Product Description

The Irish translation of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which Harry Potter, a normal eleven-year-old boy, discovers that he is a wizard. Long ago, Harry's parents were killed in a battle with the evil Lord Voldemort. When we first meet Harry, he is living miserably with his repulsive and non magical (or Muggle) Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley, and their even more revolting son, Dudley. Following a bizarre but hilarious chain of events, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with an outrageous cast of characters, including super smart Hermione Granger, vile Draco Malfoy, sinister Professor Snape, and wise Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Adventures galore ensue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61035 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11
• Released on: 2004-10-07
• Original language: Unknown
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 300 pages

About the Author
J. K. Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury in the UK in 1965. Such a funny-sounding name for a birthplace may have contributed to her talent for collecting odd names. Jo always loved writing more than anything, and in 1996, Bloomsbury bought her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The rest, as they say, is Hogwarts history.

Customer Reviews

Kudos on finally getting this one out!
Yay! It's finally here!

How can I review the plot of this book when everyone already knows it so well?
This is the magical book in the series where JK Rowling introduces the wizarding world and all the vocabulary that goes with it (Muggles, Quidditch, Owl Post...). It's a treat to be able to read it in Irish, now.

If you are still in the learning stages of your Irish, or are only three quarters of the way through Learning Irish by Michael O'Siadhail, try this: read the Irish version of Harry Potter and have the English version right beside you. It's easier than trying to reverse-conjugate so you can look up the root in the dictionary. The only catch is you probably should have the ENGLISH version and not the American, since there are some differences, but those are only in word choice. I'm using the American version, myself.

This is a great tribute to a language that twirls out of your mouth and sings in the air. I'm thrilled this book is out now.

If you don't know any Irish at all, here's an idea or two for you. Either get this book to motivate you to learn the language, or get this book to show your support for the dying languages of the world.

An enchanting experience
Although I read it with a dictionary at hand, I have thoroughly (and slowly) savored this adventure. Not having read any Harry Potter in English, this is my first contact with the work, and now my only regret is that the other volumes are not in Irish. For an intermediate learner of Irish, I find this to be an excellent motivator to keep going in the language.

Excellent, but not for the faint of heart
This is an excellent translation, but if your Irish is not tip-top, this can be a tough and sometimes frustrating read. I eventually bit the bullet and got an English-language copy from the library to read along with it, which made for a much more satisfying (and educational!) experience.