Leaving Cert Irish: How to Read a Poem

Ensure your pronunciation, tone and rhythm is perfect when reading your poem in the Irish Oral Exam. Sorcha De Brun, Irish teacher at The Institute of Education, shows how in this short tutorial.

The Leaving Cert oral examination consists of 4 parts, with the poetry reading (Léamh na filíochta) section coming in as section 2.

FORMAT

Students will be asked to recite or read aloud 1 of the 5 designated poems below. The examiner will choose the poem and the verses to be read:

Géibheann (the complete  poem);
Colscaradh(the complete  poem);
Mo  Ghrá-sa (Idir Lúibíní) (any three verses);
An tEarrach Thiar (any two verses);
An Spailpín Fánach (any two verses).

MARKING SCHEME
There are 35 marks going for this section. While the student is reading the poem, the examiner will be evaluating their ability to understand the poem, and the accuracy of their pronunciation and
rhythm of speech.