Leaving Cert Irish – A student tells all
June 14, 2012
In this piece Leaving Cert student, Cathal Ó Céilleachar from Cork studying higher level Irish describes how he dealt with this year’s papers.
I was delighted with this year’s papers, I didn’t have much trouble at all.
I had some troublesome moments of course but I suppose everyone does. I’m pretty sure I did well in the listening comprehension except for when it came to place names – I couldn’t make out some of the places which were mentioned. A minor set back I suppose but it would be good to have known them.
It was pretty much the same story for the rest of that paper. I chose to write an essay under the title ‘Éire:tír oscailte fháiteach í’ (Ireland: An open, welcoming country’) as I felt there was plenty to write about and I was pretty prepared for it. There was another choice to write about crime but that wouldn’t have suited me.
There were no surprises in Paper 2, thank God! I was happy with the way I answered both reading comprehensions and then I had to pick out nouns and tenses which again I didn’t find too difficult. The story I had prepared, “Hurlamaboc” came up on the paper. I had previously answered on this story in my mock exams so I had an idea of what was expected of me – I had an advantage in that sense. I then answered a question on ‘modern life’ which was pretty easy.
Then a question on ‘An tEarrach Thiar’ came up and I thought I gave a good enough answer on that. Another question followed that on sounds and images the poet uses and a question about the poet’s life.
Finally I answered a question on the play ‘An Triail’. I found this part of the exam the most interesting as it was to do with women and hypocrisy. There was great scope for an in depth and creative answer in this section. It wasn’t long then until paper 2 was over which meant the end of Leaving Cert Irish for me.
In the end my school friends and I were very happy with the content in both exams. There were no surprises and they seemed quite fair. That however could have something to do with the fact that we attend a Gaelscoil. I feel I may have had an advantage going into the exam with fluent Irish having used the language everyday in school. It certainly gave me the tools I needed to think in Irish and work fluidly through the paper.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
