There are three wonderful ‘ciorcal comhrá’ taking place in Gaeltacht an Eachréidh, a place where you can practice your Gaeilge, meeting native speakers and learners, and have a bit of ‘craic’ in our native language.

If one of your ambitions for 2026 is to practice or improve your Irish, and you are free on Friday mornings, then why not pop down to the weekly ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’ in Loughgeorge?

Whether you are fluent or only have a “cúpla focal”, one of the best ways of practicing and improving your Irish is to join an Irish language conversation group.

Every Friday at 10.30am, this friendly group of locals from An Eachréidh (Claregalway, Carnmore, and Annaghdown) come together for a one-hour chat “as Gaeilge” and a cup of tea and a biscuit at the Galway GAA training centre in Loughgeorge.

It is a great way of maintaining and developing your link with our beautiful native language and those who may not be fluent are encouraged to use whatever vocabulary they have. To join, all you have to do is turn up at 10.30am on a Friday morning!

If Friday mornings do not suit you, perhaps you can join us at The Arches Hotel in Claregalway on Thursday evenings – starting again next week.

Our weekly ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’ has been a huge success at The Arches since we held our first ‘Pop Up Gaeltacht’ there, attended by 40 people, back at the end of February.

Every Thursday night, Irish language enthusiasts meet up at the hotel – which has strong family links with the Irish language in this Gaeltacht area – for an hour of conversation at 8pm.

Our host Barbara Ni cDhonnacha is very welcoming and tries to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. The event attracts a lovely mix of people from native Irish speakers to people who are attending our Tuesday classes and may not be fluent in the language.

Indeed, you don’t have to be fluent to take part.

The monthly ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’ in Regans of Clonboo returns on Monday, February 2, which is a Bank Holiday. They took a break this week due to the weather. They meet up for an informal chat on the first Monday of every month at 8pm and are always happy to welcome new participants.