{"id":24497,"date":"2025-10-19T19:23:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T18:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=24497"},"modified":"2025-10-19T19:23:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T18:23:25","slug":"belfast-prepares-to-say-cead-mile-failte-to-oireachtas-na-samhna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/10\/belfast-prepares-to-say-cead-mile-failte-to-oireachtas-na-samhna\/","title":{"rendered":"Belfast prepares to say\u00a0\u2018c\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte\u2019 to Oireachtas na Samhna"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preparations are well underway to welcome up to 10,000 participants and spectators to Belfast later this month for Oireachtas na Samhna \u2013 Ireland\u2019s oldest Irish language and arts gathering.<\/span><\/h4>\n

\nThe city is hosting the festival from 29 October to 2 November, with Gaeilgeoir\u00ed travelling from across Ireland to enjoy five days of events across arts, music, sean-n\u00f3s singing and the spoken word.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Belfast City Council, which led the successful bid to bring the event back to the city for the first time since 1997, has also provided \u00a330,000 of grants to five Irish language organisations to deliver community-based arts activities in the run-up to the festival. They are An Droichead,\u00a0<\/span>Ionad U\u00edbh Eachach, Cumann Cult\u00fartha Mhic Reachtain, Ionad na Fuiseoige and Gl\u00f3r na M\u00f3na.<\/p>\n

Delivered via Foras na Gaeilge\u2019s Sc\u00e9im Forbartha L\u00edonra\u00ed Gaeilge (Irish Language Networks Development Scheme), funding has been used to put on everything from beginners\u2019 language workshops and conversational classes through to unique events focusing on different aspects of Irish language and culture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meeting with groups to hear more about what they have planned, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Paul Doherty, said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur council is pleased to help bring Oireachtas back to Belfast once again, and there\u2019s a real sense of excitement now, with just two weeks to go until the \u2018Gathering of the Gaels\u2019 comes to town.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBig events like this have a positive impact on our city \u2013 they support our retailers, tourism providers and hospitality venues, and they showcase Belfast to new visitors, highlighting what we have to offer and encouraging people to come back again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor Irish language speakers, Oireachtas is a unique and special opportunity to immerse themselves an Gaeilge and share their passion for protecting and nurturing the language.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis reflects our council\u2019s wider goal of ensuring all languages in our city are respected, fostered and celebrated. There are some brilliant events planned, city-wide, to fully embrace the festival and encourage both new and existing speakers to get involved in everything Oireachtas has to offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the organisations who have received funding from the council to deliver community activities around the festival are An Droichead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their Oireachtas programme includes a free talk on Samhain, a beson broom workshop (Sunday 19 October) where participants will learn how to make a traditional \u2018broomstick\u2019 from twigs and poles, and a walking trail on Thursday 23 October, hunting for\u00a0<\/span>Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann \u2013 the mythical fairy people of Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Irish language speakers and learners, the Oireachtas is more than just a cultural festival \u2013 it\u2019s a celebration of identity, heritage, and community,\u201d said Fionnuala Nic Thom, Development Officer with An Droichead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the support of council funding, we will see more people empowered to engage with the Oireachtas, a gathering place for the Irish language community, through events, performances, and shared experiences that showcase indigenous arts and bring the Irish language to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funding has also been provided to F\u00eds an Phobail to deliver schools workshops to pupils in Irish medium schools, highlighting the heritage of Oireachtas.<\/span><\/p>\n

During September, pupils at Bunscoil Phobal Feirste, Bunscoil an tSl\u00e9ibhe Dhuibh and Gaelscoil na bhF\u00e1l have been exploring the history of the festival, first held in Dublin in 1897, and learning more about specialist competitions, such as\u00a0Corn U\u00ed Riada (sean-n\u00f3s singing), Steip (sean-n\u00f3s dancing) and L\u00faib\u00edn\u00ed (two people answering each other in poetic verses).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nMore information on Oireachtas na Samhna is available from the official festival website at\u00a0antoireachtas.ie\/oireachtas-na-samhna\/<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preparations are well underway to welcome up to 10,000 participants and spectators to Belfast later this month for Oireachtas na Samhna \u2013 Ireland\u2019s oldest Irish language and arts gathering. The city is hosting the festival from 29 October to 2 November, with Gaeilgeoir\u00ed travelling from across Ireland to enjoy five days of events across arts, … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24499,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24497\/revisions\/24499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}