Garry Bannister set up the first Department of Modern Irish at Moscow State University in the late 1970s, where he also lectured while completing his PhD. He is the author of Essential Irish, Foclóir an Fhoghlaimeora, Teasáras na Gaeilge among many others. More recently, his work includes the perennially popular Proverbs in Irish and the first comprehensive translation of Zen koans in English and Irish, A Path Home - Conair Siar, both published by New Island.