As you may or may not know, there are three main Irish language dialects:

* Munster dialect (south of Ireland, such as counties Kerry, Cork and Waterford)
* Connacht dialect (Connemara Gaeltacht and Aran Islands in the west of Ireland – both in County Galway, and County Mayo)
* Ulster dialect (north of Ireland, such as Donegal and Belfast)

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How different are the Irish dialects?

On Irish-Sayings.com, you may only hear a slight difference of pronunciation between speakers of the different Irish language dialects. For single words this is true, but the dialects can differ in their word and phrase selection, and there are even some grammatical differences. Given the existance of national Irish language radio (Radio na Gaeltachta) and Irish language television station (TG4), speakers across Ireland can mostly understand eachother. However, quickly-spoken conversation in another dialect may be difficult at times to understand.

Which dialect is the proper dialect?

None and all of them! It doesn’t matter which dialect you learn or use, you’ll be understood by any Irish speaker.