Let’s speak Gaeilge however we can and wherever we want

IMAGINE my surprise when I saw a sign for the Gaeltacht from a roundabout somewhere deep in Dublin 18. 

Coláiste Naomh Eoin in Ballinteer is one of the many Gaeltacht experiences on offer this summer in places which haven’t had a native Irish-speaking population since the Norman invasion.

Then I thought, so what? I’ve just packed my eldest off to a Gaeltacht college in glorious Achill Island, Co Mayo. I’ve visited Achill pretty much every year of my adult life and I have dived into turquoise water, surfed in white waves, gazed at stunning sunsets. But I have never heard a single word of Irish. And that’s not surprising since there hasn’t been a cohesive community of native speakers of Irish on Achill for more than half a century.