It has often been noted about many of the Viking and Norman families that came to Ireland in the Middle Ages that once they settled down they became “more Irish than the Irish themselves”.
We do not have to go back as far as the 1100s to see that in action as it continues to happen in Ireland today. Foreigners continue to embrace the Irish language and culture with a passion that puts the rest of us to shame. Indeed it is those from abroad who will help keep Irish alive.
Raidió na Gaeltachta will be profiling these individuals in its new series Ar an gCoigríoch which will be broadcast on Saturday mornings at 10am.
Ar an gCoigríoch means ‘in foreign parts’ and the new 15 episode series will feature interviews with 15 foreigners who have made Ireland their home who will be speaking to series producer Tomás Mac Con Iomaire about their experiences.
For St Patrick’s Day and Seachtain na Gaeilge, everyone is encouraged to use the cúpla focal but these individuals have gone a step further and really immersed themselves in the language and traditions. With fluent Irish speakers from as far afield as Japan, Australia, and Hungary, the series will tell us how the rest of the world views Ireland.
This weeks edition of Ar an gCoigríoch will feature Máirín Nic Fhionnghuin from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. Máirín is a fluent Scots Gaelic speaker, and now also has fluent Irish and works out in Connemara.
Participants in the upcoming programmes include Beití Uí Bhaoill from Wales who has been living in Connemara for many years; Andreas Vogel, a German who has mastered sean-nós singing has and also written a German-Irish poetry book; archaeologist Tomas Petervary from Hungary who is living in the Loughrea area; and Chinatsu Hakamada from Japan who is living in An Spidéal and is currently doing a PhD on the history of the Irish language movement.
