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Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
Going to the Gaeltacht as an adult: All of the giddiness of a teenage trip with none of the awkwardness
For many, the ritual of heading to the Gaeltacht as a teenager holds fond memories of craic, ceol and céilí – even if the actual Irish classes weren't overly exciting. With the recent popularity in Irish language and culture – owed, in part, to Belfast rap trio Kneecap – you may be kicking yourself for not paying more attention when you were sent off to Irish college to brush up on your skills. What many don't know, however, is that you can actually take up a course in the Gaeltacht as an adult, which is exactly where I found myself in late June. Myself and a couple of friends registered for Gael Linn's Gaeltacht course for adults in Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal , booked a wee cottage beside Teach Hiúdaí Beag – known for it's Monday night music sessions with the owner himself taking part – and were on our way. The week's schedule is split between classes, social events, cultural evenings and trips to get the know the area – including a boat trip to Gabhla island which, in 2022, had a population of just 15. READ MORE A short trek around the island is an experience in itself – looking at the abandoned homes, walking alongside sheep and, in the quiet moments between conversations, listening to corncrakes cry with the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. Hike to the north of the island and take in the views of the Sea Arches, which look like something out of the Algarve, as well as a memorial to two people who lost their lives in 9/11. The classes themselves, which are held in a University of Galway building in the area, are broken up into six different levels. You choose your ability and, if you feel it's not for you, moving between the classes is easy. In the evenings, locals and cultural figures tell stories, sing songs and talk about the history of the area. And, of course, afterwards it's to the pub to practice what you learned that day, get to know your classmates, listen to some local music or practice a few céilí dances. You'll find all walks of life on the course. In our group, there were children of Irish emigrants to England – proudly learning their mother tongue with an English accent – people from the likes of France or the US who found themselves living in Ireland and wanting to understand the national language, retirees, students from other countries who have picked up Irish and people like me, who work full-time but after the Leaving Cert , felt the ability to speak the language slipping away over the years. Seven sisters mountains The only shop Gabhla Island By the end of the week, you could be best of friends with someone decades your elder or from the other side of the country, exchanging numbers to keep in touch or share information about ciorcal comhrás and Irish-language resources. One of the week's highlights is a big course céilí on Friday night, where you'll be swinging out of people you've hardly spoken to and singing in front of a group of strangers despite not having a note in your head. Even this crow – or préachán, as Gaeilge – gave a rendition of Beidh Aonach Amárach with my new friend Colm and a bodhrán to accompany us. [ Grown-up Gaeltacht: 'The week I spent in Ring - the people I met, the culture - was the best thing I could have done' Opens in new window ] Yes, you will be pushed out of your comfort zone but who cares? With everyone there for the sole purpose of improving their Irish, there is no pressure or embarrassment if you get something wrong. As Ian Mac Gabhann, adult education officer for Gael Linn, put it on our last day, heading off to essentially a week-long summer camp is not something adults do. But, why not? Heading to the Gaeltacht as an adult has all the giddiness and none of the awkwardness of being a teenager, meaning you can brush up on your Gaeilge, make friends and have plenty of craic in the scenic setting of Donegal. Gael Linn's second adult Gaeltacht course of the season takes place in Gaoth Dobhair from August 10-16th, but it is booked out.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Grown-up Gaeltacht: ‘The week I spent in Ring - the people I met, the culture - was the best thing I could have done'
Leah Foley had returned from a year in Canada , and was emerging from a significant break-up, when she decided it was time to 'revamp' her life. A second-level music teacher by training, the Co Clare woman found work in administration after graduating from college during the pandemic. Teaching jobs 'didn't exist then', she recalls. After several years in admin, she went to Canada. 'And then I came home to Lahinch and fell back in love with the place. My training was for post-primary but I always loved working with younger kids so I decided to do a master's in primary teaching.' To become a primary teacher, Foley needed to re-sit her Leaving Cert Irish exam. She spent nine months studying the language before taking the exam in June. However, before all this, and following the advice of her grandmother, she spent a week at the Coláiste na Rinne adult Irish language course in Co Waterford . 'That week I spent in Ring was a massive turn around for me – the people I met, the culture I dived into – six weeks after a significant break-up, it was the best thing I could have done. It also reignited an interest in education, something I didn't realise I was missing. READ MORE 'Five years ago I had no interest in speaking Irish but this has sparked a new passion. I think everyone should experience the Gaeltacht and its people – their outlook on the Irish language is so different from ours, it's a really beautiful thing to witness.' Foley is one of the growing number of Irish adults choosing, for personal and professional reasons, to spend time in a Gaeltacht region and improve their native language skills. Some 13 providers currently offer adult courses across Gaeltacht areas, ranging from Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge in Co Galway to Coláiste Uisce in Co Mayo and Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne in Co Kerry. Rónán Ó Dochartaigh, manager of the Oideas Gael adult Irish language and cultural courses in southwest Donegal, says student numbers are increasing year on year, notwithstanding the break in classes during the pandemic. In 2024, Oideas Gael welcomed 2,200 students during its summer, Easter and bank holiday weekend courses, accounting for 15,000 bed nights in the Gleann Cholm Cille and Gleann Fhinnne Gaeltacht areas. Leah Foley: 'Five years ago I had no interest in speaking Irish but this has sparked a new passion.' Photograph: Liam Burke/Press 22 Students are aged between 18 and 88, with courses ranging from beginner to advanced levels for fluent speakers. Some 60-65 per cent of students are Irish, while the remainder come from across Europe and North America, with recent attendees travelling from New Zealand, Argentina and Paraguay, says Ó Dochartaigh. Their presence in the Donegal Gaeltacht makes a 'two-way contribution', he says. 'We want to help people learn the language but they're helping us as well. People always focus on the economic, and that's great, but more importantly it strengthens the language. The Irish language has survived here but it's still under pressure and people coming here creates a strong incentive to speak Irish.' 'There has been a lot of talk of an explosion of interest in Irish in recent years because of popular culture but I think it's been a long time coming. There's been a general shift in attitudes and then you have the changes in recent decades like Raidió na Gaeltachta, TG4 and the Cailín Ciúin effect, with Irish language projects succeeding on the world stage. I think Covid also changed people's relationship to this country. A lot of the baggage has been removed.' [ An Cailín Ciúin study guide launched to help with Irish language education Opens in new window ] Ian Mac Gabhann, adult language education officer with Gael Linn, says numbers attending the organisation's adult courses in Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal, are also increasing. He believes people have 'eventually got over the hurdle of people solely seeing Irish as a school subject'. 'I didn't like Irish in school, I wasn't great at it and now I work fully through Irish. I think with the increase in different nationalities in our country, we hear other languages and ask ourselves, 'why don't I understand my own language'.' 'There's more respect for the language and a healthier mindset towards it,' says Mac Gabhann. 'The question 'an bhfuil Gaeilge agat' no longer means 'are you fluent in Irish'. It just means, do you have some Irish.' Visual artist Clare Henderson, who spent a week in the Waterford Gaeltacht last year, decided to spend €980 on the course (which covers classes, accommodation and full board) because she felt the 'loss' of not speaking her native language. 'I don't want to use the word shame but it's really sad as a postcolonial country we don't have our own fluent national language. As I get older, I realise how deep that goes, how much was taken away from us. 'I have friends who speak fluent Irish and it's beautiful and impressive, it motivates me to learn more. I think historically there was this idea Irish culture was passé but that's changing. And this isn't just because Kneecap are cool, Kneecap are part of that timeline of change.' [ Kneecap's use of Irish is perfectly in tune with Eoin MacNeill's vision Opens in new window ] While Henderson loved the Irish classes in Waterford, she was disappointed with the cultural activities offered in the afternoon. 'They were bad because they were in English and for me that was a massive loss of learning. I'm not a child and I'm not sad about speaking English with my friends. We had the best craic but I wanted to be a bit more immersed.' Clare Henderson: 'We had the best craic but I wanted to be a bit more immersed.' Photograph: Alan Rowlette Barbara, who requested only her first name be used, disagrees that total immersion is necessary to improve Irish language skills. 