blas.

30/08/2026

Blas edits are BACK.

Clips are all from the Irish West Coast.

01/08/2026

Blas is now a member of 1% for Planet! 1% is an organisation that works with businesses to help facilitate donations to environmental charities by giving a portion of your earnings every year, regardless of profit; so one percent of the app’s revenue will go towards charities concerned with helping the planet and environment, from things focused on recycling to helping the oceans.

21/07/2026

16/07/2026

Cwtch (pronounced “cutch”) is a Welsh word that roughly translates as a cuddle or hug, but carries an extra sense of warmth and safety. It also means a cubbyhole or small hiding place. Put the two meanings together and you get the real idea: a safe, enclosed space, whether that’s physical or the feeling of being held by someone. It was voted Wales’s favourite word in 2007 and added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2005. Elizabeth Taylor famously used it about Richard Burton, saying she just wanted to “go and cwtch him.”

14/07/2026

Deftones x Ireland

10/07/2026

In the 1981 and 1986 censuses of the Republic of Ireland, roughly 31–32% of the population claimed some ability to speak Irish, but this “self-reported ability” was a very loose measure and actual competence was far lower. Genuine daily use was concentrated in the Gaeltacht regions and among a small committed minority, with fluent everyday speakers likely numbering in the tens of thousands rather than the million-plus who ticked the box. In Northern Ireland the picture was even sparser, with no comparable census question until 1991, though a revival was quietly building through Irish-medium schooling and the Belfast Gaeltacht community around Shaw’s Road.

07/07/2026

In Irish it’s báisteach, in Scottish Gaelic uisge (which also means water), and in Manx fliaghey. On the Brittonic side, Welsh has glaw, Cornish has glaw too, and Breton has glav. The Brittonic languages are almost identical on this one, while the Goidelic branch went three different ways, which is unusual. Given how much rain defines life in every Celtic nation, it’s no surprise that each language has far more than one word for it, with dozens of terms for drizzle, mist, showers, downpours and the kind of sideways rain that no coat can keep out.

02/07/2026

In Irish it’s rith, in Scottish Gaelic ruith, and in Manx roie. On the Brittonic side, Welsh has rhedeg, Cornish has resek, and Breton has redek. The Brittonic forms are all obviously related to each other, and the Goidelic set are just as clearly connected. This is one of the few words where you can actually hear a faint echo across both branches if you listen closely enough.