Best Apps to Learn Irish in 2026

More people are learning Irish than at any point in modern history. Between school leavers coming back to the language, diaspora learners, and the growing visibility of Irish on social media and TG4, demand for quality learning tools has never been higher.

The problem: the app landscape for Irish is thin compared to languages like Spanish or French. Most major language platforms either don't offer Irish or treat it as an afterthought. Here's every significant option, what each one actually does, and who it's best for.

Duolingo

Best for: Absolute beginners who want a free, zero-commitment starting point.

Duolingo's Irish course teaches basic vocabulary through translation exercises. It's gamified (streaks, XP, leagues) and free. Over a million people have tried it.

Strengths: Free. Great for building a daily habit. Teaches basic vocabulary through repetition. Available on every platform.

Weaknesses: Grammar is never explained. You guess patterns from examples. Mutations are introduced but never systematically drilled. No graded reading. No conversation. Sentences are often disconnected and unrealistic. Most learners plateau around A2.

Price: Free (with ads). Super: ~€8/month.

blas.

Best for: Adults who want structured grammar, mutation drilling, and comprehensive learning with spaced repetition.

blas. covers grammar, vocabulary, mutations, graded reading, AI conversation, writing, and exam prep. All scheduled with FSRS spaced repetition. It's built specifically for Irish and Welsh, not adapted from a generic language template.

Strengths: The only app that systematically drills Irish mutations with SRS. Explicit grammar lessons that actually explain rules. Graded reading from A1 to C1. AI conversation practice with grammar feedback. Covers Leaving Cert and university exam formats. Placement test so you skip what you already know. Available on iOS, Android, and web.

Weaknesses: Newer app. Less brand recognition than Duolingo. Doesn't cover as many languages (Irish and Welsh only).

Price: Free tier (first two grammar and mutation stages, unlimited sessions). Premium unlocks all content.

Pimsleur

Best for: Learners who want to build listening and speaking through audio lessons, especially during commutes.

Pimsleur offers Irish Gaelic as one level (30 lessons, 30 minutes each). It uses a graduated-interval recall method where you hear phrases, repeat them, and revisit them at increasing intervals. The audio quality is high and the pacing is deliberate.

Strengths: Excellent for pronunciation and listening comprehension. Forces you to produce spoken Irish. Good for building confidence with basic conversation patterns. Well-structured progression within its 30 lessons.

Weaknesses: Only one level. Roughly 15 hours of content total. No reading or writing. Grammar is learned implicitly. Mutations are encountered but never explained. Expensive relative to the content. No visual component.

Price: ~€15/month (Pimsleur subscription) or ~€120 one-time purchase for the course.

SaySomethingInIrish (SSi)

Best for: Getting you speaking Irish quickly through audio-only challenges.

From the same team behind the popular SaySomethingInWelsh, SSi uses a listen-pause-speak method. You hear English, pause to formulate Irish, then hear the answer. No text, no grammar tables. Just speaking practice.

Strengths: Gets words out of your mouth faster than any text-based app. Builds real speaking confidence. Active community. Phonetic approach means you learn pronunciation naturally.

Weaknesses: No text component. You won't learn to read or write. No grammar explanation. No mutation drilling. Irish content is less mature than their Welsh course. No spaced repetition algorithm.

Price: ~€13/month.

Drops

Best for: Visual vocabulary building in short daily sessions.

Drops teaches Irish vocabulary through illustrated word-image associations in 5-minute sessions. The visual approach is appealing and the spaced repetition scheduling is solid. Topics range from food and travel to abstract concepts.

Strengths: Beautiful design. Effective for pure vocabulary retention. SRS-based. 5-minute sessions are genuinely low friction.

Weaknesses: Vocabulary only. No grammar, no mutations, no sentences, no reading. Free tier limits you to 5 minutes per day. Words are taught in isolation without grammatical context.

Price: Free (5 min/day). Premium: ~€9/month.

Memrise

Best for: Vocabulary building with native speaker audio.

Memrise has community-created Irish courses with SRS scheduling. The platform emphasises native speaker audio and video clips. Quality varies significantly between courses since they're user-generated.

Strengths: Native speaker audio. Good SRS algorithm. Some well-made community courses for Irish vocabulary.

Weaknesses: Community courses being phased out in favour of official content, and there's no official Irish course. Quality varies wildly. No grammar teaching. No mutations. No reading or conversation.

Price: Free tier. Pro: ~€9/month.

Anki

Best for: Self-directed learners who want full control over their flashcard decks.

Anki is a free, open-source flashcard app with a powerful SRS algorithm. Several community-made Irish decks exist, covering vocabulary, verb conjugation, and grammar rules. You can also build your own decks.

Strengths: Free (desktop and Android). Best-in-class SRS algorithm. Total customisation. You can create exactly the deck you need. Large community of shared decks.

Weaknesses: Steep learning curve. Ugly interface. You have to source or create all the content yourself. No structure. It's a tool, not a course. iOS app costs €28 (one-time).

Price: Free (desktop, Android). iOS: €28 one-time.

Feature Comparison

Which One Should You Use?

If you're a complete beginner:

Start with Duolingo or blas. to build basic vocabulary and get exposure to the language. blas. will teach you grammar and mutations from the start; Duolingo will ease you in more gently but leave gaps you'll need to fill later.

If you studied Irish in school and want to come back:

Use blas. with the placement test. Skip past what you remember and focus on filling gaps. Your passive vocabulary is probably larger than you think; you need structured grammar review and mutation drilling to activate it.

If speaking is your priority:

Combine Pimsleur or SSi (for audio speaking practice) with blas. (for grammar and mutations). Speaking without grammar understanding leads to fossilised errors; grammar without speaking leads to passive knowledge. You need both.

If you just want vocabulary:

Drops for visual vocab, Anki for customisable flashcards, Memrise for native speaker audio. But know that vocabulary alone won't get you past A2. Irish grammar and mutations need dedicated practice.

The Gap in Irish Learning Tools

The Irish app landscape has a clear pattern: most tools cover one skill well and ignore everything else. Duolingo does basic vocab. Pimsleur does listening. Drops does visual vocab. Anki does SRS flashcards.

What's missing is a comprehensive tool that handles grammar, mutations, reading, conversation, and writing with spaced repetition tying it all together. That's the gap blas. was built to fill. Not as another vocabulary app, but as the primary learning tool that handles the hard parts of Irish.