Gaelic in Shetland

With CIALL support, Island Voices follows up the recording of aspects of UK-based Jamaican language use with an exploration of the writer Donald S Murray's use of Gaelic in an "exile" context in his home in Shetland.

Lewis-man Donald S Murray is a Shetland resident. As an established writer, mostly in English, how does he keep his Gaelic going while living away from the Ness community where he acquired it?

As Donald freely acknowledges, he mostly uses his Gaelic for talking rather than writing. YouTube subtitling allows non-speakers to read his words as he speaks, with the on-off choice of auto-translation into a wide range of other languages, English among them. 

The conversation component has additionally been split into three parts, for the benefit of learners or non-speakers of Gaelic, each equipped with optional closed caption subtitles. The “omnibus” edition is intended for those with no need for such assistance.

All films in the collection can be accessed through the Island Voices website in either landscape or phone-friendly portrait layout.