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Clon Gaelscoil Concert in Kilgarriffe

June 4, 2013

This Friday evening 7th June, a Concert at Kilgarriffe Church (of Ireland), Clonakilty will be held at 8.00p.m. in aid of Gaelscoil Chloch na gCoillte.
The line-up includes Clonakilty Junior Brass Band; Glaslinn Ladies’ Choir, Vocalists; Fiona Kelleher and Paula Kingston O’ Brien; Trad piano player Hannah Collins and past and present students of the Gaelscoil. Táille isteach €10.
Tickets available from the Gaelscoil or at the door on the night.
With the construction of the new Gaelscoil building moving apace at Fernhill Road, all at the school are looking forward to “an bogadh mór” (the big move).
Like all schools, fundraising still continues however!
All support on Friday evening appreciated.

Teagmháil: gschlochnagcoillte@gmail.com

Gaelcholáistí named in Sunday Times’ Parent Power survey

June 4, 2013

GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. would like to congratulate the Gaelcholáistí named in the Sunday Times’ Parent Power survey published on June 2nd for their high progression rates to third-level education. 6 Irish-medium schools were named among the top 20 schools in the country, a significant result considering that just 4.9% of post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland (outside Gaeltacht areas) are Irish-medium schools or have Irish-medium units. This result is testament to the excellent standard of Irish-medium education as well as the commitment and dedication of students, teachers and parents. Long may it continue! This survey shows that the investment made by the Department of Education and Skills in Irish-medium schools is very worthwhile and it supports the continuous applications made by GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. to the Department to increase provision, particularly at post-primary level, so that more students might benefit from an Irish-medium education.

GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. wishes all students sitting the Junior and Leaving Certificate in the coming weeks the very best of luck.

Moladh le CCEA – leabhair iontacha

June 4, 2013

There will no doubt be lots of complaints. There will perhaps be more complaints this year since some examinations will be corrected on line and there are bound to be teething problems.

But there is much more involved in the work of the Northern Examination Board (CCEA) than the setting and correction of examinations. It publishes guides for Irish teachers and pupils, but as well as that it puts out additional materials which increase pupils’ vocabulary in a creative way. It published two translations recently- ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. Pádraig de Bléine has produced an excellent Irish translation of the two books. The Board has also produced a series of biographies – teenage reading material which is badly needed. And CCEA has just published six booklets on the life of Colm Cille in conjunction with the Nerve Centre in Derry. These are very attractive little booklets. The illustrations are excellent. The stories are told in straight forward, lively Irish in a very humorous style. If you turn the booklet upside down, you get the English version.

This is a far sighted policy. The requirements of Irish language students are different from the requirements of students doing other languages. The GCSE is the first step in repossessing the language. So we must go beyond the basic Irish required for the examination. This supplementary material is excellent preparation for AS and A Level. These books deserve a wider readership. Pupils all over Ireland and adults everywhere would be interested in them. Could the Board not make an arrangement with a publisher?

www.derryjournal.co.uk

The way I see it

June 4, 2013

Lost for words:
I can’t speak Irish. The only song I know in Irish is Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’, and I can do about four lines.

WITH my summer exam done, I realised that I am terrible at Irish. I don’t think I am the only one. I am proud of the language and I love hearing it being spoken perfectly, but hearing it being spoken as well as English is rare. Is Irish taught well?

I can barely construct a sentence. We did a mock oral and I kept saying ‘anois’. My sentences weren’t making sense. An example:

‘Last summer, I went out with friends now and now I went to matches’. If you handed that up in an English class, you would be booted down to the ordinary level.

Instead of reading those weird Irish books in national school, we should be taught the basic grammar rules. We should learn how to construct sentences in past tense, present tense, and future tense. We should also get a start on the dreaded, most feared tense ever…the modh coinníollach, the conditional tense. The ‘I would, you would, he or she would’, and so on. If we learned how to use the verb correctly, that would be half the battle.

My cousin told me her child can do ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ in Irish and I was quite impressed. The only song I know in Irish is Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’, and I can do about four lines. I know it because one of the girls who went to the gaeltacht kept singing it.

The gaeltacht should get better press. When people talk about the gaeltacht, I hear all about the ‘craic agus ceoil’. I would love if my Irish classes could be that exciting and fun.

Irish is a complex language and beautiful to hear. I realised how stunning it sounded when I went to see Ballingeary play Kiskeam, and the Ballingeary bench talked in Irish. It was nice to hear, a team spurred on in our native language.

