Not too many communities in the West of Ireland can claim to have a “seoid” (a treasure) living among them, but such is the case in Annaghdown where Tom Concannon (who turns 99 this year) continues to delight everyone around him.

Tom turns 99 this year and is believed to be the oldest native Irish speaker who grew up and lives to the east of the River Corrib.

Academics, journalists, and storytellers regularly visit Tom in his Annaghdown home for the wealth of his stories and the richness of his language.

The beautiful Irish Tom speaks is quite different to Connemara Irish and he absolutely loves to host visitors who can speak to him “as Gaeilge” and to share stories going back to the War of Independence and the hated Black and Tans.

Yesterday, after launching a booklet at the nearby Annaghdown National School, poet Sean O Coistealbha and Irish Language Planning Officer Ciaran Tierney visited Tom at his family home, where he and his late wife Mary (née Hanley, from across the river in Cloniffe) reared four daughters.

Earlier, it was lovely to talk to the Annaghdown children about how much they admire the native speaker and love his stories.

Before we visited, Tom had been down on his land checking out his lifestock and driving his tractor around his farm.

What was supposed to be a ten-minute visit lasted more than three hours as he regaled us with stories ‘as Gaeilge’ about the old times in Annaghdown and Galway.

Tom was the first person to be interviewed by us for our Native Speakers Project and he was the last to leave the celebratory party we held at the Menlo Park Hotel to celebrate the launch of ten videos in October 2024. It was hard to get him off the dancefloor!

“It was clear from talking to the children in Annaghdown yesterday that they see Tom as a real inspiration,” said Ciaran Tierney, the Language Planning Officer.

“They see him driving his tractor, checking on his livestock, and having ‘craic’ with his neighbours. The children attending the Gaelscoil are acutely aware that he is one of the oldest native speakers of Irish in Ireland. He is great ‘craic’ and it is hard to leave his warm hearth, as he loves to share stories in his unique and beautiful Irish.

“They call the Irish of this area ‘Gaeilge na Lachan’ because it is said to be quite different to the Irish of Connemara and the Aran Islands.”

Since Ciaran last visited Tom, he has featured in the Local Heroes Exhibition of 27 remarkable older people in Co. Galway whose stories inspire the people around them and make their communities stronger. He was one of the heroes of Positive Aging Week in Galway last September.

Tom was one of nine siblings who grew up in an Irish-speaking household on the banks of the River Corrib. He jokes that his father only spoke Irish to the farm animals and that their horse did not understand English, but seemed to understand everything they said ‘as Gaeilge’.

Tom told us he is really proud to see the revival of interest in Irish all across the country and is thrilled to see that young people, including his own grandchildren, are now embracing the language which was once looked down upon by the upper classes.

Tom has had a deep sense of justice throughout his life and is very proud of his own direct family links to the Easter Rising in Co. Galway.

To view the one hour interview Alanagh Ni Chonghaile Ni Ghriofa recorded with Tom in 2024, please click on this link on YouTube: