Best Apps to Learn Irish in 2026

Irish learners now have options spanning school returners, diaspora study, social media, and TG4. Choosing a tool is less about finding one universal winner than matching grammar, speaking, reading, and vocabulary practice to your goal.

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.

Feature Comparison

Duolingo

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

Duolingo's Irish course teaches basic vocabulary through gamified translation exercises, including streaks, XP, and leagues.

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.

Duolingo offers a free ad-supported tier and paid plans. Features and prices vary by plan and platform; check its official site for current terms. Official site & pricing: Duolingo →

blas.

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

blas. covers grammar, vocabulary, mutations, graded reading, conversation practice and writing. FSRS spaced repetition supports review of learned material. It is built specifically for the Celtic languages.

Strengths: Systematic Irish mutation drills with SRS. Explicit grammar lessons. Graded reading, conversation practice with grammar feedback, and a placement test. Available on iOS, Android, and web.

Weaknesses: Newer app. Less brand recognition than Duolingo. Covers the Celtic languages only, not world languages like Spanish or French.

On the web, free learning includes grammar and reading, with one new course unit per day. Premium removes that daily course limit and adds dedicated modes such as conversation. Check current plan prices in the app or web account. Learn Irish with blas. →

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.

Subscription and standalone course purchase models. Pricing varies by audio-only vs all-access tiers and regional storefronts; check Pimsleur's official website for current rates. Official site & pricing: Pimsleur →

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: Focuses on active speaking rather than recognition. Builds speaking confidence through a phonetic, audio-led approach and has an active community.

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.

Monthly subscription access. SaySomethingin offers initial lessons free to try; full course access requires an active subscription. Check SaySomethingin's official page for current pricing. Official site & pricing: SaySomethingin →

Drops

Best for: Visual vocabulary building in short daily sessions.

Drops teaches Irish vocabulary through illustrated word-image associations in short sessions. The visual approach and spaced-repetition scheduling focus on vocabulary retention.

Strengths: Polished visual design, low-friction sessions, and spaced repetition for standalone vocabulary.

Weaknesses: Vocabulary only. No grammar, no mutations, no sentences, no reading. Free access is limited. Words are taught in isolation without grammatical context.

Freemium format with short daily practice sessions (typically five minutes). Premium subscription removes daily session limits and unlocks all word categories. Check Drops' official website for current regional pricing. Official site & pricing: Drops →

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.

Memrise has shifted its primary app focus toward official language courses, so Irish content availability has changed. Check Memrise's official portal for current course and community deck status. Official site & pricing: Memrise →

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 on desktop and Android. Powerful SRS, extensive customisation, and support for learner-built 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. The iOS app is sold separately.

Free and open-source on desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux) and Android (AnkiDroid). The official iOS app (AnkiMobile) is a one-time purchase that supports ongoing desktop development; check AnkiWeb for current App Store pricing. Official site & pricing: Anki →

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.