A new sports camp which provided outdoor activities and classes ‘as Gaeilge’ to teenagers from Galway City and the surrounding areas proved to be a huge success over the past two weeks.

The Galway Bay Sailing Club joined up with Irish Language Planning Officers around Galway to offer scholarships for the week-long ‘Gaeilge Chois Trá’ camps at Rinville, Oranmore, which finished last Friday.

All of the activites were run in our native language.

The teenagers enjoyed Irish classes in the classroom in the mornings before taking part in a variety of outdoor activities which included learning how to sail, how to use a rib, kayaking, swimming, pier jumping, a céili and a quiz.

Parents reported being very happy with the standard of the Irish classes and the friendliness of the young instructors, who gained experience at the Coláiste Uisce camps in the Co. Mayo Gaeltacht in recent summers.

Our scholarships sold out, a testament to the huge demand there is for activities ‘as Gaeilge’ on the east bank of the River Corrib.

Parents reported that, not only did the teenagers thoroughly enjoy the sailing and outdoor activities, their confidence in using Irish outside the classroom increased substantially over the five days of the course.

Some of the team behind the hugely successful Gaeilge Chois Trá camps at the Galway Bay Sailing Club over the past two weeks.

“It was brilliant to be able to offer scholarships for activity camps ‘as Gaeilge’ to local teenagers from areas such as Carnmore, Clareglaway, and Annaghdown,” said Ciaran Tierney, the Irish Language Planning Officer for Gaeltacht an Eachréidh.

“At a time when the summer colleges in Connemara and the Aran Islands sell out months in advance, people were thrilled to have this ‘Coláiste Chois Trá’ right on our shorestep on the east side of the city. The feedback we have received from the teenagers and their families has been fantastic and we see huge potential in developing these courses in the future.”

 

Irish Language Planning Officers visiting the Gaeilge Chois Trá camp last week.

 

Celebraing the end of the first week at Gaeilge Chois Trá