Celebrating 40 years since its foundation in 1984, Oideas Gael has long been a mecca for the adult Irish language learner. With some 2,000 participants each year, the diverse, multinational makeup of the organisation’s courses in many ways foreshadowed more modern, less parochial attitudes to Gaeilge.

“Nuair a thosaigh mé ag obair anseo I mo dhéagóir, b’ionadh liom go raibh daoine as Meiriceá Thuaidh, Sasana, An tSeapáin ag foghlaim na teanga” arsa Rónán Ó Dochartaigh, Bainisteoir Cúrsaí Oideas Gael. “An jab atá againne ná a chinntiú go bhfuil gach duine ábalta foghlaim go héifeachtach saor ó strus agus imní, go mbeidh siad ag baint taitnimh as Gaeilge a labhairt. Ach is iad na cairde mheallann daoine ar ais.”

Jackie Gorman, a science communicator and poet from Athlone, had unfinished business with the language. After a time in West Africa and having learned Mandinka and German in quick succession, she found Oideas Gael’s courses just as she was rethinking her relationship with Ireland’s national tongue.

“Tá na cúrsaí sármhaith, bíonn na múinteoirí an-chabhrach agus gach duine chomh cairdiúil. Tá áilleacht speisialta ag baint leis an áit féin agus bíonn tú ag foghlaim an t-am go léir—sna ranganna, sa chaifé, sa teach tábhairne!”

“I had not anticipated what learning Irish would do for so many other things I enjoy—writing poetry, reading about history, folklore etc. The language is like a key into so many things we take for granted.”

Oideas Gael participant Arge O’Neill, a film and TV editor based in Los Angeles—and President of Conradh na Gaeilge’s Cathair na nAingeal branch—has family connections to Donegal and remembers his own great-grandfather speaking Irish while growing up in central Indiana:

“Ní raibh sé féin as Éirinn, ach leis an méid a thug a athair do, bhí sé soiléir gur smaoinigh mo shin- seanathair gur taisce a bhí ann, agus ba cheart í a roinnt lena fhionnó beag. Agus chuaigh sé go mór i bhfeidhm orm, fiú agus mé ag an aois óg sin.”

Indeed, the Gaeltacht regions of Gleann Cholm Cille, Gleann Fhinne and Toraigh (Tory Island) are part of the fabric of the courses. Incorporating the landscape and culture of these areas leads to opportunities for learning outside of the classroom, in ways that can be both enriching and much less intimidating to newcomers. Courses in music, hill walking, environment and painting, for example, allow participants to gently improve their language skills while engaged in other activities they enjoy.

Like many, Oideas Gael embraced the opportunities offered by remote learning during the COVID pandemic, with hundreds today attending their off-season online courses. For many participants, however, the sense of connection accompanying the in-person experience remains unmatched. This is echoed by one of Ireland’s most renowned psychotherapists, Bronagh Starrs, who has also attended courses with Oideas Gael, having rekindled her passion for the language:

“I quickly realised that Oideas Gael offers something much more extraordinary than the improvement of conversation skills for participants. I am well aware of the post-traumatic stress markers which continue to be experienced by most people since we collectively endured the radical changes, stress and isolation created by the pandemic. At Oideas Gael, I saw people everywhere, willing to reach out to each other in order to practise their ‘cúpla focal’. This common denominator of the Irish language was the impetus for tentative engagement and within a very short time this created a dynamic and palpable sense of belonging and community.”

While the stark challenges facing the future of Gaeilge as a community language cannot be ignored, our changing relationship to the language can also be celebrated. Oideas Gael offers one such example, where for 40 years thousands of participants have come to immerse themselves in our unique culture, contributing to a social project that generates positive economic activity and tells an inclusive, forward-looking story about the language.

Ní neart go cur le chéile!

Further information on Oideas Gael’s courses can be found here.