Frequently Asked Questions: Expand Below 
SingFónaic is a unique Irish phonics programme designed for primary school children. Our goal is to empower children to learn the basic Irish sounds.
SingFónaic inspires school children to learn the Irish phonics. Children hear the target sound being taught and reinforced during the week.
SingFónaic is an online, interactive Irish phonics programme. You can access SingFónaic via:
| mobile phone | |
| laptop | |
| desktop | |
| tablet | |
| interactive whiteboard | |
| interactive television |
SingFónaic is a comprehensive Irish phonics programme that uses a systematic approach to tackle Irish pronunciation, reading, writing and spelling.
Children learn the 40 basic Irish sounds through:
- Fun charachters
- Rhymes, songs and poems
- The Irish Alphabet
- Systematic phonics levels
- Spellings and dictation lists
- Games
- Downloadable resources
We recommend that you spend 10-15 minutes per day teaching and reinforcing Fónaic na Gaeilge (Irish Phonics). We have designed lesson plans to support the teacher teaching the target sound for the week.
I was teaching third class for a few years in a national school. I noted that the majority of pupils were not able to pronounce the basic sounds in Irish, for example the common sounds; ‘th’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘bh’. They found it difficult to pronounce common words and verbs correctly, i.e. thit, tháinig, chuaigh, chuala, sheas, shiúil etc.
The pupils were using their English phonics store rather than their Irish phonics store when they tried to decode Irish words. The Department of Education published a new Primary Language Curriculum in 2015 for Junior Infants up to Second Class and a revised edition for all class levels in 2019. The new language curriculum emphasizes the teaching of phonics and phonological awareness to primary school infants up to Sixth class.
I decided to create an Irish phonics programme that is aligned with the new Primary Language Curriculum. I asked a friend of mine to create an online prototype. I contacted the Meath Local Enterprise Team. They suggested that I pilot a study with three primary schools.
The schools that participated in the pilot study were:
- Holy Spirit School, Bettystown, Co. Meath
- St. Mary's School, Donore, Co. Meath
- Christchurch, Tallaght, Dublin 24
Click here to read more feedback from the pilot study >>>
This is one of the most frequently asked questions.
Click here if you wish to gain a more comprehensive overview of the phonics levels and the different features of SingFónaic.
We recommend that you teach the sounds of the Irish Alphabet from Junior Infants up to First Class.
The children will be able to name and sound all the letters of the Irish Alphabet. Please note that there will be a language transfer from English to Gaeilge.
A total of 24 sounds are taught (One letter, one sound);
- 14 consonants
- 5 short vowels (a, o, u, i, e)
- 5 long vowels (á, ó, ú, í, é)
We recommend that Level 1 (One letter, one sound) be taught to 1st class up to 2nd class
Level 1 consists of three sub-levels:
- Level 1 (a) - Monosyllabic words
- Level 1 (b) - Monosyllabic words with an extra consonant
- Level 1 (c) - Polysyllabic words
We recommend Level 2 (Two letters, one sound) from 3rd class up to 4th class.
Level 2 consists of three sub-levels:
- Level 2 (a) - The double letters (ll, nn, rr)
- Level 2 (b) - The sounds ‘bh’, ‘ch’, ‘dh’, ‘fh’, ‘gh’, ‘mh’, ‘ph’, ‘sh’, & ‘th’
- Level 2 (c) - The sounds ‘bhf’, ‘bp’, dt’, ‘gc’, ‘mb’, ‘nd’, ‘ng’ & ‘ts’
We recommend that Level 3 (Depiction of sounds) be taught from 5th up to 6th Class.
- Level 3 (a) - The sounds d, n, s, t
- Level 3 (b) - Depictions of consonants b, d, d’, f, g, h, m, n
- Level 3 (c) - Depictions of short vowels - a, o, u, e, i
- Level 3 (d) - Depictions of long vowels - á, ó, ú, é, í
- Level 3 (e) - Regular patterns - (e)ach(t), aith, án/an, (e)ann, eoir, ia, mhar, tar, ua
Click here if you wish to avail of a free 2 week trial.
Click here if you wish to subscribe to SingFónaic.
The fee for an annual SingFónaic licence is €38.98.
Please click here to learn more about school licence plans & pricing!
We will ask the user to forward the following details to us:
- Name of user - First name and Surname
- User's email address (select an email that you would like to use for SingFónaic)
Send an email to and we will contact you.
