THIRTY-TWO WORDS FOR FIELD

How the real world is deciphered by Irish myth.

This book by author and broadcaster Magan (1970-2025) explores “the enchantment, sublime beauty, and sheer oddness” of a three-millennia old, profoundly ecological, proto-Indo-European language (An Ghaeilge, or Gaelic) that honors the natural world and celebrates an age-old way of life. Sharing a kinship with Robert MacFarlane’s Landmarks in its fascination with the origins of place names, the book will be catnip to any linguist or philologist, a rich, compelling, and often fanciful immersion in language that reflects openness, imagination, and considerable scholarship. Magan mounts a passionate defense of Old Irish, yet another traditional language and way of grasping reality being eroded by modernity. Between 50% and 90% of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken today are expected to go silent by the end of the century, according to recent research, with Irish no less vulnerable. As Magan writes, “Neuroscience tells us that a language can’t change our reality, but it also suggests that different languages allow us to see things in different ways and to focus on different things. It offers proof of the intuitive sense we always had that each language opens a unique window on the world”—windows that could close forever. Yet for all its merits, and they are legion, Magan’s book may be a murky brew for the layperson. Its torrent of obscure, unpronounceable words and the multiplicity of their meanings and interpretations may begin to grow dizzying. Although Magan uses science to defend some of his more grounded assertions, one may question his belief that modern humanity is too fixated on rationality, and that the mythological worldview offers a deeper glimpse of “reality.”

Championing the magical and mythical dimensions of Old Irish.