Photography by Paul Fennell, Claregalway. 

The acclaimed poet and historian from An Spidéal, Sean O Coistealbha, will be our special guest at our regular Friday morning ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’ in Loughgeorge this week (Friday, May 22, 10.30am).

Sean has toured the West of Ireland with archaeologist Michael Gibbons and has a keen interest in heritage, culture, the Irish language, and how place names connect us to an almost forgotten past.

He is coming to Loughgeorge to talk about how the Irish names people had for stones, hills, and mountains connected our ancestors to nature and to the landscape around them.

He is passionate about preserving our native language and believes it connects us with the landscape around us in a way in which English never could.

For example, ‘Cnoc na Cathrach’ means the ‘Hill of the City’, whereas the word Knocknacarra has no meaning!

Sean is looking forward to delivering a one-hour interactive talk ‘as Gaeilge’ with our regular Ciorcal Comhrá and is also keen to engage with the people east of the Corrib about the place names around them too.

Last year, Sean featured in an RTE documentary ‘Made of Stone, in which athlete and folklorist David Keohan travelled throughout Ireland to uncover and revive the lost Irish tradition of lifting historic stones.

A native of An Spidéal, he is a graduate in Irish and History from the University of Galway. After spending five years travelling in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, he retired as the Chief Executive Offficer of Muintearas in January 2023.

Sean maintains very strong links with the Irish diaspora in the United States, in particular, and continues to give lectures to American students on line.

He loves to tour the country, telling and gathering stories, and is a regular visitor to the home of Tom Concannon (98), the oldest surviving Irish speaker east of the River Corrib, in Annnaghdown.

He is looking forward to a lively conversation ‘as Gaeilge’ with the regulars at our weekly Ciorcal Comhrá in Loughgeorge on Friday mornings. Sean will be happy to take questions and

Admission is free and all are welcome!