Shaw's Road is a road in west

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, connecting the

Andersonstown Andersonstown, known colloquially as Andytown, is a suburb of west Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the foot of the Black Mountain and Divis Mountain. It contains a mixture of public and private housing and is largely a working-class area with a ...

Road with the Glen Road.

Shaw's Road Gaeltacht

Located on the road, is a small

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

( Irish-speaking area) known colloquially as "The Irish Houses", and in Irish as ''Bóthar Seoighe'' (meaning "Shaw's Road") and ''Pobal Feirste'' (meaning "Farset Community"). This community was established in 1969 when five families from

built their houses together in a new development on the road. One of the early residents was

Aodán Mac Póilin Aodán Mac Póilin (11 October 1948 – 29 December 2016) was an Irish language activist in Northern Ireland. Background Aodán Mac Póilin was born in Belfast and grew up in Norfolk Road in the Andersonstown area. His father worked as a civ ...

. The community expanded through the years and now there are 22 houses in the Gaeltacht. In 1971, parents in the Gaeltacht established the first Irish-medium school in Northern Ireland. After much turbulence during that time, and a lengthy campaign, the school received official recognition from the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in 1985. The school has since grown rapidly and is no longer under direct administration by the Gaeltacht, but remains Irish-medium and over 350 students attend. The Shaw's Road Gaeltacht has a strong culture of traditional music, dance and drama and the Irish language continues to be the normal language of communication between residents. The Shaws Road Gaeltacht is considered the inspiration for Irish speakers throughout Ulster. This is the argument of a BBC Gaeilge two-part documentary “The Irish Houses – Scéal Phobal Bhóthar Seoighe” (the story of the Shaw’s Road community). There is often some confusion between the Shaw's Road Gaeltacht and the Gaeltacht Quarter in west Belfast,Mac Póilin, Aodán (2007) "Nua-Ghaeltacht Phobal Feirste: Ceachtanna le foghlaim?" In: Wilson McLeod (Ed.) ''Gàidhealtachdan Ùra; Leasachadh na Gàidhlig agus na Gaeilge sa Bhaile Mhòr.'' Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, pp. 57-59. which is a related, but newer and distinct project located in the centre of the Falls Road district. The Shaw's Road Gaeltacht is located closer to

References

External links

Bunscoil Phobail Feirste
Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta
Naíscoil Bhreandáin
Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta Streets in Belfast Roads in Northern Ireland {{Belfast-geo-stub