Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Irish Paper 2 (Higher Level) by Anna Hughes, Irish teacher at The 91制片厂.
- Students will be smiling听from听prose and poetry questions that reward their revision in the lead up to the exam.听
- The unseen elements of the exam were听more听challenging than previous years and students will have been pushed with unfamiliar vocabulary.听
Upon receiving their exam scripts, many students flip to the prose and poetry section to see if their predictions came true. Most will breathe a quick sigh of relief as anticipated pieces appeared. But with timing a big factor in the Paper 2 they will need to have quickly jumped into the comprehensions and got moving through the sections in order to earn the top marks.听
The first听l茅amhthuiscint听text followed听the听SEC鈥檚听common practice听of听including听a topical person of significance, in this case the recently deceased Sr. Stan. While many people nationally may have been aware of her work, for many teenagers some of the vocabulary might have been less familiar. A good example of this is in the title as not everyone might recognise 鈥淪i煤r鈥� meaning 鈥淪ister鈥� in the religious context. The first five questions were the typical extraction tasks for comprehensions,听which students should be able to find material for with a little careful digging.听However听the final questions听require听students to use their own vocabulary to discuss how Sr. Stan was 鈥渁g听cabhr煤鈥� (helping) various groups. This will have pushed students as they needed to avoid simply reiterating details from the text.听A similar pattern is found in the questions on the B text about fast fashion.听Again听they could be word for word in their responses to the first听five,听but the final question asked whether students were 鈥渄贸chasach鈥� (hopeful) for the decline of fast fashion in the future. This required another layer of understanding and听a听much more lateral approach to the given material. In an exam where students must race the clock to cover everything, this challenging section might have slowed some of their momentum early on and pushed them to make up time听elsewhere.听
Emerging听into the听Ceist听2:听Pr贸s, the appearance of听C谩ca听Milis听and听顿铆蝉听will have been a relief. These were highly听anticipated听and听the accompanied by questions reminiscent听of听past papers. The question on what type of person Catherine is was very听typical,听but students will have needed to note that 鈥渁gus鈥� in the question to ensure that both the mother and the blind man are adequately discussed for full marks. The听顿铆蝉听question听was听very nice听if the student knew that 鈥渄earcadh鈥� meant 鈥渙utlook鈥�.听Stronger students will have recognised it and used all their prepared听material听but some might have wavered and opted for听C谩ca听Milis instead.听
The poetry section started with 鈥淎n tEarrach Thiar鈥� which was complemented by questions that were almost word for word from previous years. Students were asked about the use of imagery and repetition to test their aesthetic understanding while the final question on the author鈥檚 life and work s will have allowed them to practically recite from memory. Alternatively students could opt for 鈥淢o ghr谩-sa鈥�, which hasn鈥檛 appeared since 2023. Again the questions balanced the technical (nature imagery and bracket usage) with a cultural appreciation of the poet. Students will have been very happy to be on such familiar footing here as they will have been able to show off their level of preparedness fairly.听
The difficulty level increases again in the final stretch,听Litr铆ocht听Bhreise. Most students around the听country听will go for either听An听Triail,听A Thig听N谩听Tit Orm听or听Gafa. The latter two options were very typical听questions,听but听An听Triail鈥檚听will have caused some to pause. They should all听recognise听鈥渇ulaing铆onn鈥� as 鈥渟uffering鈥� (a key motif of the text) but this was asked through the specific lens of the social setting鈥檚 rules. Most will have听anticipated听a听relationships-based听question听and some will have been thrown. However, even if a student was听unsure exactly how to approach this question, material on relationships between the male and female characters will still garner marks as such interactions reiterate the societal rules.听听
Overall, students will leave the exam with听somewhat mixed听feelings. The areas that they had the chance to directly prepare for will have been a high听point,听but the unseen elements of the comprehensions will have posed challenges to both their vocabulary and their timing.