Athlone’s pop up Gaeltacht community is thriving
The most recent census by the CSO in 2022 saw Westmeath report an increase of 1,400 people who spoke Irish regularly.
There is no doubt there has been a resurgence in interest in the language in popular culture recently, work by everyone from Kneecap to Manchán Magan has brought the language to new audiences.
Locally, a resurgence is strongly evident in Athlone through the ongoing work of Gaeltacht Átha Luain, Athlone’s Pop-Up Gaeltacht community. They meet regularly and arrange a wide variety of events which promote the language and provide an opportunity for people to speak Irish together.
They have certainly embodied the old Irish proverb “tús maith leath na hoibre” [a good start is half the work.]
The past number of weeks has been busy with a range of activities including a céilí for Seachtain na Gaeilge and a pop-up event for the recent Croílár festival. As part of the Roscommon Fleadh and in conjunction with Comhaltas Athlone, a slow-music session was hosted, alongside a Pop-up Gaeltacht at Monahans Pub.
Following this, Athlone Gaeltacht hosted a two-hour session at the Athlone Family Resource Centre tent at the Festival of Fires at Uisneach. This included a ‘ciorcal comhrá’ [conversation circle] and a discussion on the ‘promotion’ of the Irish language in the wider community.
Recently, two courses have commenced at the gig room of the Snug Bar Athlone for 6-weeks. These courses are singing traditional songs in Irish with Anne Marie Hynes from Sound your Soul and intermediate level Irish language class for those with some fluency.
The regular Pop-up Gaeltacht where people can chat in an informal setting, continues at 9.30pm each Thursday in the gig room at the Snug Bar. All are welcome, no matter what their level of Irish. An upcoming event in June is an evening with renowned musician Rónán Ó Snodaigh, who has been described by Hot Press as “the living embodiment of Turlough O’Carolan and Bob Marley.”
In this event, he will be in discussion about his life in music and the Irish language and places must be booked by emailing athlonegaeltacht@gmail.com
The Pop-Up Gaeltacht has received support to date from Athlone family Resource Centre, Westmeath Arts Office, and Creative Ireland.