The publishing programme of An Gúm covers the following categories: schoolbooks and teaching resources for both the primary and secondary sector; literature for children and young adults; novels and reference works for the general public plus a growing range of e-books.
Séideán Sí
A complete teaching programme for the Irish curriculum at primary level comprising a wide range of resources for use in the classroom and in the home. In order to meet the needs of both teachers and pupils for digital resources a team of teachers and designers have developed a new website www.seideansi.ie featuring graded interactive games and language tasks to stimulate and facilitate children in developing their language skills.
Textbooks and reference books
A new textbook for the Materials Technology (Woodwork) syllabus of the Leaving Cert programme is being developed in addition to a range of resources, both print and digital, for the primary school curriculum.
Children’s Literature
Orna Ní Choileáin, Gabriel Rosenstock, Alan Titley and Áine Ní Ghlinn are just some of the authors whose novels for children and young adults have been published by An Gúm.
These original works along with Irish translations of classic novels such as The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (An Leon, An Bandraoi agus an Prios Éadaigh) mean An Gúm continue to add to the range and diversity of reading material for young readers.
Audio books www.soundcloud.com
In autumn 2016 to celebrate its 90th year in the field of publishing a conference was held in conjunction with Lárionad de Bhaldraithe in UCD. Several scholars plus members of the editorial team of An Gúm gave talks about various aspects of its history and publications. A concise version of these talks are now available on this site. They will be published in book form at a later date.
Ireland, Design and Visual Culture: Negotiating Modernity 1922-1992
Edited by Linda King and Elaine Sisson
The manner in which the book covers and the artwork of An Gúm’s early titles encouraged the reading of Irish language books is detailed in this book published by Cork University Press in 2011.
Chapter 5, written by Brian Ó Conchubhair, entitled ‘An Gúm: The Irish Free State and the Politics of the Irish Language’ describes the history of An Gúm and refers to the manner in which the books’ creative, imaginative design encouraged the public to read Irish language literature. Ó Conchubhair illustrates the pioneering role of An Gúm in Irish book design and its rich design heritage.
Among the covers and designs singled out for praise are: Béal na Huaige (1927) translated by Leon Ó Broin and designed by Seán Ó Suilleabháin; and Fiche Gearrscéal (1930), translated by Ristéard Ó Foghludha and designed by Ailbhe Ó Monacháin.
A brief summary of an Gúm’s story thus far
An Gúm was established in 1926. Until 1999 it was under the aegis of the Department of Education at which time its functions were transferred to the cross-border language body Foras na Gaeilge. From the beginning, An Gúm has been involved in the production of textbooks, dictionaries and general reading material in the Irish language. It has published over 2,500 books and 350 music pieces since its establishment.
LÉIGH NÍOS MÓ
Contact details
Teil: + 353 1 6398448 / 6398427 / 6398400
R-phost: angum@forasnagaeilge.ie
@angumfnag