Blogs

The thought provoking Friends and Heroes series, originally produced in 2007, has become a worldwide hit in recent years, introducing a whole host of memorable characters. It’s an award-winning animated adventure story set in AD69 which focuses on Macky and his friends as they fight for justice against the Roman Empire. An inspired use of animation, each episode (almost half an hour in length) also shares stories of heroes from the Bible, which the main characters use to give them strength and wisdom as they are challenged by incidents in their daily lives.

The North Texas Irish Festival (NTIF), held at Fair Park in Dallas, runs from Friday February 28 through Sunday March 2nd.  One of the major American Celtic Festivals, a spokesman for the NTIF who was contacted by Transceltic stated that an estimated 55,000 attendees are expected at 2014 event.

In the continuing aftermath of the resignation of Irish Language Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin and subsequent appointment of the new Commissioner, 38 year old Irish speaker, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, there are now calls for the resignation of a second Government Official. 

It is interesting to see that the Scottish independence debate has moved on to the issue of oil. This week saw UK Prime Minister David Cameron donning his hard hat and visiting the oil industry in Scotland. At first sight I thought this was an interesting new twist in the referendum campaign. That Cameron had made a flying visit up here to apologise for the fact that the UK had spent decades squandering this natural asset. Maybe say ‘thanks Scotland’ for all the years of bankrolling Britain with the revenue raised by oil.

A recent Manks concert organised by the Isle of Man branch of the Celtic Congress at the Centenary Centre in Peel proved a sell-out, as people from across the Island joined together to enjoy a cross-generational evening of entertainment.

It was a night of music, song, dance and poetry with well-known Manx speaker, Bob Carswell, acting as compére.

Il y a un certain nombre d’occasions d’apprendre le Breton. Le Breton est la langue Celtique originaire de Bretagne.

Aujourd’hui , deux groupes reliés aux  langues celtiques sont parlées dans le monde: 

Va'n Caggey Mooar ayn rish kiare blein. Ayns y chaggey hooar ymmodee beiyn baase. ‘Ayns cooinaghtyn jeh shirveish-chaggee ny beiyn oney ooilley as y surranse oc er nyn son. Cha row reih erbee oc’. Focklyn scruit ayns Gaelg er y slongan liorish Beiyn Lhiaght Cooinaghtyn Caggee ayns Lunnin.

Isle of Man Stamps and Coins have joined with the Royal British Legion to commemorate the centenary of World War I with a miniature sheet featuring what has become known as Trench Art; which will form part of a four-year thematic series.

The Gaelic language continues to gain strength with coninuing implemenation of laws supporting Scots Gaelic. The South Ayrshire County Council have announced the submission of a three year “Draft Gaelic Language Plan” to the Bord na Gaidhlig. The Plan for South Ayrshire outlines how the Council will promote the use of Gaelic in compliance with the 2005 Gaelic Language Act.

On Saturday 15th February an estimated 10,000 people marched in Dublin in support of the Irish Language and to protest the failure of the Irish Government to protect the rights of the Irish speaking community. Attracting people from all over Ireland, the “Lá Mór na Gaeilge” (A Great Day Of Irish) was seen as both a celebration of the Irish language and a protest over the failure by Government to implement legislation protecting the rights of Irish speakers.