Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Irish when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Irish you can mostly understand. Irish has its own TV channel and radio stations, but in 2026 a learner on Reddit said it was hard to find any videos in Irish for beginners.
These apps and sites give you Irish at your level, or help you follow the Irish you pick yourself. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Irish app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Irish with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Irish about music, food, family, or sport.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for your level and goals. If a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain the words or the grammar.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read Irish you found yourself. For an article or a video you already picked, the tools in Read and Watch Irish You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- New lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy for help as you read.
- Lesson audio uses AI voices, not recordings of Irish speakers.
- You cannot bring in your own books, articles, or videos.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Watch and Listen to Irish TV and Radio
Learners on Reddit suggest starting with shows for children in Irish. TV and radio for adults come next, once you can follow more.
Cúla4
Cúla4 is TG4's free channel and app for children, with entertainment, drama, and educational shows. All About Irish, a site for adults learning Irish, says Cúla4 is not just for kids. It suits beginners who want short, simple Irish with pictures that help.
- Watch shows made for children in Irish, with one zone for children under 6 and one for older children.
- Many shows have Irish subtitles.
- Nuacht Cúla4 tells the day's news for children.
- Download shows to watch offline.
MobileWeb
TG4 Player
TG4 is the Irish-language TV channel, and the TG4 Player is its free app. Scéal.ie, Conradh na Gaeilge's Irish-language information site, suggests Ros na Rún, an easy-going drama set in a village in Connemara, and Bailte, a chatty documentary about the towns of Ireland. It suits learners who can follow some Irish and like TV.
- Watch TG4's dramas, documentaries, sport, and music live or on demand.
- Turn on Irish subtitles for Ros na Rún, or English subtitles for other shows.
- Save shows to watch later.
MobileWeb
RTÉ Listen (Raidió na Gaeltachta)
RTÉ Listen is RTÉ's free app for live radio and podcasts. On Raidió na Gaeltachta, you hear Irish spoken at natural speed by people from the Gaeltacht. It suits learners who already understand a lot and want more listening practice.
- Listen live to RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, RTÉ's Irish-language radio station.
- Play its programmes again as podcasts, such as the news show Nuacht a hAon.
- Make an account to download episodes for later.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Irish You Choose
These tools help you read web pages, books, and videos you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know some Irish.
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Irish from its library or bring in your own. It highlights the words you have not met yet and the ones you are still learning.
- Bring in Irish YouTube videos, books, and songs, and read them as lessons.
- See which words you know and which are new.
- Review words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Readlang
Readlang is a web reader and browser extension. It suits learners who read some Irish and want quick help with the news or a blog they like.
- Tap a word or short phrase on an Irish web page to see what it means.
- Save new words and review them with flashcards.
- A public library has Irish stories, articles, and song lyrics that other readers shared.
- Flashcards
WebBrowser extension
Language Reactor
Language Reactor lets you choose Irish as the language you are studying. A learner on Reddit said it worked well with Irish videos on YouTube. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- See Irish subtitles beside a translation on YouTube videos that have them.
- Look up words in a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
Books, Podcasts, News, and Videos
Short Stories in Irish for Beginners by Olly Richards has eight stories for high beginners and low intermediate learners, with a glossary in each chapter and questions after it. It also comes as an audiobook. Foras na Gaeilge shares An Gúm stories read aloud for free. Most of them are books for children and teenagers, and you can buy the books from An Gúm to read along. ClubLeabhar, from Gaelchultúr, picks one Irish book each month for readers to talk about.
Nuacht Mhall reads the week's main news slowly, and each episode's notes have the full text. Gaeilge Weekly from Learn Irish Online comes out every Thursday in three versions: natural speed, slower and simpler, and a beginner version in Irish and English. Gaeilge Thar Lear is about Irish people living in Europe, and many episodes also have an easier version in Irish and English. Scéal.ie keeps a list of podcasts in Irish, from comedy to sport.
Tuairisc.ie and Nuacht RTÉ publish news in Irish every day, written for people who speak it. Tuairisc also has a section for learners with reading activities based on its articles, made for secondary school students.
On YouTube, TG Lurgan posts Irish versions of pop songs from Coláiste Lurgan, a summer college in Connemara. Learn Irish Online posts each Gaeilge Weekly episode there too.
Learn Irish in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Readlang (its help forum) and Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store). The free websites and podcasts are in Irish or English. Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Cúla4 | 1 | Full list |
| TG4 Player | 2 | Full list |
| RTÉ Listen | 1 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (9)
- blas.Built for the six living Celtic languages, including Irish, with reading and listening practice and drills for mutations. It is new and growing.
- Madra TeangaA free, community-built Irish app where people make lessons with text, audio, and video, and every word has its own page. It is new and growing.
- Daily ScéalTurns each day's news into Irish practice by mixing Irish words into English stories, at a level you pick. It is new and growing.
- Raidió Rí-RáConradh na Gaeilge's chart music station, which broadcasts entirely in Irish, with pop and sport news too.
- Podchraoladh na GaelgalsA chatty podcast in Irish from Raidió Rí-Rá about music, fashion, sport, and the week's news.
- Foghlaim TG4TG4's learning site, with video lessons and clips from TG4 shows for primary and secondary school students.
- ClilstoreLearning units in Irish and many other languages, made by teachers, where you can click a word to look it up.
- CogarAn Irish-language social app that aims to give speakers and learners an easy way into Irish content and events.
- Teanglann and Foclóir.ieFree Irish dictionaries with recordings, handy for looking up words while you read or listen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I watch with English subtitles?
Scéal.ie suggests watching without English subtitles if you can. All About Irish suggests pausing and watching short pieces again, which helps your ear get used to the sounds of Irish.
Can I watch TG4 outside Ireland?
Yes, for most programmes. TG4 says that most of its Irish-language content is available worldwide, and its listings mark the programmes that play only in Ireland.
Which dialect of Irish will I hear?
Irish has three main dialects: Connacht, Munster, and Ulster. Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcasts from Gaeltacht areas in Galway, Kerry, and Donegal, so you can hear all three. Short Stories in Irish for Beginners is written in standard Irish and read by a speaker from Connemara.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- r/gaeilge: Comprehensible input as gaeilge? (March 2026)
- TG4: Frequently asked questions about the TG4 Player
- Scéal.ie: Where can I find television and radio programs in Irish
- Scéal.ie: Find Irish-language podcasts to listen to
- Scéal.ie: Where can I find reading material in Irish
- All About Irish: Learn Irish with Cúla4
- All About Irish: Good podcasts for learning Irish
- RTÉ: 10 suíomh úsáideach don fhoghlaimeoir fásta (Foras na Gaeilge, 2023)
- Hachette: Short Stories in Irish for Beginners by Olly Richards
- Foras na Gaeilge: An Gúm stories on SoundCloud
- Nuacht Mhall on Apple Podcasts
- Gaeilge Weekly on Apple Podcasts
- Gaeilge Thar Lear on Apple Podcasts
- Tuairisc.ie: Foghlaimeoirí, reading activities for learners
- Nuacht Cúla4
- Bubblegum
- Cúla4
- RTÉ Listen (Raidió na Gaeltachta)
- LingQ
- Readlang
- Language Reactor
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
