The Athletic Grounds in Armagh is set to host a number of intensive Irish language courses on Saturday 16 November. With record numbers attending evening classes in Armagh, local community group Cairde Teo are teaming up with Armagh GAA to introduce more people to lrish and to offer learners an additional opportunity to improve their language skills. The intensive courses will cater for beginners, intermediate level and advanced learners and will take place in the Ceannáras building from 10.30am to 3.30pm. The courses are open to the public and anyone interested in attending can contact sean@cairdeteo.com or 028 3751 5229.
Interest in the language continues to surge in Armagh with seven weekly classes in Armagh city catering for well over one hundred learners of all levels of fluency. The classes take place in the Railway Bar on Monday evenings and is St Catherine’s College on Wednesday evenings. Cairde Teo also recently joined a number of groups from across the world to take part in a successful world record bid for the longest-distance Irish language conversation. The online conversation called Comhrá ’19 saw learners and fluent speakers from Japan, Russia, North America, Australia and all parts of Ireland participate in the conversation which took place across three days.
This renewed interest in the language comes at a time when Armagh Gaels are preparing to welcome the brand new Irish language and cultural centre at the Shambles. Gaels across the city, throughout the county and indeed from right across Ireland are very much looking forward to the imminent opening of Aonach Mhacha, early in the new year. With the finishing touches being made to the building which sits on the site of the old fire station at the Shambles, the Aonach Mhacha team are making great strides to develop a programme of classes, activities and events to welcome all the community. The centre will host a number of language and cultural organisations, as well as a gift shop, café space, theatre space, classrooms and meeting rooms, as well as a fantastic exhibition and conference space, which offers unrivalled views of our two cathedrals.
