Athlone Pop Up Gaeltacht celebrates Seachtain na Gaeilge 2023
Athlone Pop Up Gaeltacht events takes place every Thursday at various locations around Athlone town and is an ideal way of brushing up on the "cúpla focal" according to organiser and local Irish language activist and musician, Ruaírí O'Conchubhair.
The Dead Centre Brewery was the host for the latest Pop Up night on Thursday last, which proved to be another very enjoyable and well attended event, featuring culture, song, music and dancing.
The event was organised to celebrate Seachtain na Gaelige 2023 in Athlone. The tradition of hosting an Irish language week dates back to 1902 when Conradh na Gaeilge organised a week of events to celebrate the Irish language and culture, in the face of increasingly hostile attitudes by the establishment to the emergent cultural revival, and the nationalist aspirations that accompanied it.
In more recent times, Seachtain na Gaelige runs for three weeks, from March 1 to 17 and is an international festival of language and culture.
Speaking about their recent Athlone get-together, Ruaírí O’Conchubhair said “We arranged an open night to invite people who maybe aren't so confident speaking Irish, or indeed people from different cultures and backgrounds with no Irish, to come along and share our culture and language with us.”
Language activist Mickey Moran described the open night as "a fantastic night" with music from Ná Bádórí and friends, poetry, song, stories and set dancing. "The wonderful thing about our pop up gaeltacht is it bridges the generations, we have people attend who are practicing their Irish for their leaving cert, all the way up to our oldest member who recently celebrated his 90th birthday” he explained.
Ruaírí O’Conchubhair added that the main aim of the Athlone Pop Up Gaeltacht has always been to broaden out the Irish language community in the town, and to provide an inclusive environment for learners.”
Athlone Pop Up Gaeltacht takes place every Thursday at 9pm, and anyone wishing to attend is advised to keep an eye on the Athlone Pop Up Gaeltacht Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts to find out the location for weekly classes.