'If you're an adult and you want to learn you'll take the steps to do so.' Having decided to return to college in her 40s to become a primary schoolteacher, Barbara had to spend two fortnight stints in a Gaeltacht region over two summers. Her first experience in Ráth Chairn, Co Meath, was 'awful' she says. Accommodation and food standards were low and teaching was 'haphazard'. 'We were paying a lot of money to do this on top of our college fees, and those of us with children had to organise two weeks of childcare. It's a back-breaking commitment.' Her second course the following year in the Connemara Gaeltacht region of Carna was much more positive, she says. 'It was still strict, they took roll call three times a day, but you felt like you were attending proper Irish lectures and the accommodation was immeasurably better.' Barbara has 'mixed feelings' about the requirement for primary schoolteachers to spend time in the Gaeltacht. 'I think the cultural element is lovely and I did improve my Irish but I'd probably have learned just as much doing lectures Monday to Friday out in UCD. I know the Gaeltacht areas need more of a spotlight and I'm very interested in preserving the language but it felt a bit like an exercise in propping up the Gaeltacht.' Research carried out last year by Gaelchultúr, in collaboration with Údarás na Gaeltachta, found two-thirds of Irish people regretted not speaking better Irish, while three quarters agreed the language is essential to the identity of Irish people. Some 64 per cent of respondents in the Amárach Research survey of 1,000 people said the Government needs to do more to support Gaeltacht communities. A spokesman for the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht said the Government remained committed to the successful implementation of the official languages act and the normalisation of the Irish language as part of the provision of public services in this country. The act includes a provision that 20 per cent of new public service recruits be proficient Irish speakers by the end of 2030. Since 2021, the number of civil servants taking Government-provided Irish language courses has increased by 140 per cent. While the Government does not financially support Gaeltacht courses for adults, it continues to subsidise courses for second-level students and third-level undergraduate trainee teachers, he said. Last year, 27,000 students attended these Irish college courses, exceeding pre-Covid numbers. Pádraig Mac Brádaigh, vice-president for Gaeilge at Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (formerly the Union of Students in Ireland) believes Gaeltacht immersion is the only way to fully appreciate the depth of the Irish language. 'The type of Irish you learn in a Gaeltacht course is so much richer, it gives you that 'saibhreas teanga' (richness of language). There's a lot of ways to express yourself that you're not really taught in a classroom and you develop a much deeper connection with the language.' Pádraig Mac Brádaigh, vice-president for Gaeilge at Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn. Photograph: Barry Cronin Mac Brádaigh attended Gaeltacht courses in the Connemara village of an Cheathrú Rua in recent years during his Irish language degree at Trinity College. Attendees on the courses included undergraduate students training to be primary schoolteachers, he says. He claims some of 'these students didn't even try to speak Irish, they actually made fun of us Trinity students for speaking Irish. These are the people who will be teaching hundreds of children this language and they didn't care. It was shameful.' Unlike every other student on his Gaeltacht course, Mac Brádaigh did not learn Irish at school. The grandson of Irish emigrants from Co Cavan, he was born and brought up in New York. 'I grew up with friends in New York who spoke loads of different languages and they told me I was a basic white person with no culture. And as blunt as that may sound, they were correct. That's why I had to learn my language. And as soon as I started learning, I felt it was a huge part of me that was missing.' Mac Bradaigh, who passed A-level Irish and the TEG (Irish language proficiency exam) before studying Irish at Trinity, became the university's first full-time student union Irish language officer. He agrees there is a general change in mindset towards the language but is concerned the interest could be short lived. 'Irish has become trendy but action needs to follow. If you look at the last census the number of people speaking Irish every day is falling. Any person with a newfound passion for Irish should be praised but also encouraged to scratch below the surface and look at the real state of the language. The trendiness of Irish means nothing unless we do something about it.'
