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Oireachtas na Gaeilge  Ireland’s
oldest cultural festival Oireachtas na Gaeilge will this year be held
in Westport in Co. Mayo after a successful application to bring the Irish
language festival to the west.
Oireachtas na Gaeilge showcases the very best of Irish music, storytelling,
literature, sean-nós dancing and sean-nós singing. Last
year the Oireachtas was hosted in Derry with over 400 competitors competing
in 30 competitions. Over 15,000 visitors travelled to Derry to watch the
competitions with over 300,000 tuning in to RTÉ and TG4 to watch
the competitions broadcast live. The competitions are also broadcast on
the internet giving those further afield a chance to participate and enjoy
the festival. The festival runs from October 31 to November 4 and is set
to attract visitors from all over the world.
The Castlecourt Hotel in Westport will be the main hub of activity for
the festival and accommodation in Westport is at a premium with most hotels
already nearly fully-booked for the week’s events. Information on
accommodation can be obtained at: www.destinationwestport.com
“We are delighted to bring Oireachtas na Gaeilge 2007 to Mayo. The
Oireachtas is a wonderful celebration of Irish music, song, literature
and dance. One of our aims now is to encourage and develop young people’s
interest in the traditional arts,” said Mr Ó Raghallaigh
Muintir Chathair na Mart chairperson.
The prestigious Irish Book-of-the-Year award attracts national media attention
while the sean-nós dancing and sean-nós singing —
Corn Uí Riada competitions are booked out from year to year.
The inaugural Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival was held on May 17, 1897,
in Dublin. The location was the Round Room in the Rotunda, one of the
largest halls in the city at that time. It was a half-day festival however
the attendance exceeded 1,000 people, stunning the organisers. The level
of interest was totally unanticipated.
English was the primary language used in organising Oireachtas na Gaeilge
in the early years. Nine competitions featured on the programme of the
first Oireachtas — two poetry competitions; five prose essay competitions
(one of these competitions permitted submissions in English!); a competition
for poetry compilations; a competition for unpublished songs or stories
in Irish; a competition for new song compositions suitable for recitation
at Conradh na Gaeilge meetings; and a reacaireacht competition.
The first Oireachtas na Gaeilge consisted solely of competitions held
in the afternoon and the concert in the evening. Despite this, it was
an event of considerable significance in Irish life.
Considerable importance was attached to the social and community dimension
of Oireachtas na Gaeilge. The event enabled native speakers and language
learners to interact resulting in many long standing friendships and even
marriages.
Oireachtas na Gaeilge had its share of bad years with the festival cancelled
for a number of years prior to World War II. Despite this the festival
has flourished over the years adapting and re-inventing itself as required,
resulting in the format we have today.
Currently, Oireachtas na Gaeilge hosts two annual festivals — the
May festival Oireachtas na Bealtaine and Oireachtas na Samhna, which is
held in November.
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcasts the bigger events live
with these broadcasts experiencing considerable demand from internet audiences
around the globe.
TG4 TV has brought Oireachtas na Gaeilge to the entire population of Ireland
featuring live broadcasts of sean-nós dancing and multiple other
programmes broadcast from the festivals. RTÉ & BBC are also
central in broadcasting various Oireachtas programmes throughout the year.
The word Oireachtas means a meeting or congregation of ruling authorities
in the 7th century. To this day, Oireachtas na Gaeilge follows the tradition
established by our ancestors hundreds of years ago, welcoming young and
old, the writer, the poet, the singer, the dancer, the artist, the storyteller,
the actor, the impersonator, the composer of music and songs, the musician
and the people of Ireland at home and abroad.
n Further information: Piaras Ó’Raghallaigh (086) 1040664. |
