GAEL FONTS F.M.O'Carroll (Proinnsías Ó Ċearḃail) Aberystwyth, September 1997 This is the information file gafonts.wps converted from MS Works format to unicode plain text. Some biographical matter has been added at the end by Ciarán Ó Duibhín. This set of eight font files provides normal and bold versions of four fonts: Gael A, Gael B, Gael AX and Gael BX, for typing Irish (Clò Gaoḋalaċ) text in Windows. Letters with sèiṁeaḋ (a dot above) or sìne fada (long accent) can be typed using the ordinary UK (or other West Europe) keyboard. There is also a program GAELTRAN which transcribes Irish written in Roman letters to use these fonts, converting bh, ch, dh and so on to appear as ḃ, ċ, ḋ. . . when one of these fonts is selected. Installation ============ The font files can be installed from Drive A using normal Windows procedures. In Windows 95 the sequence is Settings, Control Panel, Fonts, File, Install fonts, Drive A, Select All, OK. The file GAELTRAN.EXE should be copied into the directories (folders) that will contain text for processing, for example \MSWORKS for use in Works for Windows or \WINWORD for Word. Gael A and Gael B ================= Gael A (Sean-nòs) represents the style used to print and write Irish from the late 16th to the 19th century: ABCDEFGHILMNOPRSTU ḂĊḊḞĠṀṖṠṪ ÁÉÍÓÚ abcdefghilmnoprstu ḃċḋḟġṁṗṡṫ áéíóú [see now http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/gifs/gael_a.gif] Gael B is in the slightly more modern style that became established for printing Irish in the early 20th century. It has no curved descenders and small r and s have the same shape as capitals: ABCDEFGHILMNOPRSTU ḂĊḊḞĠṀṖṠṪ ÁÉÍÓÚ abcdefghilmnoprstu ḃċḋḟġṁṗṡṫ áéíóú [see now http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/gifs/gael_b.gif] Keying of Gael A and Gael B =========================== The dot (séiṁeaḋ) and accent (sìne fada) are entered as back-spacing characters. A dot is typed as \ for small letters and | for capitals, and an acute accent may be typed as # for small letters and ~ for capitals. Thus the word séiṁeaḋ can be typed as se#im\ead\. The back-spaced dot is less satisfactory for the letters M and m as it appears off-centre to the right. An alternative method is provided for adding a centred dot to these letters by typing them as V and v. Thus séiṁeaḋ can alternatively by typed as se#ivead\. (The ordinary letters V and v can be typed using Alt+Keypad as detailed below). Acute accents can alternatively be entered using any facility provided by the word processor or operating system in use for entering EITHER a grave or an acute accent. With some Windows 95 software, the grave accent key (top left on keyboard) typed before any vowel will add an acute accent in these fonts. The non-Irish letters JKQWXYZ jkqwxyz appear as JKQWXYZ jkqwxyz in both fonts. Characters typed by Alt+Keypad have been slightly altered to provide access to the re-allocated symbols # ~ \ | v V and also hatted versions of W w Y y, as follows: For: # ~ \ | v V Ŵ ŵ Ŷ ŷ Use Alt+ Keypad: 0180 0152 0131 0166 0154 0138 0208 0240 0222 0254 Other Alt+Keypad characters are of the same form as in most West European fonts. The additional hatted letters are for consistency with the MEU Cymru EZaccent keyboard driver. Keying of Gael AX and Gael BX ============================= These alternative layouts of Gael A and Gael B avoid the need for backspaced dots. Keys not required in Irish are allocated to dotted Irish letters, as follows: For Ḃ ḃ Ċ ċ Ḋ ḋ Ḟ ḟ Ġ ġ Ṁ ṁ Ṗ ṗ Ṡ ṡ Ṫ ṫ Type W w X x Y y | \ J j V v Q q Z z K k This allows a slightly better form for dotted letters; the dot is better centred and the letters M and m are wider. It may also make editing easier, especially if a non-escape key is used for accents. A further advantage is that these fonts include kerning tables; when using a word processor that allows kerning this facility can be used to adjust the spacing of letters within words, making the printed text more easily readable. Four additional Alt+Keypad entries are provided for the non-Irish letters W w Y y as follows: For: W w Y y Use Alt+Keypad 0198 0230 0140 0156 Other Alt+Keypad entries are as in Gael A and B. There is no provision for the letters JKQXZ jkqxz. Program GAELTRAN ================ This program transcribes Irish text written in Roman letters to a form suitable for displaying or printing in Gael AX or Gael BX. It converts the sequences BH, CH, DH and so on to Ḃ, Ċ, Ḋ . . . It can also be used to transcribe text entered as Gael A or B to this form. The text must first be saved as a Windows Text file (use save as and select the format Windows text). The program can be run either from MSDOS or from Windows. On entry a choice has to be made between the two functions of the program; enter a blank to select Roman to Gael X (or 1 for Gael A or B to Gael X). A Source file is then requested; this must be a Windows text file. Each paragraph is checked for non-Irish letters (jkqwxyz) and the number of non-Irish paragraphs (if any) is displayed. Any non-Irish paragraphs are copied directly into the result file without transcribing. A Result file name is then requested. The output can be made to over-write the source file by entering a blank. When the transcribed file has been written, the question Resume(Y/N)? is displayed; enter Y to process a further text file or N to terminate. The process can be aborted at any time by pressing Ctrl+C. When the transcribed file is opened in a word processing program, it is first displayed in the default Roman font, making little sense. If there are no non-Irish paragraphs it can be converted by choosing select all and changing the font to Gael AX or Gael BX. If parts are to left as