Of course, one of the appeals to pursuing a Ph.d. in Ireland is the opportunity to resume language study. I recently purchased a very lightly used copy of the Linguaphone Irish course, and find it much more enjoyable and effective than some of the other materials I've purchased. I've not found any information that confirms this, but it seems it might have been done using speakers of the Connemara dialect.

The University of Otago in Aotearoa (New Zealand) remains high on my list of potential schools as well. I've made a commitment to myself to come to a decision by the end of this semester. If it's Otago, I'd probably enter next spring. If they'll have me, of course