Seachtain na Gaeilge
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Croí na Teanga – It’s You! (Heart of the Language – It’s You!) Is the motto of Seachtain na Gaeilge, a non-profit organisation which helps to promote the Irish language and culture both at home and abroad within a two week festival held at the beginning of March every year. Conradh na Gaeilge [1] began the festival in 1904 when they saw the need for the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and all things quintessentially Irish.
Over a hundred years have past and the festival has built incredible momentum and has swept other countries up in her whirlwind. It isn’t just people in Ireland who have been bitten by the Gaeilge bug but also people from around Europe and across America who have begun to speak the odd bit of Irish and dance the odd bit of a jig.
Events during the festival have ranged from simple music sessions, to speed-dating, to street Céilís on a grand scale. Over 150,000 people of all ranges of fluency take part annually, including thousands of children from schools and youth clubs up and down the country.
As part of this celebration two compilation CDs have been released to date featuring some of Ireland’s favourite acts singing their popular hits ‘as Gaeilge’. Called SnaG ’05 and Ceol 06 these albums have included songs from Paddy Casey, Mundy, The Frames, The Corrs and so on. Proceeds from the sale of these albums go to the charity Concern.
The 2007 music compilation for Seachtain na Gaeilge is entitled Ceol 07, and features a return of some of the artists from previous albums including debuts for artists such as Damien Dempsey, BellX1 and Declan O'Rourke.
Seachtain na Gaeilge [2] is sponsored by Foras na Gaeilge [3].