irish culture in its literature, history, and music by exploring short texts written in Irish. Instructor: Dineen Grow

Land and landscape in Irish film: This course explores how the idea of land and landscape functions thematically and visually in Irish film, focusing on film adaptations of literary and dramatic works. Along with watching about eight films in class, we read the (not-very-long) literary works from which they were adapted in order to discuss how each film translates the representation of the land from a verbal to a visual vocabulary. Instructor: Mary Trotter

Textbooks for language classes are available for preview and purchase on campus in the University Book Store's lower level, in the outreach section. The University Book Store is located at 711 State St., Madison (at Lake St., on the Library Mall). See campus map.

Your instructor

Dineen Grow is an experienced teacher of Irish for adults. She is the founder and president of the Celtic Cultural Center of Madison. Dineen has also taught at the Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School.

Mary Trotter is an associate professor of theatre and drama at UW-Madison and vice president of the American Conference for Irish Studies. She has written two books and many articles on Irish theatre.

What students are saying about our classes

“Dineen's Irish classes are full of conversation, stories and laughter. She gives you a strong foundation in Irish grammar and idiom and makes her classes as fun as they are educational.”

“Learning this vexing and delightful language with Dineen Grow has been the highlight of my week these past few years. As a teacher she is extraordinarily generous, ever patient and full of good humor.”

“Although I had long had an interest in Irish language, it was Dineen who inspired me to take action, and it was in her classes that I finally began to make some progress. Her enthusiasm and patience are so encouraging, and her dedication and generosity bring us back every week. Dineen is a true asset to Madison's language community.”

How to register

Call 608-262-2451, 7:00 am-4:00 pm, M-F. Specific program numbers and links to the mail-in registration form or to register online can be found in the continuing education catalog.

Contact us

• Madison area registration questions: 608-262-2451.
• UW-Madison Continuing Studies in Irish coordinator Sage Goellner: sgoellner@dcs.wisc.edu or 608-262-4873.
• Join the mailing list for Irish or other language programs.
• Review frequently asked questions about language programs.

 Thank you for your interest in learning Irish. Sláinte agus saol chugat!