Manchan Magan who wrote about the beauty of the Irish language passed away today at 55.

When I asked my grandmother one day what the word for hole was, she replied: ‘Do you mean one dug into the ground by an animal? That’s an uachas. Or one made by fish in a sandy riverbed for spawning? That’s a saothar. Or if it’s been hollowed out by hooves of beasts and then filled by rain it’s a plobán. Or if a lobster is hiding in one it’s a fach. Or if it’s been created as a hideaway by a wild beast it’s a puathais.’”