My name is Peter Smith although many people know me as Peadar MacGabhann.

I am Reader in Irish at the University of Ulster. I first became interested in the Irish Language while learning songs for the Fleadh. As a young man I spent many summers in the Gaeltacht Láir and Rann na Feirste to become fluent in Irish.

I studied Early and Modern Irish at Trinity College Dublin receiving a first Class honors degree and an M. Litt. I was subsequently awarded a D. Phil. at Oxford (Jesus College). I went on to lecture in Celtic at the University of Bonn. After working for almost four years at the University of Bonn I worked at the University of Notre Dame as an assistant Professor in Irish. After that I was offered a permanent lectureship in Irish at the University of Ulster in Derry. I have also been visiting professor at the University of Oslo and the University of Toronto.