Roman, the sections for font change have to be selected separately. Specimens ========= The following specimens should appear as expected when the indicated font is installed and selected. Gael A: Preab san Òl Is iomd\a slig\e sin a b\ìos ag daoine Ag cruinniug\ad\ pig\inne is ag de#anam\ stóir, Is a luig\ead a smaoinig\eas ar g\iorra an tsaog\ail seo, Is go mbeid\ siad sìnte faoi leac go fóill; Má 's tig\earna tíre, diúic nò rì t\u#, Nì\ cuirfid\ear pig\in leat ag dul faoi'n b\fo#d, Mar sin 'sda# b\rig\ sin nìl beart ni#os cri#onna Nà b\eit\ go si#orruid\e ag cur preab san o#l. Gael B: Ata# dream daoine le ba is le caoirig\, Ag dul c\un aonaig\ is ag fag\a#il doc\ar mo#r D|a# gcur c\un ci#be is as sin c\un mi#nlig\, Puinnti# cri#onna do feict\ear d\o#ib\. Ac\ de#antar fiad\naise ar a' mi# seo Go mbeid\ ag caoinead\ is ag silead\ deo#r, Mar sin 's da# b\rig\ sin ni#l beart ni#os cri#onna Na# b\eit\ go si#orraid\e ag cur preab san o#l. (Riocard Baire#ad, 1740-1819) To view images of the fonts without installing them, see • http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/gifs/gael_a.gif image of Lord's Prayer in Gael A style • http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/gifs/gael_b.gif image of Lord's Prayer in Gael B style • http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/charsets/gaelab_nonxCS.gif font layout of Gael A and Gael B (Gael A style used) • http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/charsets/gaelab_xCS.gif font layout of Gael AX and Gael BX (Gael B style used) History ======= These fonts were created using the program suite TTGL/TTASM. Screen display is based on embedded bitmaps, which work only in Windows version 3.5 and later; screen display may be less clear on earlier Windows versions. Artistic guidance was contributed by Cormac O'Connor of Cork. Later Note: Cormac O'Connor died on 5th January 1998. His death was a sad and possibly fatal blow to this attempt to restore the use of Clò Gaoḋalaċ, an art in which he had unmatched expertise. Additional Notes ================ These fonts and the associated development tools are downloadable from http://www.ucc.ie/faculties/celtic/fonts/ For a version partly converted to unicode encoding, see http://www.drouizig.org/fonts/en/index.html For comments in the context of Gaelic fonts in general see http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/fonts.htm E-mail from Niall O'Carroll to Ciarán Ó Duibhín on 6 August 2010 ====== I am the last surviving brother of F.M. OCarroll. … He sent me the fonts on a 3 1/2 inch disc some months before his death on 19 June 2000 and I use them whenever appropriate, particularly AX which I affected in my schoolboy handwriting in the 1940s. I continued his former liaison with Michael Conlon of Cork who facilitated the process of having the fonts made available through the UCC internet site. E-mail from Niall O'Carroll to Ciarán Ó Duibhín on 9 August 2010 ====== I am by profession a forester, now retired and moved to live in Co. Mayo, near Ballinrobe. I found out the typographical meaning of 'kern' from the dictionary. In the 1960s and '70s I edited a journal Irish Forestry to which I contributed a section of Notes and News which I signed as Wood Kerne, in its other sense of 'a light-armed Irish foot soldier' (OED). My brother was born in 1928. His given names were Francis Marcus. Our Mayo maternal grandfather was Mark. To his colleagues my brother was known as Frank but at home he was called Proinn, abbreviation of Proinnsias, but pronounced in the Ring Gaeltacht fashion as Prown. We grew up in Athlone where my father taught Science and Mathematics, and played traditional Irish music on the fiddle. He was anything but a Gaelgeoir even though he had brothers and their families who were keen Irish enthusiasts. I did not know of Proinn's interest until in the 1990s I sent him a copy of a folk-tale about our great-grandfather which was printed in Bealoideas in the old script. Proinn took a first class degree in 'Pure and Applied Mathematics' in UCD in 1949. His ambition was to be a weather forecaster but the hours were uncongenial to him so he moved on to statistics. He ended up as Statistician in BP HQ in London, which included a doctorate from the University of London and three months as Visiting Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology energy laboratory. He retired in his late fifties. His wife being dead and he childless he moved to Aberystwyth where his retirement hobby was the creation of the fonts on a PC on his kitchen table (he confined his living to the ground floor). His artistic adviser in the project was the late Cormac O'Connor, a former colleague in the Irish Meteorological Service. In probably Proinn's last letter to him about the fonts he wrote 'I have serious doubts about whether they will ever be used except by the two of us.' and he concluded 'The implication appears to be that if there is any potential use for the Clo Gaedhealach it is worth while finalising my present fonts to meet it. Sadly I suspect that there may not be, that the Irish language as a literary medium is really dead and that the best I can hope for is to provide it with decent grave-clothing. I shall be very pleased, but also very surprised, if this proves to be wrong.' Michael Conlon was Proinn's classmate in school and at the time of our contact he was Chairman of An Bord Gais. I had a letter published in The Irish Times on 27 March 2001 drawing attention to the free availability of the fonts. I had a few subsequent contacts from people who had availed of it. As for me I will continue to use the Font as the occasion arises, which is rarely now. =====================