Plans for new museum for Irish language and Gaelic revival in West Cork village

Irish language teacher training building dating from the early 1900s in Ballingeary set to become 'An Súgán Museum'

Ballingeary was the first place in the country to house a dedicated teacher training college for the Irish language, which was started in the early 1900s. Picture: Denis Minihane

Plans have been drawn up to open the country's first national museum dedicated to the Irish language and the Gaelic revival.

It is hoped to open it in Béal Átha nGhaorthaidh (Ballingeary), Co Cork, as the village is considered the most appropriate location for the 'An Súgán Museum' project.

That is because Ballingeary was the first place in the country to house a dedicated teacher training college for the Irish language, which was started in the early 1900s, some years before the country started its revolutionary quest for independence from the British Empire. Many of those trained there would go on to fight in the War of Independence.

Planning permission has been applied for by a local group to transform the building which housed the Irish language training college into the museum.

The not-for-profit organisation Coiste Forbartha Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh CLG, (Ballingeary Development Committee), purchased the building thanks to a donation from a local family, who wish to remain anonymous.

The team's project leader, Tim Twomey, said it would cost up to €400,000 to convert the former Coláiste na Mumhan [The Munster College] building — which is next to the village church — into a museum.

Feasibility study

In September 2020, the LEADER programme agreed to fund a feasibility study for the museum.

Tramore, Co Waterford-based Mirador Media won the contract after a tender process to carry out the study.

Planning permission has been applied for by a local group to transform the building which housed the Irish language training college into the museum. Picture: Denis Minihane

The company has developed highly-successful cultural tourism attractions, such as Spike Island in Cobh, The Kerry Writers’ Museum in Listowel, Co Kerry, and the Hook Lighthouse exhibition in Co Wexford.

The feasibility study proved successful and Coiste Forbartha Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh CLG has now submitted a planning application to the local authority.

Mr Twomey said it would be a challenge to transform the 60ft x 14ft building into a museum, but the project team has plans in place to address this.

The team is planning to get grant aid for the refurbishment through multiple sources, such as Fáilte Ireland, The Heritage Council, LEADER funding and potential foreign investment sources, especially from the Irish-American community.

Local Fianna Fáil councillor Gobnait Moynihan, an ardent Irish speaker, said its proposed location was ideal as it would give tourists the chance to be immersed in the language.

“Coláiste Múinteoireachta na Mumhan was Ireland’s first Irish language teacher training college and the museum will tell its story in the very building in which the college was founded on July 4, 1904. Many of the figures who became famous in the Independence movement and later the new Free State spent time in the village and the college. They brought with them many ideas on language and nationhood, Irishness and Celtic traditions,” Ms Moynihan said.

A website for the project has been established at www.ansugan.ie