Lá na Gaeilge 2022 Recordings

Lá na Gaeilge (Irish Language Day) took place virtually on Saturday, May 7, 2022. It was hosted by Irish Fulbright Scholar, Réaltín Mc Elhinney. This annual bilingual program represents a joint commitment by Elms College and the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England to celebrate the Irish language and culture with the community.

Réaltín is from Inis Eoghain, County Donegal, an area which was proudly represented throughout the program. We were honored to have a wealth of experts to celebrate and showcase the importance of many aspects of the Irish language and culture through history, heritage, food, and Irish traditional music. We want to extend a huge thanks to all the presenters who gave their time and talents to join us. Go raibh míle maith agaibh!

The presentation was recorded, and is available for all to view.

> Watch Section One on YouTube 
Greeting by Paula Melvin, Tánaiste of Conradh na Gaeilge. Paula is also the Chairperson of the Conradh’s Development Subcommittee. At the local level, she co-founded the Pobal Gaeilge 15 branch in Dublin 15, which played an integral role in the establishment of Coláiste na Tulchann and have organised some of the largest events worldwide for Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia.

> Watch Section Two on YouTube
Pádraig Ó Dochartaigh, Glór Inis Eoghain. Pádraig is a proud native of the Inishowen peninsula in north Donegal. His grand uncle was one of the last Gaelic speakers in the peninsula and he hailed from the Urris area. Pádraig has spent many years teaching Gaeilge in a community school in the Inishowen peninsula and now is a lecturer in Gaeilge in the Ulster University, Magee Campus, Derry City.

> Watch Section Three on YouTube
Clodagh Warnock. Clodagh was a founder member of the highly acclaimed band Déanta, playing fiddle, bouzouki and bodhrán. Clodagh has performed and taught workshops at major festivals throughout the world. She is a current committee member of the Inishowen Traditional Music Project, and a co-founder of the Ceolan School of Music in Moville. She is joined today to play some tunes by some of her former students.

> Watch Section Four on YouTube
William Mc Elhinney. William is from Inishowen, Co Donegal, where he created the multi award winning heritage company Wild Strands in 2016. He is known as The Seaweed Man and has presented widely on the topic of Irish Food Culture, particularly our forgotten heritage foods, especially seaweed. He established the experiential Wild Strands Caifé in Malin Head in 2018 inspired by a modern sustainable take on Irish Heritage food.

> Watch Section Five on YouTube
Manchán Magan. Manchán is a writer and documentary-maker. He writes occasionally for The Irish Times on culture and travel, presents the RTÉ podcast The Almanac of Ireland, and is author of the award-winning, best-selling Thirty-Two Words For Field, and his new illustrated book Tree Dogs, Banshees Fingers and other Irish Words for Nature. He has made dozens of documentaries on issues of world culture for TG4, RTÉ  and Travel Channel.