A group of keen Leitrim Gaeilgeoirí are organising a Pop-Up Gaeltacht in Carrick-on-Shannon as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2026 in Cryan's Teach Ceoil for conversation, craic, music and a cup of tea or a pint!
One of the organisers, Rory Layden told the Leitrim Observer more about the event. "Myself and Deasún Lyons, who is very active in Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns, thought it was a shame that Carrick-on-Shannon, the principal town of
Leitrim, doesn't have something like this."
Rory, who works for Leitrim County Council, only rediscovered his grá for Irish recently, after applying for a new job. "Many years ago, I worked in an all-Irish secondary school in Dublin for two years part-time. I haven't used Irish for maybe twenty years and then I started working in the civil service and jobs were coming up for people who had Irish. I was wondering if my level of Irish was good enough to apply for those jobs and found out it was. In the last nine months, I've revived my Irish so it's been a really nice experience."
He continued: "For people who come along to the Pop-Up Gaeltacht, there is no expectation that they speak Irish fluently. Deasún has very good Irish and mine is not nearly as good but I can hold a conversation. The whole thing about people speaking Irish now is that you don't have to fluent; The 'cúpla focal' is all you really need for a start."
He noted that there are people in the town who aren't connected to Gaelscoil Liatroma who speak Irish or have an interest in the language. "With the success of Kneecap and the election of Catherine Connolly and the release of Irish film An Cailín Ciúin, we think this is a good time to actually do this. The pop-up Gaeltacht is for everyone - for all backgrounds and for all ages from 18 - 98!."
He recalled working in the Department of Social Protection in Longford and regularly conversing with a colleague as Gaeilge. "Every time I went past his desk, we'd just have a few words and could talk about anything. It's like the words were just there and I'd say the same could be said for most of us; that even if we had a bad experience in school there is still a lot of Irish in the recesses of our minds."
He added: "Irish expresses our identity; it's one of the few things that marks us as different from anybody else alongside our open hospitable nature and love of family and nature. The Irish language is really something that marks us as different from any other country."
Rory said that while there is no music booked for the night, he is hopeful that some traditional musicians will get involved and play a couple of jigs. "With a Pop-Up Gaeltacht, there is no formality about it at all. It's just a place where you can speak Irish. We are hoping that one or two musicians will come along. We hope the Pop-Up Gaeltacht on 2nd will be the start of a regular weekly or fortnightly gathering so watch this spot especially if you are busy on the 2nd."
Rory is very thankful to Liam Cryan from Cryan's Teach Ceoil for all his support for the initiative.
Visit the "Pop-Up Gaeltacht" and celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge at Cryan's Teach Ceoil on Monday, 2nd March at 8 pm!
