Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Languages in the News: The North American Gaeltacht

A Google Map of the location of Tamworth, Ontario, 
which I screencapped myself without help from anyone

That’s right. There’s an official Gaeltacht in North America. Canada, in fact, specifically Tamworth, Ontario. It consists of about 62 acres, and is officially called 
Gaeltacht Thuaisceart on Oileáin Úir, which just means North American Gaeltacht. The area was settled by Irish immigrants escaping the Great Famine (Gorta Mór in Irish). The Gaeltacht itself was opened officially in 2007. While there are other Irish-speaking areas in Canada, as well as a few in the US, this is the only one recognized as an official Gaeltacht.

The North American Gaeltacht has its own website at http://www.gaeilge.ca/index-b%C3%A9arla.php. The goal of its founders is to support and promote the learning and speaking of Irish Gaelic in North America. In 2009, the group’s founders were awarded the Global Gaeilge Award in Ireland, given in recognition of efforts to spread the Gaelic language outside Ireland. Visitors can participate in summer programs to learn the language, so if you want to learn Irish, but don’t think you can make it all the way to Ireland, try Canada! 


Further Reading:

No comments:

Post a Comment