Emmett McIntyre's blog

Billing itself as America’s original Celtic Faire as featured on National Geographic Television, the 29th Annual Sonoma Celtic Faire features Scottish and Irish Clans, Scottish Dancers, Irish Step dancers,  Welsh Longbow Archery, a Celtic Food Court and Celtic Marketplace. The impressive gathering of Celtic musicians will be one of the highlights at this year's event, from high-energy Celtic rock bands to the most traditional of groups. With 20 musical groups, performing on five stages, the faire offers something to every age and ear!

In a poll commissioned by The Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaelige) and conducted by the prestigious firm Kantar/Millward Brown, majorities throughout Ireland are shown in support of the provision of State services in Gaelic on demand. Opinion in the Republic was 7 to 1 in favor of Gaelic with support exceeding 50% in favor as shown in a separate polling district in Ulster. 

For over 22 years the Savannah Irish Festival has been bringing traditional Irish Music, Laughter and Dance to Savannah.

The elegant 18th century city of Savannah is the host of the Savannah Irish Festival held February 13th thru 15th at the Savannah Civic Center.  Featuring Celtic Musical acts, Irish Dance and a Friday night Ceili (Gaelic for Party).

It is not likely that temples dedicated to the worship of theTuatha de Danaan will soon be a presence on the High Streets of Ireland, but it could be going in that direction in Iceland. Not to the Tuatha de Danaan of course, but to the Norse Gods Odin, Thor and Frigg. According to a recent article in the Guardian (linked below) there is a revival of the pre-Christian faith in Iceland which has reached critical mass, if you will, and now a temple is under construction.

“Contrary to popular perception, the total number of people who can speak Irish in this country has increased slightly in recent years, with a 7% increase in number of speakers between the two most recent censuses in 2006 and 2011.”

In late 2011 Alasdair Allan, Scottish Government Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages visited Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Minister Allan’s visit to the heartland of the Gaelic language beachhead in North America included an announcement on the start of a scholarship program funding Gaelic speakers in Cape Breton to visit Scotland and study Gaelic at the expense of Edinburgh. 

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s Gaelic College Founded in 1973 and internationally recognised as a National Centre for the Gaelic language and culture, have announced the second Soillse conference, “ Bilingual Education and Language Revitalisation: From Theory to Practice”  The conference is being held in conjunction with CAER, the Education Society of the European Regions, and hosted by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and its academic partner The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). The conference will be held on the 28th of May, 2015.

 "The children, they've been surrounded by the culture for so long. It's inevitable the language is going to come back to play a part. It's almost like it was like the missing link that brings in their spirit, their family, their history, the culture. All of it goes hand in hand with the language" - Mairi Parr

Canada's CBCNews under the headline "Gaelic Core Class Increasingly Popular In Nova Scotia", are reporting on the remarkable explosion of Gaelic Medium education taking hold in a province that once was home to over 100,000 Scots Gaelic speakers.

In a damning report issued by the Minister for the Gaeltacht (Irish Speaking Areas), the government admits to a shortage of Irish speakers dedicated to delivering government services in Irish. This latest example of the Irish government’s indifference to Gaelic has been reported by the Irish Independent under the headline “Public Bodies Do Not Have Enough Staff Able To Carry Out Business Through Irish, According to a Government Department Report.”

The Ulster city of Doire, the fourth largest city in Ireland, has seen the growth of the Gaelic tongue in recent years.  Derry is home to a unique initiative which aims to create a Gaeltacht Quarter in the city where the language of daily commerce is Gaelic.