Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Manchán Magan
Book: Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape (Chelsea Green, 2026)
Date: February 11, 2026

This episode explores the cultural, historical, and emotional richness embedded in the Irish language through the lens of Manchán Magan’s book, Thirty-Two Words for Field. The conversation navigates the intersections between language, landscape, folklore, family history, and how ancient words shape perceptions of nature, society, and even magic. Magan offers illuminating anecdotes, surprising etymologies, and insights into both the survival and transformation of Irish, as well as the endangered words and worldviews it holds.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of the Book & Personal Connection

• Family and Language Revival (01:40–10:22):
  • Magan describes growing up in a family that had been forced to "forget" Irish due to English colonial policies (e.g. the 'bottas scar' stick used to punish students for speaking Irish).
  • His relatives spearheaded Irish language and independence movements, with personal stories from his grandmother’s and great-granduncle’s lives (the latter a revolutionary leader).
  • “I was the next generation, the next foot soldier in this mission to try and bring back the language.” (09:44, Monchán Magan)
  • The shifting personal and political meanings of speaking Irish during his youth.

2. Irish and Other Languages: Surprising Connections

• Etymology and Indo-European Links (03:19–05:50):
  • Irish shares roots with many languages — including Sanskrit, ancient Celtic, and even words in English (like “slogan,” “keening,” “clock,” and “Tory”).
  • “Irish was the language of England at one stage... you can still see so many Irish words in English... even the word ‘hooligan’.” (05:04, Magan)
• Comparisons with Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Breton (13:06–14:58):
  • Irish is most mutually intelligible with Scottish Gaelic and Manx due to more recent shared history.
  • More remote but etymologically related are Welsh, Breton, and Cornish.
• Tentative Links to Arabic (15:25–17:17):
  • Examples include similar-sounding words and even the national symbol — the shamrock (Irish ‘shamrog’, Arabic ‘shamraka’) — though some parallels may be coincidental.

3. Irish, the Landscape, and the Imagination

• Experience of Nature through Language (11:10–12:33):
  • Irish words for sunrise divide the event into five gradual stages — a view that shaped Magan’s perception versus an English-speaking friend’s singular “sunrise.”
  • “This language I’ve been speaking does actually give me a different window on the world.” (12:15, Magan)
• Place Names as Environmental Knowledge (25:04–27:50):
  • Irish place names encode ecological, social, and even women’s health knowledge (“townland of the vagina of Goddess Maeve,” or fields indicating shelter from the wind).

4. Magic, Catholicism, and Persistence of the Supernatural

• Church versus Folk Spirituality (18:24–21:14):
  • The influence of the Catholic Church intensified post-famine, but the language retains a deeply animistic, magical vocabulary.
  • “There was only a very thin veil between cóntrá (this place) and áltrá (the other world).” (19:40, Magan)
  • Words like “púicín” (invisibility cloak for fairies), “cochlé” (fairy mantle), and “scáthán” (mist/dream vision) preserve ancient otherworldly beliefs.

5. Lost Worlds and Environmental Wisdom

• Forgotten Ecological Practices (23:02–25:04):
  • Old words encapsulate sustainable land management methods and a profound ecological understanding, such as “fear meadhbhó”—a youth tending cattle on summer pastures and maintaining soil fertility.

6. The Thirty-Two Words for ‘Field’

• Precision and Adaptability (28:23–32:38):
  • Rich taxonomy: various kinds of fields — by terrain, use, history, partnership (“ráilín” for dancing/games, “buíodán” for fields where gorse was cut, “luscóg” if gorse was burned).
  • “There’s probably a lot more than 32. Even so — máthair is an open field, mainéar is an enclosed field... taomnach, field worked in part... quivarán, field worked in partnership with a neighbor.” (28:40, Magan)
• Linguistic Abundance:
  • 4,300 words for character traits (mostly used by and for women, often playfully), 12,000 first names, metaphors abound for new technology.
  • Concerns that contemporary Irish education is losing this abundance: “It’s now being taught as a stripped back, almost ghost form of the ancient language I knew.” (31:30, Magan)

7. Gender, Body, and Unrecorded Words

• A Hidden Lexicon (32:52–35:29):
  • Sexual vocabulary, especially for women’s bodies, was historically transmitted woman-to-woman and rarely documented due to patriarchal norms in collection.
  • “For Irish, the curse words and the rude words were all to do with the demons and devils... in my book I listed about 44 different words for penis... but they just weren’t there for women. And so hopefully women will go into the Gaeltacht, into the Irish-speaking areas and ask the older women, because they’re definitely there.” (33:55, Magan)
  • Some surviving poetic euphemisms: “baile mana”—woman’s estuary; “blaim”—woman’s cave; “clais”—gully or stream.

8. Contemporary and Ongoing Projects

• Preservation and Documentation (35:45–36:54):
  • Magan is working on a film adaptation, led by a woman director, and a living archive of sea/coastal words (including recordings of fishermen).
  • “I collect these words... put them up on the website... all of us, whatever the language, still have these old ways of seeing the world... just really worth recording them and putting them out somewhere.” (36:25, Magan)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We weren’t one of those logically minded, fact based, empirical people. We’re a people who’ve always believed in the potential of different realms in the world, of imagination.” (21:28, Magan)
• “I stopped speaking Irish for a while because I thought, no, I don’t want my language as a weapon of war. I want it as this cultural expression.” (09:44, Magan)
• “[Irish] is being taught as a stripped back, almost ghost form... It’s inevitable. We’re now used to practical, utilitarian languages that do have very specific words for things. But I love the fact that there was unlimited forms... Each community had its own plural of words.” (31:30, Magan)

Segment Timestamps

• 01:40 – Magan’s personal/family history with the Irish language
• 03:19 – Linguistic links: Irish with English and global languages
• 06:11 – The cultural trauma of “forgetting” Irish and revival efforts
• 11:10 – Experiencing sunrise and natural phenomena through Irish
• 13:06 – Relationships with Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, etc.
• 15:25 – Parallels between Irish and Arabic
• 18:24 – The Catholic church and survival of fairies/magic in language
• 23:02 – Ecological wisdom in old Irish words
• 25:04 – Place names as cultural/environmental codes
• 28:23 – A sampling of the “32 words for field”
• 30:40 – Word abundance and linguistic adaptability
• 32:52 – Hidden women’s language and body words
• 35:45 – Current and future projects to document linguistic heritage

Conclusion

This episode brims with the enchantment and subtlety of Irish — a landscape inscribed not just on the land, but in the imagination, daily life, and even the supernatural. Magan’s stories and etymologies reveal a language shaped by hardship, rebellion, creativity, and deep ecological attunement. His call-to-action: to seek out, document, and cherish the endangered vocabulary and worldview still alive in Ireland’s words, fields, and memories.

For further exploration:
Read Thirty-Two Words for Field (Chelsea Green, 2026) or visit Manchán Magan’s website/social media for ongoing word-collection projects.