BreakingNews.ie
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Irish speaking TikTok creator backs calls for teaching national anthem in schools
A native Irish speaking Tik Tok creator and Sean Nós singer is backing an Irish TD's call for the mandatory teaching of the national anthem in schools. Máire Ní Churraoin has received a huge following on social media since she began teaching the words to the Irish Anthem 'Amhrain na bhFiann' across her Instagram and TikTok Channels. Advertisement So far her posts which include English translations to the 'Soldier's Song' have garnered over one million views since she first started last year. The Irish language content creator, sean-nós singer, TV presenter and artistic researcher has over 103,000 followers on TikTok and 52,000 followers on Instagram, where she actively promotes the Irish language as a vibrant living language. Máire said she was shocked at noticing how many teenagers didn't know the national song while she was working as a substitute teacher across many schools across Meath in the last few years. She no longer teaches and is currently on scholarship for the PhD in Modern Irish and Performing Arts. Advertisement She has now agreed that the song should be taught as part of the curriculum in schools, a call which was also made by Waterford TD and Sinn Fein's spokesperson for Rural Affairs, Community Development and the Gaeltacht Deputy Conor D. McGuinness earlier this week. The 26 year old teacher who hails from the Rathcairn Gaeltacht in Co. Meath admits that she also never learned the song while at an Irish speaking school. "I 100% agree it should be taught in schools and students should know every word from a young age," she said. "I thought nothing of it when I posted a TikTok video last year singing Amhrain na bhFiann before the All-Ireland GAA football final but then it hit me, through the comments that so many people didn't know their own country's anthem and wanted to learn it. Advertisement "So I posted another few videos with phonetics and translations and they got an amazing reaction." Máire said it was such a pity that so many didn't know the anthem and that everyone should be proud to stand up and sing it at as many occasions as possible. "It is such a beautiful song and contains so much pride in our history. "I didn't learn it at school, it wasn't a community or family thing. My sister Étain and I only learned it when it was sung at the end of ceilis by visiting students who came to Rathcairn to learn to be more fluent in the Irish language. Advertisement "While I was teaching in post-primary schools, I tried to give them a flavour of the Irish anthem and found everyone was so willing and eager to learn the song. "The etiquette should also be taught. People should stand, put down their phones and even just be respectfully silent if they don't know the words when it is played. "Many people only know the last line of the song, if at all, to sing at sporting events. And it seems that many young players lining out ahead of a match also struggle with the words. "It is our national song. We wave the flag so we should be able to sing it."
The Irish Sun
17-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Heartache as body of man recovered from water near small Irish seaside town
THE body of a man has been recovered from the water in Co Donegal. Advertisement The man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene shortly after gardai responded to the reports at around 3:30pm. Gardai confirmed that a file will now be prepared for the coroner. A spokesperson for the force said: "Gardai and emergency services were alerted to an individual unresponsive in the water at Ballyhess, Falcarragh Co. Donegal yesterday, Wednesday 16th July 2025 at approximately 3.30pm. "A man was pronounced deceased at the scene. Advertisement READ MORE IRISH NEWS "His body has been removed to the local mortuary and a file will now be prepared for the Coroner." Falcarragh is a small Gaeltacht town located in the north west of Co 1 Gardai attended the scene Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Irish Examiner
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Department of Education accused of 'disgraceful behaviour' over refusal of sports pitch for Cork school
A Cork school with more than 1,800 pupils has been left with no grass pitch, despite land being earmarked for it. Cork County Council is urging the Department of Education to rectify the issue at Carrigtwohill Community School and open the designated three-acre site for school sports. The planning application made by the department in 2019 originally included the grass pitch, but when a revised application was later submitted, it had disappeared from the project. Carrigtwohill-based Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry said it was subsequently classed by the department as "a flood attenuation area". The Department of Education, in replies to questions from then-Fine Gael TD David Stanton, said it was never intended to develop the site for the use of the school community. 'Eventually, last year the then-minister for education responded to calls by the school community to use the site as designated in the original planning application and in the County Development Plan as a playing field. This site was to be used under the remit of Carrigtwohill Community School,' Mr Barry said. However, following a recent parliamentary question by Fine Gael TD Noel McCarthy, the department reverted back to the decision not to allow the school use of the field. Mr Barry raised the issue at a Cobh Municipal District Council meeting, saying: 'In this day and age, surely we should be encouraging students at every opportunity to engage in physical outdoor activity and preventing the use of this area for this purpose is quite mind-boggling." He said hopefully 'commonsense will prevail' and new education minister Helen McEntee would sanction the use of the land as a pitch. 'Carrigtwohill is one of the fastest growing communities in the country and space of this nature is at a premium and quite simply cannot be left lie idle,' he added. Fianna Fáil councillor Dominic Finn, who is a teacher, described the situation as 'disgraceful behaviour', and added 'it's crazy' that children attending the massive campus have to travel elsewhere to use a grass pitch. Their colleagues also backed the motion to contact the department and put pressure on to have it opened for sports. Read More Cork County Council is only local authority without language policy for Gaeltacht housing
