The Irish language has made a huge contribution to the English language as it’s spoken in Ireland and beyond. Micheál Ó Conghaile's 'Colourful Irish Phrases' is a small compendium of characteristic phrases that will alert the reader to the unmistakable difference between our native language and English. Even the most basic words are expressed so differently. Please in Irish is más é do thoil é (if it is your will), and thanks becomes go raibh maith agat (may you receive good). There are many phrases that when translated, word for word, they sound different, unusual and sometimes funny. But above all, they are rich and deeply rooted. Visitors to Ireland who want to get some notion of our native identity will find these phrases both instructive and revealing. Topics covered range across subjects as diverse as insults and put-downs, being human and the gift of the gab.

Micheál Ó Conghaile is a writer and publisher from Connemara. He established the publishing company Cló Iar-Chonnacht (CIC) in 1985. He has written many books in Irish and won the Hennessy Literary Award in 1997, and the Hennessy Young Irish Writer of the Year Award. In 1998 he was elected to Aosdána. His works have been translated into various languages, including Romanian, Croatian, Slovenian, German, Polish, Macedonian and Arabic, and, three of his books are available in English: 'The Connemara Five' (Arlen Press)' The Colours of Man' (CIC) and 'Rambling Jack' (Dalkey Archive Press). He was writer in residence at Queen’s University, Belfast and at the University of Ulster Coleraine between 1999 and 2002.