Seamus Blake

Revitalizing the Irish language on Saturday mornings at 8am.

How's your Gaelic?

Dr. Seamus Blake

For Dr. Seamus Blake, teaching about the roots of Irish culture must include the Gaelic language. He should know - he's been speaking Gaelic for 30 years and broadcasting in it since 1978. A New Yorker by birth, Seamus was inspired by both parents to learn the language as a child. "My father used to get a local county paper with a column in Irish, and sit me on his lap and read the Irish to me," says Seamus. He later traveled to Ireland, where he practiced Gaelic while living in the Aran Islands with an Irish family for the summer. Then as a Fulbright scholar Seamus studied Ireland's language and literature for two years at Dublin's Trinity College.

In his effort to revitalize the Irish language and cultivate awareness of its richness, utility and cultural value, Seamus has taught classes in Gaelic and history lessons at Queens College, NYU, John Jay College and The Gaelic Society of New York. Blake is currently a tenured professor at Nassau County Community College. He is the Irish Language Editor of the quarterly academic journal 'New Hibernia Review' and the senior bibliographer of the Celtic section for the annual Modern Language Association bibliography.

Plus:

Associated Press: "Radio show leads the way for Gaelic comeback" (April, 2009)

Irish America Magazine's Global Top 100 list (April, 2009)
[along with Bono, Van Morrison, Gabriel Byrne, and other illustrious folk]

About: Mile Failte

Write to Seamus Blake