Last month Irish Central featured a follow-up story about Margaret Keane of Coventry, England whose family had to mount a legal fight to have the Irish language epitaph inár gcroí go deo inscribed on her tombstone. Three years after her death, Margaret’s family won their case. The Irish Language School in Coventry has now been renamed The Margaret Keane Irish Language School in recognition of her work in providing Irish language activities for the Irish community in Coventry.
In many corners of the world such Irish language activities come in the form of weekly classes but also immersions: weekends, long weekends, and even week-long activities. Many are based on Ireland’s daonscoil or folkschool in Rinn, County Waterford, Daonscoil na Mumhan, where people have been gathering since the 1950s for an annual immersion in the Irish language. You can find such immersion weekends or weeks in Canada, the United States, and here in Australia.
Australia’s first immersion in Irish language activities was in the 1990s in Carcoar, New South Wales, followed by Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, and Canberra. Although people from all kinds of backgrounds enjoy learning the Irish language, these immersion weekends or weeks are a form of linguistic homestay for Irish-born Australian residents who learned the language in school, and for Australians with family stories of Irish-speaking ancestors. Their value is recognised by the Government of Ireland as providing a vital support for the Irish diaspora, with financial assistance from the Emigrant Support Programme of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade supplementing the largely voluntary work of the organisors and teachers.
As with many other community activities that could not be offered during Covid-19, the Irish language immersion activities are slowly returning. Canberra’s Irish Language School hosted a summer school in January, and now Sydney’s 20-plus years winter school is returning in June, in a new venue.
Scoil Gheimhridh Sydney Irish Language Winter School Sydney
For over twenty years, the long weekend in June has been a gathering in Sydney for Irish language speakers and learners from around Australia. This year will see that language immersion once again, now in a new venue, Stanmore House, 51-53 Harrow Road, Stanmore NSW 2048.
Below are details from the organisors, The Irish Language School Sydney.
Scoil Gheimhridh Sydney 2024 Stanmore House June 7 – 10
The Scoil Gheimhridh Sydney 2024 is a long weekend of Irish language and craic. Come and
improve your Irish language skills. The key activity of the weekend is Irish language classes. Other Irish activities provide a break in a convivial environment. These may include the official opening, table quiz, guest speaker, concert and classes in poetry, singing, tin whistle, yoga or dance. Informal sessions continue every night.
Who can come?
The school is open to adults from across Australia and overseas. We often have visiting Irish language teachers who are backpacking or otherwise visiting. The long weekend immersion in Irish will suit
- complete newcomers to the Irish language
- those who have started to learn Irish
- those who want to improve their Irish, for example those who learnt it at school in Ireland
- fluent people who want to meet to converse in Irish and to help others learn
Accommodation
Live-in: Single rooms and twin/double rooms are available at Stanmore House. Meals are provided
from dinner Friday through to breakfast on Monday.
Day participants: Lunch and dinner are provided.
Costs
Weekend – live-in, single $450
Weekend – live-in, twin share $370
Weekend – no accommodation: $200
Live-in accommodation is available on a
single-occupancy or twin share basis with some queen-bedded rooms
available as well. Most rooms include en-suite facilities. First in
best dressed. Booking: by 24 May 2024
N.B. As Stanmore House is an alcohol-free zone, we will be programming out-of-class activities off-site
in the evenings at the local hostelry.
Getting there: Stanmore House is a short walk from Stanmore Railway Station and around a twenty minute drive from Sydney Domestic Airport.
Apply by May 24
Scroll down for the application form
https://www.irishlanguageschoolsydney.com/events1
Inquiries:
Greg 0414 232 913
ilss@IrishLanguageSchoolSydney.org.au
Go Raibh Míle Maith Agaibh!
Our heartfelt thanks to all of our supporters, particularly to the Government of Ireland through
the assistance of the Emigrant Support Programme of the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade. We would also like to acknowledge Muiris Ó Súilleabháin for his long-standing financial
support of the Scoil Gheimhridh.
Tinteán 