"Scoil Scairte" is an immersive journey into the heart and soul of the Irish language. The Trailblazery/ Scoil Scairte
This 9-week voyage of discovery invites people to gather together online to explore, experience, and learn the Irish language in a global learning community.
Scoil Scairte is a dynamic Irish language learning experience that weaves culture, creativity, heritage, folklore, and indigenous wisdom with individual, social and ecological wellbeing.
Each week a new guide will bring students on a journey into the soul of the Irish language through a broad range of shared experiences from storytelling and music to dancing, folklore, hip hop, hurling, knitting, sean nós singing, and other creative practices.
Scoil Scairte will run from Thursdays, February 3 - March 31, 2022. Find out more information here.
As well as the weekly 90 min session, there will also be access to a private community membership space to gather together outside of the classroom to connect with each other and nurture your relationship with the Irish language.
Guides for the upcoming series include Kathy Scott (Creative Director of The Trailblazery), Manchán Magan (Writer, Presenter, Bee Keeper, Documentary-Maker), Mairéad Ní Chonghaile (Presenter, Actor, Múinteoir), Liam Ó Maonlaí (Musician, Singer), Bayo Akomolafe (Poet, Philosopher, Professor and Activist), Clare Sands (Singer, Songwriter, Composer) and much more.
Some of the guides from Scoil Scairte - Bayo Akomolafe, Kathy Scott and Manachán Magan
Why Scoil Scairte?
In the 1700s, Irish education was outlawed and the process of learning took to the land. Hedge Schools or Scoileanna Scairte gathered wherever people could find shelter, in hedgerows, in fields, by rivers and under the stars. In this time of global uncertainty, there is a call to reconnect with some of the traditions and practices that supported and nourished our ancestors.
Irish is one of the oldest living vernacular languages in Europe. It has shaped the cultural identity of the people on the island of Ireland for thousands of years. If a language dies we lose access to meaning, memory and our ways of being human. Despite a turbulent history the Irish language has survived and is encoded with a wisdom that can help us today.
If you are curious about connecting to this rich language and culture in a participative way - this is for you.