I learned Donegal dialect, took two semesters of Modern Irish and Modern Gaelic at Harvard (auditing, BTW, just was ballsy enough to ask if I could sit in, felt like slumming, but the opposite, if you know what I mean).

I would be happy to help if I can. One of the most useful things is to listen to recordings of Gaelic and Irish speakers while reading along. Same with listening to songs, while looking at the lyrics. But it is also helpful to have the basic pronunciation before doing this, so maybe one of those books on tape (Teach Yourself Gaelic books come with tapes) might help?