Ancient Manx Gaelic given revival boost with weather animations

An ancient language's revival is being given boost with a favourite talking point - the weather.

A series of animations are encouraging people to swap English words like sunny or flood for grianagh or thooilley as part of a renaissance of Manx Gaelic.

Unesco declared the Isle of Man's native language "officially extinct" in 2009 but now more people are using it.

Artist Gráinne Sheard and Culture Vannin hope the animations will make simple phrases "memorable".

Since brushing with extinction the language has had a revival with 1,800 people out of 83,314 saying they could read, speak or write Manx Gaelic in the island's 2016 census.

The works were digitally animated after they were crocheted

Sheard, also known as Yarny Gráinne, developed the pieces alongside Culture Vannin to help promote it to a wider audience.

Culture Vannin's Manx language development officer Adrian Cain said the unpredictable weather was chosen because it is a favourite topic of conversation on the island.

He said it seemed an appropriate and tongue-in-cheek way to generate enthusiasm.

Manx speaking artist Sheard designed and crocheted the works before they were made ready for use on social media platforms like Instagram.

She said: "It's important for us on the Isle of Man to not only value and revere our language and culture but also seek ways to ensure that it continues to have a place in the future.

"I hope these pieces are accessible to audiences young and old who may not have the time to learn a language in a traditional sense.

"Hopefully they'll make the phrases memorable."

Mr Cain said: "People around the world (literally) speak of and look to the Isle of Man as an example of how to revive language.

"A thriving Manx language is a good sign of a thriving [Manx] identity and culture and is something to be very proud of."

The animations are available to download on the Culture Vannin website.