This course is an introduction to the grammar of the Old Irish language. Old Irish has a number of unusual features for a western Indo-European language including verb-initial word order, initial mutations, and conjugated prepositions. These features are much easier to acquire with some knowledge of where they came from and how they relate to  corresponding features in more familiar European languages like Latin. In this course we will combine instruction in the grammar of the language with some historical-linguistic explanation. Old Irish is the vehicle for one of the earliest vernacular literatures of Western Europe. Authors writing in Old Irish produced a distinct literary tradition of great interest to students of Medieval Europe. In this class we will start to read some of this literature, both prose and poetry as well as selections from the Old Irish glosses.  This class is intended for graduate students in Medieval Studies, Classics, and Linguistics, but motivated undergraduates are encouraged to join. A familiarity with Latin grammar will be helpful, but is not required.