Seachtain na Gaeilge (English: ''Irish language week''), known for sponsorship purposes as Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia, is an annual international festival promoting the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, both in Ireland and all around the world. Established in 1902, it is the biggest Irish language festival in the world, reaching over 1 million people on 5 continents each year.

Events

The festival lasts seventeen days and begins on

St. David's Day Saint David's Day ( cy, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or ; ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrat ...

on 1 March and runs until

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

on 17 March each year, with community-organised events celebrated all over Ireland and the world, such as céilís, concerts,

quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, ...

zes, competitions and

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

s. Many sporting events are organised during Seachtain na Gaeilge. In 2018, Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia coincided with Rith.

History

Seachtain na Gaeilge was founded as part of the

Gaelic Revival The Gaelic revival ( ga, Athbheochan na Gaeilge) was the late-nineteenth-century Romantic nationalism, national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including Irish folklore, folklore, Iri ...

Conradh na Gaeilge (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

in 1902, and has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Like its earliest Irish ancestors, the 14th-century ''

Gairm Sgoile ''Gairm'' was a Scottish Gaelic quarterly magazine founded in 1951 by Derick Thomson, and Finlay J. MacDonald (Fionnlagh Domhnallach). Its first issue was published in Autumn 1952. MacDonald served as an editor until 1964; Thomson remained prese ...

'' (

Early Modern Irish Early Modern Irish ( ga, Gaeilge Chlasaiceach, , Classical Irish) represented a transition between Middle Irish and Modern Irish. Its literary form, Classical Gaelic, was used in Ireland and Scotland from the 13th to the 18th century. External ...

: "Summoning", or "Gathering", "of the ardicSchool") and the 18th-century

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following t ...

''Cúirt'' ("Poetic Court), Seachtain na Gaeilge includes a contest between composers of

Irish poetry Irish poetry is poetry written by poets from Ireland. It is mainly written in Irish and English, though some is in Scottish Gaelic and some in Hiberno-Latin. The complex interplay between the two main traditions, and between both of them and ...

in the

Irish-language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

. Energia has been a sponsor of the festival since 2017. "Úsáid do Theanga" (English: "''Use your language''") was the motto of the festival in 2020.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Annual events in Ireland Irish language organisations Non-profit organisations based in the Republic of Ireland Linguistic societies Festivals in Ireland 1902 establishments in Ireland Spring (season) events in the Republic of Ireland