A Book of Beautiful Irish Language Words

Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and one for Sun) pops over the border to discover beautiful words in the Irish language. Meet the néaladóirí (cloud-watchers) and réadóirí (star-gazers) from our past who without the luxury of Met Éireann observed birds, trees and animals (plus markers on land and sea) for signs of changing weather.

The heron’s behaviour offered hints: Aimsir chrua thirim nuair a bhíonn an corr éisc suas in aghaidh srutha chun na sléibhte (when the heron flies upstream to the mountains, the weather will be dry). Fearthainn nuair a thagann sí an abhainn anuas (when she goes downstream, it will rain!)

Evoking countless shivery experiences on this Atlantic-swept Emerald Isle, this beautifully illustrated gift book uses Irish words to grasp an almost-lost world through the wisdom stored in the Irish language.