I would love to revive the Irish language and I would like to visit the gaeltacht and learn ‘cupla focail’. I’d love to be able to go abroad and talk in my native language. I would encourage the Irish to learn a few words and embrace their language, embrace it like French people embrace French, and the Spanish people embrace Spanish.

I certainly do not want my language to fizzle out and I do not want us to lose more of our national identity. So let’s make Irish fun, let’s teach kids grammar and let’s encourage teenagers to go to the gaeltacht and have craic, and learn the cupla focail, and let’s revive our language before it’s gone for good. . Because, after all, it’s what makes us who we are.

www.irishexaminer.com

Dialann Ghaeilge an tSamhraidh i gCeatharlach

June 4, 2013

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Peig Sayers for a new generation

June 4, 2013

A chara,

In light of Felicity Hayes McCoy’s disparaging comments towards Peig Sayers (Life, May 20th) I feel obliged to point out that the current generation of NUI Galway final year Gaeilge students informed me during course evaluation that I should have spent more time on Peig Sayers’s works, as they enjoyed her.

A majority of the 150 students chose to include Peig in their exam answers. I observed, particularly among female students, that they connected with Peig’s independent spirit and her belief that people should only marry on the strength of love for one another rather than the strength of a dowry. Her description of the first time she laid eyes on her husband – Pádraig Ó Guithín – led one student to remark, that regardless of the harrows she had suffered in her life she also enjoyed the elations of love, meaning that she truly did live it to the fullest.

I will leave you with Peig’s simple yet beautiful words: “D’fhéachamair féin ar a chéile. Do chonac rud éigin aoibhinn sa bhféachaint sin. Rud éigin a bhí thar thuiscint an duine do mhíniú anso”.

Is mise,
TOMÁS L Ó MURCHÚ,
Áras na Gaeilge,
Ollscoil Éireann,
Gaillimh.

www.irishtimes.com

Ceiliúradh Cainte i gColáiste Leoin

June 4, 2013

Irish drive’s second birthday party to take place in CoC13

June 4, 2013

THE second birthday party for an initiative to get as many people as possible across the whole of Northern Ireland speaking the Irish language by 2015 will take place in Londonderry UK City of Culture in 2013.
Last year’s Líofa (fluent) Party, which took place over one day in Custom House Square in Belfast last year, cost £17k.

It featured performances from a range of artists including renowned Dungiven harpist Nodlaig Brolly.

Culture Minister Carál Ní Chuilín has now announced that this year’s birthday party will take place in Londonderry in September.

The Minister explained: “This year’s Líofa birthday party will be held in Derry, as part of the City of Culture.”

The Culture Minister concluded: “The event will be held in early September and will provide a focus for individuals and Irish Language organisations with the aim of promoting and publicising the Irish Language to all.”

www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk

Kids Summer Camps in Carlow 2013

June 4, 2013

8 July 2013 – 19 July 2013

Glór Cheatharlach is a local organisation aiming to promote the Irish language in Carlow Town.

The principal aim and purpose of Glór Cheatharlach is to bring about Bilingual Town Status for Carlow thus ensuring that Irish is spoken and heard in a natural environment daily.

Glór Cheatharlach will host Irish language summer camps in the area this summer:
Campa na nÓg: aimed at children 4-6 yrs. Two weeks optional this will be held in the Naíonra, Gráigchuilinn. Dates: 8th-12th July & 15th-19th July 2013 – Fee €40.

Campa Samhraidh: (Summer Camps): Summer campls will be aimed at kids from 7-11yrs Location: Gaelscoil Cheatharlach for1 week 15th-19th July – Fee €50.

Events include storytelling, drama, art and music, singing, fun games, conversation, football, plus much more.

More information below or call Emma in Glór Cheatharlach.ar 059 9158105 / (085) 1340047 or send an email to emma@glorcheatharlach.ie

For a full list of events in Carlow visit: www.glorcheatharlach.ie

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com

Intense Irish Language course

June 4, 2013

Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge in An Cheathrú Rua, Co. Galway are hosting Intense Irish Language courses this summer and they have places available on a course which will take place from 10th – 21st June 2013.

There are various courses available from week long to fortnightly courses for adults who studies Irish in school but who didn’t get the opportunity to practice the language for a long time. The course is also suitable for individuals who wish to add to their vocabulary and improve conversational and Irish language grammar skills.

The course will take place in An Cheathrú Rua in the heart of the Conamara Gaeltacht in Co. Galway and those undertaking the course will get a wonderful opportunity to embrace the language on a daily basis within the community.

Further information:
An Rúnaí,
Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge,
An Cheathrú Rua,
Co. na Gaillimhe.
F: 091 595101
Email: cursaigaeilge@oegaillimh.ie

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com

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