SEACHTAIN NA Gaeilge returns for 2015 with, despite its name, a fortnight of Irish language, culture, and heritage events from Saturday February 28 to Tuesday March 17.
In Galway, the festival begins with a sean-nós dancing exhibition at the Galway Museum on Saturday 28 at 2.30pm with Gearóid, Pádraig, and Colm Ó Dubhain. There will also be the Rós Chlub Áras na nGael competition, based loosely around the Rose of Tralee. It takes place in Áras na nGael on Thursday March 5 at 7.30pm and there will also be music and dance.
Items from the Tomás Báiread collection will be on display in the Galway County Council buildings, Arás an Chontae, Prospect Hill
Tomás Bairéad (1893-1973 ) was a journalist and Irish language author, born in Moycullen. He was a member of the Moycullen group of the Irish Volunteers in 1916, the IRB, and Sinn Féin. He was one of a group of Volunteers involved in the burning of the RIC Barracks in Rosmuc in 1920.
He began his journalistic career with the Galway Express, a weekly republican paper, in 1917, later going on to work for the Irish Independent in the 1920s. He also published a short story collection, Cumhacht na Cinneamhna, among other works. The items on display in Arás an Chontae include letters from Máirtín Ó Cadhain and Colm Ó Gaora. The Bairéad collection is available to view on-line at www.galway.ie/digitalarchives
Other events include stand-up comedy nights, conversation circles, a screening from the Little Cinema Galway; and the 10km Inis ‘Iron’ Meáin challenge. Áras na nGael will also be running workshops, to be held at different times during Seachtain na Gaeilge, in singing, yoga, meditation, traditional music, and Irish language classes for beginners through to advanced.
Younger audiences will be catered for through the Westside Library storytelling event and various workshops; The Slabhra Láimhe campaign will be run with school groups singing a song, recording it, and sharing it online. For more information on this see snag.ie
