Gathering together at the monthly ‘Ciorcal Comhra’ in Regans of Clonboo 

A ‘Pop Up Gaeltacht’ for Irish speakers will take place at Regans of Clonboo on Thursday, July 3, from 7.30 to 9pm.

All are welcome to this informal gathering no matter what your level of Irish!

The idea behind this event at Regans of Clonboo is to provide people with a space to mingle and chat freely while using whatever amount of Irish they have for an hour and a half or so.

Regans already hosts a successful ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’ on the first Monday of every month, but the idea behind the ‘Pop Up Gaeltacht’ is to allow people of every level of Irish to gather, mingle, and converse using whatever level of Irish they have.

In 2024, Gaeltacht an Eachréidh recorded native speakers of our native language who grew up in Irish-speaking households in Annaghdown, and some of them expressed disappointment that they rarely get a chance to use Irish outside the family home in a social setting.

The 90 minute gathering ‘as Gaeilge’ will be followed by a traditional music session from 9 to 11pm, ensuring a great celebration of Irish culture throughout the night. Finger food will be provided free of charge.

“There is a six year language plan in place to revive the Irish language in Annaghdown, Carnmore, and Claregalway and we hope to run more social events like this on a more regular basis,” said Ciaran Tierney, the Irish Language Planning Officer for Gaeltacht an Eachreidh.

“We ran a similar event in The Arches Hotel in Claregalway back in February and were absolutely thrilled when 40 people turned up out of the blue. We had great ‘craic’ and a lot of people did not want to go home. Because of that, we launched a new Thursday night ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’ in Claregalway which has been a huge success, although it is now on a break for the summer.

“This is going to be a very informal gathering, where people are encouraged to mingle, have a chat and a drink, and use whatever Irish they have. All are welcome and it certainly does not matter if you are not fluent in the language. Anyone who wants to speak Irish, or listen to Irish, is more than welcome to join us at Regans on July 3.”

 

The weekly ‘Ciorcal Comhra’ in Claregalway was hugely popular before the summer break.