About Club Foghlaimeoirí Gaeilge Chois Fharraige
Irish Language Learners’ Club, An Spidéal
The working language of this website is Irish. But we’ve provided this overview in English for complete beginners and for other visitors who aren’t proficient in that language.
Latest News
6 August 2023
Summer Programme
Our evening classes and Ciorcal Comhrá and drama group will resume in September. However our Tuesday morning class, Rang na bhFeabhsaitheoirí, will continue during the summer from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. If you are interested in participating in this class please send an email to SpidealGaeilge@gmail.com
The Club will be organising some social activities (outings and walks) during the summer. On 22 July a group from the Club visited Inis Meáin; on 9 September we will have a guided walk around Menlo, formerly a Breac-Ghaeltacht on the edge of the city and on Friday 15 September we will attend the drama Maggie Mhór (Big Maggie) in the Taibhdhearc
2 June 2023
The learners’ club summer programme
Our evening classes and Ciorcal Comhrá and drama group have now concluded but will resume in September. However our Tuesday morning class, Rang na bhFeabhsaitheoirí, will continue during the summer from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. If you are interested in participating in this class please contact us using our contact form or at the email address at the foot of this page.
The Club will be organising some social activities (outings and walks) during the summer. These arrangements will be posted on this page in the coming weeks.
Cultural and heritage tour
Oifigigh Pleanála Teanga Chonamara will be running this tour on Wednesday 21st June. It will be stopping at Tobar Naomh Anna, Teach Scríbe, An Dóilín ad An Garraí Glas. Minibus leaving Casla at 9.00 a.m. Prior registration essential (083 010 6294 / optchoisfharraige@gmail.com). Fee: Eur10; includes the tour and lunch. The tour will be in Irish.
So where are we, who are we and what do we do?
An Spidéal (Spiddal in English, and pronounced, roughly, as on spid‑ALE) is a village in Cois Fharraige, part of the West-Galway Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area). The village itself is located about twelve miles west of Galway City.
Cois Fharraige (pronounced, roughly, as cooshARRigi) is the region that stretches along the north coast of Galway Bay from just east of Na Forbacha to Abhainn Chasla in the west.
Club Foghlaimeoirí Gaeilge Chois Fharraige is an Irish language learners’ club based in An Spidéal. Established in 2015, the Club provides a wide range of formal day- and evening classes.
These are taught by native speakers of Conamara Irish and are targeted at various levels of ability, from complete beginners (including people who haven’t studied Irish at school) to improvers, intermediate improvers and the advanced.
We also offer a range of informal activities (including guided walks, outings, concerts and drama productions) to help support and encourage the naturalistic use of Irish in everyday settings.
New members are always welcome! Feel free to get in touch.
Irish language classes
Classes for 2022–2023 have now started (as of the week beginning 19th September).
Improvers’ class: Every Tuesday from 11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on Zoom.
Login details will be distributed to members beforehand.
Evening class: Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night from 7.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. in the gTEIC building in An Spidéil (Eircód H91 CH01).
Further information in the classes section. (In Irish.)
Learning Irish through drama
From the start of Autumn through to late Spring, we offer weekly Irish learning sessions based on the production of short original dramas.
At Christmas and in the Spring we perform these as part of fundraising concerts which we organise in conjunction with local singers, musicians and dancers, and with practitioners of other local traditions.
For examples and some recordings of previous productions, see the drama section. (Text in Irish.)
Irish language learning resources
We support learners by guiding them toward a range of high-quality teaching and learning resources.
These include dictionaries, terminology databases, cultural archives and more, and can be helpful to students at all levels.
See a list of free on-line resources in the learning resourses section.
Contact the Club
Have an enquiry? See the contact page.