The Birmingham group started under the auspices of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, and they have now set up a branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, whose support with language resources and links with them in Dublin they say, have been invaluable.
This is a relatively new element of their work primarily with the Irish language, however, the emphasis with this group is on community too.
Promoting on Meetup.com and www.gaeilge.uk they also advertise any event that has an Irish flavour to it, the group are made aware of it and invited to meet up, this can be anything from a trip to the theatre to an exhibition.
Pop up
The cornerstone of this venture is a well-attended and much valued ‘Pop-up Gaeltacht’ held at Norton’s once a month on a Sunday afternoon, hosted under the umbrella of Conradh na Gaeilge.
They also have once a month a Caifé Gaeilge on a Wednesday morning in a lovely café in the city centre!
In this Pop-up session, they generally look to spend time together ‘ag comhra’ just speaking in Irish as best they can. They also have some activities that are interactive, fun and promote the learning of new words.
On my visit I took part in a quiz in Irish! They also translate familiar songs and sing them and read aloud and translate stories. It is fabulous and you can feel the lovely warm sense of community amongst the group.
They have a mixture of ages, though the most consistent attendees are the older first generation Irish.
Marian (facilitator) has described being both humbled and touched by the apparent joy that members get from attending and also in speaking in their native tongue, often last spoken in at school.
Young people come to listen and learn as well as linguists with an interest in the language. There are always two or three gaeilgeoirí – fluent Irish speakers – who attend to facilitate the language and ensure any advice is correct.
Marian says, “Interestingly, our most fluent Irish speakers are German born – and have studied over the years in Ireland!”
What some of the group members say:
“I am Irish born but brought up here. My parents came to England in the pre-war era, with no Irish. It feels important to me to learn Irish for them, and for our history, to keep it alive.”
“As I got older, I learnt that learning a language could be good for lowering the chances of dementia, and I couldn’t think of a language that I wanted to learn more.”
“For me, the Irish language is intrinsically linked to our culture, if we lose the language we risk losing poems, stories, grammar, literature, and folklore’.”
“My mum could speak Irish, but I missed the opportunity to learn from her while she was here. I’m learning for my mum, and it makes me feel connected to her, the language felt like it was always in my heart’.”
“The value of connecting with other Irish people and the fun in trying to speak the words we last used when we were at school.”
Details:
The PopUp Gaeltacht is from 1pm – 3pm, at Norton’s Digbeth, one Sunday a month and attended by folk from far and wide across the midlands.
They finish promptly at 3pm to allow the musicians into the room for some traditional Irish music for a couple of hours – what an afternoon of our culture!
Marian also says: “It is unlikely we would be as successful as we are with this without the help and support of Norton’s pub. Every single meetup we have had they have provided hot soup and bread for everyone as for those staying on for the music it is a long afternoon!”
From these roots we now have Irish language classes starting this October at Birmingham college.
For lots more information go to www.gaeilge.uk