Conn Mac Aogáin (B.A., ’15)
Getting His Irish On
Conn Mac Aogáin
Conn Mac Aogáin is the first
graduate of Lehman College’s new
Irish Language Specialization
(part of the Comparative Literature
undergraduate program). Mac
Aogáin has had a successful career
as an urban planner and already has
a B.A. in Economics and Geography
and an M.S. in Urban Planning from
Columbia. “He decided to take the
challenge and further polish his Irish
language abilities,” said Professor
Thomas Idhe, the chair of the
College’s Languages and Literatures
department.
In 2008, he began studying the Irish language at Lehman College
part-time in evening classes. Over the years he has taken courses
here with Fulbright foreign language teaching assistants such as
Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, Eimear Ní Cheallaigh, Úna Ní Fhátharta,
and Rhona Ní Chearbhaill. He also benefited from the tutelage
of Fulbright winners Madeleine Ní Ghallchobhair and Siobhán Ní
Mhaolagáin in addition to taking courses with Lehman’s regular
faculty in Irish, Muireann Ní Chuív and John Gillen.
Along with his course work in Modern Irish, Mac Aogáin has also
taken several courses in Old Irish at the CUNY Graduate Center
and is graduating from Lehman with a dual major in Linguistics.
During his time at Lehman, Mac Aogáin participated in several
study abroad programs including summer semesters at the
National University of Ireland in Galway and the Dublin Institute
for Advanced Studies.
Funding to assist with the work of the Irish language program
in the Languages and Literatures department has been generously
provided over the past ten years with grants from the Irish
Government’s National Lottery administered by the Department
of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht as well as the Ireland-United
States Commission for Educational Exchange.
And now even after graduating from Leh X[