Leaving Cert Irish paper 2: ‘Fair, accessible and student-friendly’

After a tough paper one, higher-level Irish students will be “relieved” with a fair and manageable second paper, teachers have said.

" I think many students will leave the halls smiling,” said Clare Grealy, an Irish teacher at the Institute of Education.

“It was very fair, accessible and student-friendly, with anticipated texts and questions appearing, rewarding those who had prepared. It had no needless obscurities, focusing instead on the more student-friendly approach of letting them show just how well they had engaged with the texts.

“Students will have breathed a sigh of relief rather than frustration as they opened this paper. It was what students would have anticipated and prepared for. The questions were clear, accessible, and fair; a clear contrast to yesterday’s paper one.”

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Linda Dolan, Studyclix.ie subject expert and an Irish teacher at Mercy College, Sligo, said that the paper was manageable.

“Students would have been relieved with today’s paper after possibly being left disheartened after yesterday’s exam,” Ms Dolan said.

“Students would have welcomed the highly anticipated literature questions. Oisín i dTír na nÓg and Dís appeared in the prós section, which may have been predicted, with both containing straightforward questions.”

Ms Grealy said that the poetry section was as expected and continued the trend in recent papers of asking students for personal responses to the material.

But Ms Dolan said that An Spailpín Fánach in the filíocht (poetry) section contained some tricky vocabulary.

“It would have put students through their paces. No doubt Mo Ghrá-sa was the most popular option as the language was much more student friendly.”

Ms Grealy said that the two léamhthuiscint (Reading Comprehension) texts were clear and concise.

“The pieces on explorer Tom Crean and the European Year of the Youth would have posed no great challenge to the students.

“The grammar questions followed the format of previous years and thus would have been very familiar to those who had revised previous papers.”

Ms Grealy said that most schools study the play An Triail, and she praised the question on the negative impact of characters.

“This is familiar territory to anyone studying the play and so I am sure many

students will leave the exam hall smiling,” she said.

Ordinary level

On the ordinary level paper, Ms Dolan said that it was “well-received” by students.

“The paper was topical with rugby and the Ukrainian war appearing in thecomprehension element. The much preferred poem Géibheann came up in the filíocht section with An t-Earrach Thiar being the other option.

“The three choices in the prós section contained no grey areas and students with a good understanding of the literature would have been able to give it a great shot. Overall a very straightforward, student-centred exam today.”

Try this one at home:

- Leaving Cert Irish (higher) paper two

An Triail

‘Sa dráma An Triail, léiríonn go leor de na carachtair (na pearsana) dearcadh diúltach míthrócaireach ar chás na máthar neamhphósta, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, in Éirinn sna seascaidí.’ Déan plé ar an ráiteas sin.