Bishop launches bilingual prayer book at An Carn, Maghera

The prayer book has been produced by Conradh na Gaeilge Charn Tóchair (CNaGCT) to support families who have chosen Irish-medium education for their children. Not only are the prayers in Irish and English but they are also written phonetically and a sound file is available online to aid pronunciation for non-Irish speakers. ‘Leabhar Urnaí’ has been beautifully illustrated by children, aged 5 – 13, who attend Irish-medium schools in county Derry.

With thanks to Bishop Donal McKeown, CNaGCT received part-funding from the Derry Diocese to produce this invaluable resource. The Bishop is very enthusiastic about ‘Leabhar Urnaí’. In the book’s foreword Bishop McKeown writes, “Cuirim fáilte ar leith roimh an fhoilseachán seo. Leabhar deas atá ann, ní amháin mar gheall ar a thairbhe do thuismitheoirí, ach gur baintear úsáid as obair ealaíne ó lámha na bpáistí.” (“I welcome this publication. It is a beautiful book, not only because of the benefit to parents but also because of the use of the children’s artwork.”)

Submissions were gratefully received from Gaelscoileanna across the county. There was a very high level of creativity which made the task of choosing the 16 required pictures very difficult! The 16 children, together with their parents and school principals, were invited to the launch and each received a copy of the prayer book in recognition of their contribution. CNaGCT would like to thank Bishop McKeown, the children, school principals and everyone who contributed in any way to the production of ‘Leabhar Urnaí’.

‘Leabhar Urnaí’ is available to purchase online at http://www.siopaancarn.com/firstholycommunion.

For more information contact [email protected].